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Comment by hirundo | Hacker News Reader

If it is a simulation, what are the odds that it's a game? The great majority of simulations that we know about are games.

If it is a game, what are the odds that you are a non player character? In games, the vast majority of characters aren't the player.

So if we are living in a computer simulation, odds are that we're non player characters.

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> In games, the vast majority of characters aren't the player.

Actually it depends on the type of a game, maybe we're in an equivalent of a huge Hypixel server with us being players and animals being NPCs. Occasional admin interventions are perceived as UFO abductions and generally laughed at...

One particularity of this game is that there is no pre-existing set of universal rules: you are getting to know them from your parents, other people, "holy" and less holy books etc. - and even when you die you can never be 100% sure that the rules you learned were the ones to follow.

I think probably as likely as the earth is at the center of the universe. The simulation theory as fun as it is to imagine I think is more like the earth being flat or center of the universe type thinking … it more comes from our imagination then from our observation

Our observations are driving the comparison, no? People are trying to make sense of existence but only have their personal experiences and knowledge to use as evidence.

In that case NPCs are the real people of the simulation. It is the playable character that knows it is not real. The NPCs are simulated to act and behave like independent entities with their own drivers and motivations. Therefore the NPCs are actually the most free characters in the simulation. The playable character just does what it is told by the player.

Maybe you are not an NPC but an actual playable character to someone and the whole concept of you thinking that you are in control is part of the system.

But yeah, odds are much higher you are just an NPC for decorative purposes ...

If I was someone like Elon or Obama I’d for sure think I’m a PC in a simulation.

cries in solipsism

crisis in solipsism is signalling suboptimal self-control

...some serving of shrooms seems suggestive to spiritual salvation...

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