(September 5, 2013 at 11:03 am)pineapplebunnybounce Wrote: Don't quite understand, so in this computer theory, we're part of the software, yes?
If we say the entire universe is a software, how does that change what we're dealing with? Because we are still observing the same things, just you choose to call it a program? I mean is there any practical differences that is required for the universe to be a program (by your definition), that the universe wouldn't have if it wasn't a program? If no, then it really is just a matter of taste what you call it.
Well if you assume that the universe is a program, or more likely a huge number of programs running together then you could re-create it on a computer of your own.
As time in that program would be independent of time in yours you could, in theory, accelerate time in your version and overtake time in your own.
This would, of necessity create within your software another program which would do the same relative to that program and so on and so forth ad infinitum.
This would mean that relative to you several generations down the chain the universes would be massively more advanced than yours - you would have a perfect window on the future.
This would raise hundreds of other issues and questions of course. For one thing it would tell us that time in our universe cannot be assumed to be linear, other than relative to our experience of it. The entire universe could be paused and restarted without us having a clue what has happened.
Its also possible that changes are being made which impact our memories (including written form) so we have no idea whether our recalled histories are common from one day to the next.
It all goes a bit Dark City from there on in if you have ever seen that movie.
