This post covers minimal new ground and is mostly other people's ideas. That doesn't make it untrue though.

One thing I worry about from time to time is whether we are all real or whether what I am experiencing as "reality" is in fact just a giant computer simulation. Yadda, yadda Matrix etc.

Whilst browsing the New Scientist archives yesterday I came across this old article, from July 2002, which pretty much proves we are in a simulation with a probability approaching one.

The argument broadly goes as follows:

1. We need to make one assumption - at some point computers will become powerful enough to simulate a consciousness. I personally think this is reasonably likely.

2. Then either three things can happen:
a) we all die (from terrorism, natural disasters, asteroid impact, grey goo or just from plain old worrying) before the computers get powerful enough. In this case, we are in the original timeline :-) But we're all doomed :-(
b) computers get powerful enough but nobody mimics consciousness for ethical reasons. Yeah, right. In this case we're also in the original timeline and lions are our friends.
c) computers get powerful enough to mimic consciousness and they do actually do this.

3. Under 2c) it is likely that a very large number of universes will be simulated. Therefore on the basis that I, today, find myself in a universe (which I do), it is quite improbable that it would be the original one. In fact, as the number of computer generated simulations grows, the probability of me being actually in one grows towards one.

And that's how it goes. We are The Sims.

Now this does actually explain quite a lot - all those glitches - the way my memory doesn't always tie to everyone elses, the way road markings sometimes move from day to day and so on.

The article later points out that if we are in a simulation then there is a risk that we could be deleted. The best way to stop this would be to work out the purpose of the sim and then act in a way that fits best into it so the creator will like you. If for example it's an entertainment sim, "then you'd better make sure you're part of the fun. What that means varies across cultures, so to be safe you should be funny, outrageous, violent, sexy, strange, pathetic and heroic all at once" which sounds a bit like a Big Brother contestant to me. Horrid to think that maybe this whole universe might be designed purely to produce Big Brother contestants.

A final thought on this (as I could go on all night but I'm planning to go out for a drink shortly). I was watching Odyssey 5 earlier, a nice little show, shame it was cancelled after one season, and the episode featured one of the characters (Robocop) becoming trapped in a computer simulated reality. Now, this could be coincidence. Or it could be someone from the outside trying to give me a message, a clue that I'm on the right track.

But I think I'll stay in the sim for now. At least while it's warm and I'm having fun.