An Argument Against Simulation Theory

Turtles all the Way Down

By Rafe Diefenbach

There are three assumptions of simulation theory, that if proven would make it a one in infinity that we are ‘Base Reality’. The assumptions are; (1) It is technologically possible for advanced civilizations to create highly sophisticated simulations that are indistinguishable from reality to the inhabitants within them. (2) There exists a motivation for creating such simulations. (3) Beings in the simulation can be conscious. These are not all the things that must be true but are the main ones. If true, you are living in a simulation.

Another part of simulation theory is that it could be possible for a simulated world to create another simulated world, this is sometimes called Turtles All the Way Down. If true this would mean that the chances of any single world being in the ‘real world’ would be one in infinity. This article aims to prove that this would be impossible

A world simulated in a computer would use that computer's computing power. Every computer, no matter how large or powerful, has a limit. A simulated world inside of a simulated world would use more computing power than just one simulated world. Eventually, with worlds in worlds, the computer would run out of computing power, leading to another simulation being impossible to create.

This does not mean that the number of worlds that can be created is not inconceivably large, it means that it cannot be infinite. But the difference between a number so large you may as well call infinite is also the difference between possible and impossible.

It is unfair to assume that a universe outside of ours could even have the chance to look like something we know. A ‘computer’ could be a completely imagined toy from the concept of a pile of ‘matter’ that ‘thinks’ it is ‘amusing’.

May 15th, 2024