Is our existence real?
On stumbling across Anthony Campbell website, I noticed a short essay entitled How to tell if you live in a simulation
It lays down some questions on to weather we are just in a simulation, this does sound like elements from the film matrix , there is no fiction to be found in this article.
Some theologians maintain that God has given us free will and cannot control our actions or eliminate us if we behave immorally; perhaps the same would be true of our simulators.
In that case why does religion create a distinction between good and evil? if God has no control over us, why does religion tell us to be free from sin for God? It makes very little sense for anyone to choose between good and bad when they will be no response from God. This is where religious followers decide what is right and wrong, sometimes it has good reasons and a lot of the time its based on submission in the belief that something good will arise from being submissive.
There is also another ethical question. Would the simulators be happy to leave us in perpetual ignorance of the real state of affairs, and of their existence, or would they wish to make themselves known to us, as God is supposed to have done? I think they might. But how would they go about it?
I am not exactly sure what he means by God making them known to us, I have not seen any proof of a God, only concepts of what it could be, all very metaphorically speaking. They are always people who purport that God has sent them messages like Nostradamus and even some who said god caused 9/11 and other famous disasters. How can only some people get advancements from god ? and the vast population do not. It makes little sense and to mention the prediction after the event and not before to try and stop it just sounds like a fallacy and a way to attract media attention .
If we live in a simulation, it clearly provides for the possibility of post-mortem survival in various forms, including reincarnation.
That is a interesting thought, my understanding is that when we die our body gets eaten by other living beings, so some of me could go into a worm or a duck. So essentially I am me for now and was part of something before and when I die I will be part of something else.
For as far back as written records go there have been reports of what we now term the paranormal. Hauntings, premonitions, apparitions, and similar phenomena have been described throughout history. In the nineteenth century a group of British intellectuals came together and founded the Society for Psychical Research to study such phenomena; the American Society for Psychical Research soon followed (the philosopher and psychologist William James was a prominent member)[4].
My grandmother often mentions that she uses faith-healing to help my auntie calm the pain in her leg, and has helped her brother to get rid of pain in his leg. Both participants have said that it works. Personally I have never had this treatment from her. It could just be coincidence or mere politeness or even something to keep the mind away from the pain that makes them suggest that it works. My grandmother does go to the traditional doctor and does not disapprove of her daughter or brother going as some don’t. If they believe that it works for them and makes them happy, I have no reason to interfere with they decisions, its when its harmful that I would feel strongly to speak up.
When we have unsuspected natural disasters, what is their purpose in a simulation? Could it be to see how well humans can cope ? What about diseases ? They are many questions to be asked why we must be part of a simulation , some are partially mentioned in the rest of the article.