Nick Bostrom

But if you're thinking ahead, you know, in this time of rapid advances in AI, where all of this

But if you're thinking ahead, you know, in this time of rapid advances in AI, where all of this

might be going if you think eventually we'll have these super intelligences that develop all kinds of super advanced technologies, you know, maybe colonize space, transform planets into giant computers.

might be going if you think eventually we'll have these super intelligences that develop all kinds of super advanced technologies, you know, maybe colonize space, transform planets into giant computers.

And amongst the things they could do with that kind of technology would be to run simulations, detailed simulations of environments like ours, and including with brains in those simulations, simulated at a very high level of granularity.

And amongst the things they could do with that kind of technology would be to run simulations, detailed simulations of environments like ours, and including with brains in those simulations, simulated at a very high level of granularity.

And so what that means is that

And so what that means is that

If this happens, there could be many, many more people like us with our kinds of experiences being simulated than being sort of implemented in the original meat substrate.

If this happens, there could be many, many more people like us with our kinds of experiences being simulated than being sort of implemented in the original meat substrate.

And if most people with our kinds of experiences are simulated, then we should think we are probably amongst the simulated ones rather than the rare exceptional original ones, given that from the inside, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

And if most people with our kinds of experiences are simulated, then we should think we are probably amongst the simulated ones rather than the rare exceptional original ones, given that from the inside, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Well, as I said, I take the hypothesis seriously.

Well, as I said, I take the hypothesis seriously.

Yeah, so if you break this down, right, so if we do end up with a future where this mature civilization runs all these simulations of variations of people like their historical predecessors, then there would be many more simulated people with our experiences than non-simulated ones.

Yeah, so if you break this down, right, so if we do end up with a future where this mature civilization runs all these simulations of variations of people like their historical predecessors, then there would be many more simulated people with our experiences than non-simulated ones.

Conditional on that, I think we should think we are almost certainly amongst the simulated ones.

Conditional on that, I think we should think we are almost certainly amongst the simulated ones.

So then if you break this down, what are the alternatives to that?

So then if you break this down, what are the alternatives to that?