Interesting to see this debate among popular scientists and the referencing article in Scientific American. Unfortunate to see them arguing about old ideas (alien overlords) and not referencing any of the people (other than Bostrom) who did the original thinking on the topic.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-we-living-in-a-computer-simulation/

At circa 25 mins:

Max Tegmark: "Turtles all the way down. And at this point I get the sinking feeling that there's something rotten at the core of this argument".

Neil DeGrasse Tyson: "Okay".

David Chalmers: "The answer is we're at level 42".

Neil DeGrase Tyson: "Good answer".

James Gates: "No, no, 137".

Neil DeGrasse Tyson: "One-thirty-seven. That's the fine structure constant".

James Gates: "Of course".

1- White Light
3- Primary additive colours - red, green, blue.
7- Newton's sevenfold colours of the rainbow- red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.

Hint, hint: An ineffable alien Light Being, perhaps?!!

Also, guys, I thought I'd include this message I sent to Anthony Peake several weeks ago. Unfortunately, he never replied to me...................

"Hello Tony.

I recently read one of your posts concerning the simulation hypothesis and the release of VR technology.

Computer graphics are becoming much more realistic and surely it's only a matter of time before we start to see full immersion VR on the market where all our senses will be fooled. I would say we're only perhaps 20-50 years away from having technology that would create worlds that would be indistinguishable from our day-to-day consensus reality.

So, we should reach that point. And then we should reach a scenario where we are able to create entire virtual universes with sentient creatures in them.

And if we look at Nick Bostrom's simulation argument, we'll reach a point where everybody is playing/running universal simulations on their advanced hardware.

And if our civilisation reaches this point then probably vast numbers of others have achieved it too. So, therefore, it is more than likely that virtual universes will far outnumber REAL universes. Hence, WE are probably already in one of the fabricated universes as opposed to a natural one.

Then there's the possibility of a simulated universe inside of another simulated universe, ad infinitum: a kind of nested/recursive scenario.

So, if somebody has created one of these sim worlds then what would it be like and what would God (the programmer) add to it to make it more interesting and eventful for the conscious/sentient beings...

Well, I think the programmer would add special algorithms/programs to the 'game' and occasionally these programs would generate interesting phenomena, such as poltergeist activity or a UAP encounter. These programs would also alter the set parameters of the game and cause profound phenomena to occur like violation of laws of physics and cause and effect.

Not only that but I think the programmer would also give clues to it being a simulation and perhaps guide the sims to the truth.

Also, I think a sim world (like ours) also has a purpose (teleology) and an end point (possibly the Omega Point singularity).

Now, I experience the 11:11 Phenomenon (and other palindromic digits) almost daily now and I think this is another clue to us being in a simulation.

Firstly, 111's are half of binary code and secondly palindromic numbers are probably used as they are simple numbers that stand out and are understood by most people.

You see, sometimes if something anomalous occurs with me then I know that it is likely that 111, 222, 666, etc, will spring up when I'm watching TV or surfing online. So, I believe this is some kind of special code that is written into our reality to get our attention.

With me, it's like it's done to let me know I'm on the right track. It also occurs a lot when I read articles about AI/supercomputers, and futurism: again probably a clue to the true nature of reality.

Also, if we are living in a Matrix then everything we were taught might be false. For example, history: cosmologists tell us that our universe is 13.8 billion years old. However, the universe could have booted up at any time, really!! It may appear 13.8 billion years old but that could be just part of the fabrication.

And then what about pre-history and recent history: did dinosaurs really roam the Earth; and did WW1 and WW2 really take place? What if the simulation started in 1960, or 1975, or 1981 (the year I was born, lol). You see, it throws everything into uncertainly when you start probing this concept more.

Then, like any MMORPG, there's NPCs wandering about. So, how do we know if people we encounter in our day-to-day lives are real or have sentience and self-awaremess and a conscious mind! Or, maybe it's a one-player game and I'M the only true conscious being! (player).

We're back to solipsism and the problem of other minds (P-Zombies, etc.)

I'm not surprised that some academics find this idea hard to swallow, lmao.

Anyway, I hope this makes sense what I've written here. You see, I did not want to make this message too long. I tried to be succinct. I'm not totally convinced reality is like this but a lot of evidence seems to point in this direction and my own personal experiences are kinda leading me to this conclusion. And the simulation hypothesis does seem to tie up all those loose ends, doesn't it.

Anyway, thanks for reading this, Tony. i just felt compelled to write this. Keep up the great work, mate.

Your friend forever,

Mark"

Or, perhaps it got something to do with the Trinity! 111 is like 3 in 1: God, Jesus, Holy Spirit.

And it's Trinity Sunday in a few days time...

Hmm, it's really got me thinking now, and scratching my head, lol.