MU-8: Can We Program a Universe?
See the explanation of brains in vats here … The last blog in the series talked about the brains in vats thought experiment. Now let’s flip that scenario: can we humans create a simulated universe? The easiest way to attempt such a thing is via software programs. Bozhidar Bozhanov writes about just such a programming competition where the aim is to come up with the rules for a universe that finally resulted in this: “One’s universe had to give birth to conscious beings that manage to uncover all the laws of their universe and also figure out they are being imagined.” This isn’t as easy as it sounds: forget a universe that produces life forms; even coming up with rules that don’t cause a universe to collapse are hard! In fact the competition’s so hard that the contestants are given three chances to step in and interfere with their simulations (though there are some constraints on what kinds of changes they are allowed to do) during the course of the game. The universe...