Assuming we live in a simulation, do you believe there is something after we die?

[SofNascimento]

The alternative is that we don't live in a simulation, which means that death is final and the end of everything for us. To think that some made up religion got the "afterlife" right is quite absurd and the idea that we simply cease to be is the only reasonable scenario.

But there is the hope that we do live in a simulation, which is not quite as absurd. I mean, only three dimensions? Surely that's just a limitation, or more likely a choice, of whoever created this universe. Like an indie 2d game. We do have the technology for more, but 2d is enough to create something pretty cool. And not everyone has the budget to create AAA titles right? Maybe we are an indie universe.

So, assuming that scenario, do you think something happens after we die? Maybe it's all about imparting a lesson. Which is a name of one of my ships in FTL by the way.

 

[Zanaffar]

I want to hope something does at least.

 

[mbpm]

Hope they backup their data.

 

[Gyro Zeppeli]

I don't want to believe the simulation theory could be real. It cheapens life. Since I saw my dead grandmother hours after she died in a dream while under sleep paralysis, my position on the afterlife has significantly been changed. I've always been open to an afterlife, but now I'm leaning towards it being most likely real. That dream felt different than any other dream I've had before.

 

[Jakten]

Yes, but if you die in real life it's over. Enjoy your life in a capsule number L3.

 

[sfedai0]

Our society is so fucked that Im completely indifferent. To me, it doesnt matter at all.

 

[Adder7806]

Nope

 

[Gaz]

If this is a simulation then what exactly is out there? Another version of me with a VR helmet on?

 

[Necromanti]

I find the simulation hypothesis absurd, but I think an afterlife would be even less probable for an artifact of a simulation unless that was one of the goals of the simulation (for some reason).

 

[echoshifting]

No offense but believing in a simulation scenario, especially one where we continue somehow, is no less absurd than believing in a supernatural afterlife, we have no actual evidence that either of these things is potentially true. It's all faith and thought experiments.

 

[Musubi]

Well I don't believe in simulation theory and I don't believe in an after life either. You know what happens after you die? The same thing that happened before you were born nothingness.

 

[HeyNay]

It's not a computer simulation, but it is a simulation of the mind. The world is inside of consciousness, not the other way around. It's quite easy to say that "ceasing to be" is the only reasonable scenario, that is, until you have an out of body experience more real than life itself. Then you don't know what to believe, except you can't trust "reasonable" anymore.

 

[Freezasaurus]

It's all faith and thought experiments.

Click to shrink...

Above all, it's a fear of mortality. Religion in general caters to that, which is why so many people still believe.

 

[Panquequera]

Don't believe in the simulation theory and also don't really believe in an afterlives even if I wish it was true at times, either that or reincarnation

 

[Ashes of Dreams]

I understand it's popular to hate on religious people here but "faith is obviously absurd and dumb but simulation theory is more likely" is quite a take.

 

[SofNascimento]

No offense but believing in a simulation scenario, especially one where we continue somehow, is no less absurd than believing in a supernatural afterlife, we have no actual evidence that either of these things is potentially true. It's all faith and thought experiments.

Click to shrink...

I think the difference is that this all being a simulation is actually a real possibility. I'm not saying that I believe it, just that I don't think it's impossible.

 

[Viale]

I like to believe there is something afterwards. Whether that's true or not is ultimately kind of meaningless, I guess though. I'm either right or won't be able to notice I'm wrong.


That being said, I'd rather you didn't so blatantly look down on someone's beliefs just because you don't share them, OP. Not like it affects you at all. There was a way to word your op, and you chose about one of the more dismissive ways you could have.

 

[echoshifting]

I think the difference is that this all being a simulation is actually a real possibility. I'm not saying that I believe it, just that I don't think it's impossible.

Click to shrink...

I don't think it's impossible either, but I also think it's invariably a mistake to begin an argument for this by trying to elevate it over all the other unprovable spiritual stuff people become invested in. Rationally speaking, it's no more or less possible than anything else. It's important to frame it as entirely speculation that is, yes, a little absurd, especially once you start talking about anyone here being repurposed or ascending in some way which is, as Freezasaurus correctly notes, driven less by a growing understanding of the universe and more by the same fear of mortality as any religious interpretation of what's next.

There's really no meaningful distinction.

 

[Soj]

Nothingness.

 

[Jakten]

I think the difference is that this all being a simulation is actually a real possibility. I'm not saying that I believe it, just that I don't think it's impossible.

Click to shrink...

Who's gonna spend that many resources to keep 8 billion people alive just to watch them in a simulation. Presumably in a world which also is full of people who also require sustainence in order to maintain the system.

Unless we are a program, which in that case if we die it's probably not any different than in real life. Like any other program that gets deleted, you make space for something else. Maybe you are a ghost in a non-zeroed sector but once new code is written you'd be gone. It's plausible but unlikely, and no real difference either way. There are a lot things reality has a non-zero plausibility to be.

 

[SofNascimento]

I like to believe there is something afterwards. Whether that's true or not is ultimately kind of meaningless, I guess though. I'm either right or won't be able to notice I'm wrong.


That being said, I'd rather you didn't so blatantly look down on someone's beliefs just because you don't share them, OP. Not like it affects you at all. There was a way to word your op, and you chose about one of the more dismissive ways you could have.

Click to shrink...

You're right. It's just... sometimes I look around me and I'm just convinced, completely and utterly, that there is nothing there. This is what real. This, here. Being in a simulation is the only thing that I can even entertain the idea of being possible, as it is a natural consequence of thinking what an extremely advanced species could accomplish.

And how can someone think differently? Look at the world we live in!

This is just a bad night...

 

[mrbogus]

There are many mysteries left for humanity to uncover. We've only set foot on our closest celestial body, our moon. There's a lot left in this universe to explore, including the inner space of our biological makeup. I'm not going to make blanket assumptions on the nature of my existence and say I and everyone else have no afterlife coming.

I'll remain a despondent fence-sitter on the subject of spirituality. I would like for some nice non-denominational afterlife to be true. There are lots of people and animals I miss.

I just have no real idea. I've read multitudes of near-death experience reports, but as they are they're still anecdotal. I've also read a ton of past-life memory accounts and while some of them sound convincing they too remain in the realm of anecdote.

 

[Ruisu]

OP I don't think I understand why it would be more likely to be something meaningful after we die if this is a simulation rather than if it isn't. Surely if we are in a simulation the chances that we are even real people connected to some sort of supercomputer in the first place is much lower, instead of just simulated data and AI?

If the world is a simulation, we're probably all completely artificial rather than actual consciousness plugged in.

 

[AlgusUnderdunk]

Level 2.

 

[subrock]

I don't think of a simulation as in someone playing me in a video game, I think of it as some advanced computer simulating universes to determine outcomes of complex problems. In that case I think we simply cease to exist when the problem is solved and we're none the wiser

 

[Hecht]

Locked at OP's request.