31 - Are We Living in a Simulation? with the SONS OF THUNDER

Is the Universe a Simulation?

Have you ever wondered if the world around you was actually an illusion? It might seem silly to even entertain the idea, but believe it or not this is a very hot topic in some philosophical (and pop-philosophical) circles right now. Everyone from Elon Musk, to Joe Rogan, to Neil deGrasse Tyson have publicly wondered aloud about whether we are living in some kind of computer simulation.

It makes for some very interesting podcast listening, but the question, Are we living in a simulation, actually turns out to be harder to answer than it might appear at first. So, are we living in a simulation?

PEOPLE, RESOURCES AND ARTICLES MENTIONED IN THIS PODCAST EPISODE

• Renee Descartes’ “cogito, ergo sum”
  
• The Mandela Effect
  
• James Anderson’s article, “Are We Living in a Computer Simulation?”
  
• Nick Bostrom
  
• The Principle of Parsimony (Occam’s Razor)
  
• Alvin Plantinga’s Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism
  

For the complete show notes, go to TheThink.Institute.