The more I delve into game development the more I'm convinced that we in fact do not live in a simulation.
Why would someone spend day after day carefully modelling things that no one seems to notice anyway?
For example the way in which dead leaves accumulate in a specific corner of my balcony.
If those beings that created the simulation are so advanced that they created this amazing word, why were they at the same time so stupid that they didn't do any optimisation and instead decided to model and refine things that almost no one notices anyway?
If those intelligent beings decided to spend less time on that aspect, and leaves accumulated on my balcony in a less complicated pattern, I wouldn't notice anything weird anyway, because I would be accustomed to that other less complicated pattern. So there would be no reason to make an effort on that.
i mean, if you're looking at it, it's obviously important enough to simulate.
and what, specifically, do you think you would notice if it was in some way simplified? how can you be certain about the leaves on your balcony? you have no objective frame of reference to compare "full detail" simulation.
> if you're looking at it, it's obviously important enough to simulate.
basically the argument I was trying to make is: if it wasn't simulated I wouldn't be looking at it, and I wouldn't find it strange at all because I would be living in a world where that thing doesn't exist
> and what, specifically, do you think you would notice if it was in some way simplified?
exactly, I wouldn't notice anything.
My argument is: if those beings are so smart that they created this awesome simulation, how could they be so dumb that they wasted time simulating unneeded details?
>if it wasn't simulated I wouldn't be looking at it, and I wouldn't find it strange at all because I would be living in a world where that thing doesn't exist
why do you think this isn’t constantly happening?
>how could they be so dumb that they wasted time simulating unneeded details?
if it’s within your perception, it’s needed detail.
Go read Permutation City... There's two threads of simulation, one which is hacky video games style, and the other is built up entirely from simple physics.
Well, you're sort of assuming that our physics are the full range of physics, and everything is being modeled faithfully. What if our simulation is just a subset? That is to say, everything is already a less complicated pattern (from a certain perspective) and you don't notice because you don't know any better.
If they're superhuman, all those details might be as easy for them as scenery in a model railway.
More convincingly though, if leaves didn't behave that way, the entire rest of the world would have to be designed in a consistent way. Fluid dynamics would have to work differently - and consistently with everything else or we'd notice.
This is kind of off topic, you're really stretching it by bringing in talk of living in a simulation when we're just talking about doors. This is neither evidence for or against that argument
OK so what if we're in a.. video game simulation and one of the really difficult issues is getting the emergent populations to not notice that they are being simulated, much like our difficulty with doors. There. Back on topic.
Why would someone spend day after day carefully modelling things that no one seems to notice anyway?
For example the way in which dead leaves accumulate in a specific corner of my balcony.
If those beings that created the simulation are so advanced that they created this amazing word, why were they at the same time so stupid that they didn't do any optimisation and instead decided to model and refine things that almost no one notices anyway?
If those intelligent beings decided to spend less time on that aspect, and leaves accumulated on my balcony in a less complicated pattern, I wouldn't notice anything weird anyway, because I would be accustomed to that other less complicated pattern. So there would be no reason to make an effort on that.