Simulating Ourselves

 ARE WE, or are we not? Do we actually exist, or do we just think we do? it appears that we are unsure, and that the old "I think, therefore I am" expression of pure logic, and the Buddhist "mind foreruns all conditions"introduction to sentience no longer cut the mustard, so to speak, so to think. The reason is, believe it or not,is that not only do theoretical mathematicians believe because they have proven mathematically, therefore they know, that there is exactly a one in two chance, a fifty fifty chance that what we call "the universe" and "ourselves" is nothing other than a sophisticated computer simulation created by a super advanced intelligence for its own purposes, presumably research. Don't panic. that means that is still at least a half chance that you are what you think you are, namely, a real person. All things considered, it could be worse, maybe. Better than there being no chance of your actual existence, right? The numbers are in, big blue the super computer has done its work, and the scientists are not only absolutely sure that the two choices exist, but that they truly exist fifty fifty, one in two. One way of looking at it is to say that there is no difference between the two, no difference between simulation and reality. The super intelligent intelligence we can call "God". God's computer is god's mind, and teh universe god created and recreates constantly through natural law as cosmic evolution, and we ourselves within it, comprise the simulation, perhaps for research purposes. both paradigms amount to the same thing; however, to accept them, it becomes necessary to amend our popular conception of god as omnipotent; instead, God becomes a super intelligent being who nonetheless needs to do a bit of research to obtain great understanding and knowledge. if the universe and we within it are in face simulations, precisely what is being simulated? A universe with living beings in it? Again it becomes a matter of definition. Or maybe we the living are God, and the universe and God are our creations, our simulations. The ultimate question remains the same: why does anything, including god, exist at all? Well, maybe nothing exists. Maybe god, the universe, and we are neither real nor simulations. Maybe we are nothing in an empty void, with the temerity to believe that we exist. What if, say, the question were resolved to the overwhelming unanimous satisfaction of science, that we and the universe are super computer simulations, beyond doubt, and nothing more? It goes without saying that conservative Christians would deny it all, but that's beside the point. What about the rest of us?  Would we all lose hope and give up? Would our lives suddenly seem to be without meaning? We would probably proceed as if nothing had happened,. We all like to believe, for instance, that we make our own choices, that everything we think , say, and do is our decision, our choice. Problem is, that isn't the way it is. Science has proven that what we call "free will" is a human made hoax, that it does not exist. Every particle of matter and energy in the universe, including our brains and bodies, behaves according to immutable natural laws. We like to think that we are in control, and we believe and pretend that we are, but we are not. God is. And yet somehow we seem to muddle along, doing what we can because we must, and most of us seem to be reasonably happy, because we must be, because God has evidently decided that we must be.