September 24, 2004

Simulation recursion

How cool is this?

This is a screenshot taken from "The Sims 2" video game in which a Sim is playing the original "The Sims."

It's turtles all the way down, folks....

Eventually, given more processing power and enhanced parallelism, I can imagine that Sims will start to play actual games (ie. sub-programs within the larger program).

If you're interested in this concept, check out my Betterhumans column, "Welcome to the Unreal World" A must read on this topic is Barry Dainton's "Innocence Lost: Simulation Scenarios: Prospects and Consequences," in which he attempts to describe and categorize possible simulation types and varieties of virtual life. And of course there's Dr. Nick's seminal "Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?"

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