"A small number of philosophers argue that, if you accept the premise that a sufficiently advanced human society will inevitably run incredibly sophisticated simulations of history and societal evolution, with functionally independent computer agents interacting, learning and evolving, then it is infinitely more likely that we -- you and I and everything around us -- are actually living in one of those simulations instead of being the first 'real' human society. After all, for those on the inside of the sim, there would be no way to tell."
WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: Simulating Culture and the Ethics of the Off Switch:
22 July 2005
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"Spend and tax" not "tax and spend"
I got a response from my MP which got me kind of mad. You'll see why as I reproduce it here. Apologies for the strange changes in types...
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I immediately thought it sounded like some of Nick Bostrom's ideas. And sure enough if you click on the link in the article WorldChanging you end up in an essay of his.
First saw it in "Taking the Red Pill : Science, Philosophy and Religion in the Matrix" edited by Glenn Yeffeth.
Bostrom the editor of the Transhumanist FAQ over at the World Transhumanist Association.
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