272

And here I was waiting to get unplugged, or maybe finding a Nokia phone that received a call.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] lung@lemmy.world 47 points 6 days ago

This is such a boring take, I wonder how anyone gets funding or publication making a statement as useless as "see godels incompleteness theorem that proves that there's more truth than what mathematics can prove, therefore reality is not a simulation". Yes, we know, you don't need a PhD to know the major theorem that took down the entire school of logical positivism. The fundamental philosophical error here is assuming that all forms of simulation are computational or mathematical. Counterexample: your dreams are a form of simulation (probably). So I can literally disprove this take in my sleep

[-] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 35 points 6 days ago

The fundamental philosophical error here is assuming that all forms of simulation are computational or mathematical.

Uh... that's literally what a simulation is.

Counterexample: your dreams are a form of simulation (probably). So I can literally disprove this take in my sleep

But dreams aren't simulating reality as we observe it; they just kinda do their own thing. Your brain isn't consistently simulating quantum mechanics (or, hell, even simple things like clocks) while you're dreaming so this is a moot point.

[-] lung@lemmy.world 22 points 6 days ago

People who are lucid dreaming simulate a full reality that's nearly indistinguishable from the one they find themselves in during waking time. If your brain can't tell the difference during this time, how can you be sure you're not dreaming right now reading this?

The scope of what a simulation is has always been limited by the technology we know. It is only a failing of imagination and knowledge to assume that algorithmic computation is the only valid form of simulation in the future, these have existed for barely 100 years, but even Plato's cave was talking about the larger philosophical problem

[-] yakko@feddit.uk 6 points 6 days ago

A lucid dream does not fully simulate anything, it is an altered state that includes the subjective apprehension of verisimilitude. Perceptions and apprehensions, even outside of altered states, do not constitute proof of anything.

[-] TheFogan@programming.dev 5 points 6 days ago

While I'm far from an expert on it... at best the dream simulations are still, extremely rudimentary. To the point that's usually how you can tell it isn't real by doing something like reading a book. IE it's largely believable, but only because you are put in a gullible state. Like watching 2 year old AI videos, while stoned.

[-] magic_lobster_party@fedia.io 2 points 6 days ago

Counterexample: your dreams are a form of simulation (probably). So I can literally disprove this take in my sleep

Dreams are an approximation of reality at best. It’s not a perfect simulation.

[-] fodor@lemmy.zip 2 points 6 days ago
[-] magic_lobster_party@fedia.io 2 points 6 days ago

My bad. Of course you’re right.

I’ve dreamt that levitation is possible. Therefore, levitation is possible in reality. QED

[-] Uebercomplicated@lemmy.ml 4 points 6 days ago

The question is rather What is "reality": the dream (et al.) or the physical world (what you describe as reality). See Descartes first two meditations (and note that he relies fully on the existence of God to prove the existence of reality later). In this case, us experiencing a "dream" just serves to outline the point; Descartes, for example, also suggests that we are being fooled by an evil daemon. If it's a dream or an evil daemon — doesn't matter; it would likely be something entirely beyond our comprehension anyway. But genuinely proving the physical world as being reality is very difficult.

this post was submitted on 02 Nov 2025
272 points (100.0% liked)

Technology

76670 readers
1947 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related news or articles.
  3. Be excellent to each other!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
  10. Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.

Approved Bots


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS