Simulated reality
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Simulated reality is the proposition that reality could be simulated—perhaps by computer simulation—to a degree indistinguishable from "true" reality. It could contain conscious minds which may or may not know that they are living inside a simulation. In its strongest form, the "simulation hypothesis" claims it is possible and even probable that we are actually living in such a simulation.
This is different from the current, technologically achievable concept of virtual reality. Virtual reality is easily distinguished from the experience of "true" reality; participants are never in doubt about the nature of what they experience. Simulated reality, by contrast, would be hard or impossible to distinguish from "true" reality.
The idea of a simulated reality raises several questions:
- Is it possible, even in principle, to tell whether we are in a simulated reality?
- Is there any difference between a simulated reality and a "real" one?
- How should we behave if we knew that we were living in a simulated reality?
