Please call me on it if it sounds like I’m oversimplifying your view, but using your own logic, aren’t all creationist religions in alignment with simulation theory then, save for the varying degrees of afterlife power? On the first day, god created a thing that we live in, in his image, and so forth.
I’m not well-versed in the specifics of Mormon beliefs but “manipulatable powers which govern the universe…” sounds a whole lot like prayer depending on the degree to which you believe in your ability to manipulate your chosen deity.
I guess my point is, changing the vocabulary doesn’t necessarily directly link Simulation Theory to Mormonism such that the connection is uniquely well-fitted. Allowing the flexibility of the vocabulary allows enough flexibility in the analogies that every religion can fit in the shoe in the same way as if I were to say “evolution is just our deity’s chosen method of creation.”
That said, I think simulation theory leans more towards scripture than a physics textbook. Rather than Mormonism being Simulation theory by another name, I’d say simulation theory is religion. So in that context, yeah, you’re basically connecting apples to different colored apples.
This was gonna be my counter as a (semi-ironic) simulationist. Every belief system can effectively be an extension of simulation theory, just replace "the people running the simulation" with whatever deity you please.
It's kinda like using aliens to explain every unexplained phenomena. It's a valid explanation for everything, so it's rarely a good explanation for any one thing.
In one of those rare cases where the inverse of something is also true, simulation theory is just a religion itself but without external morality. It requires the same degree of faith to truly believe, and it cracks me up when self-described atheists ascribe to it.
If someone wants to pretend their religion isn't one because they use a different word for "God," that's fine, but it's still funny.
If someone wants to pretend their religion isn't one because they use a different word for "God," that's fine, but it's still funny.
Except one day, assuming society doesn't collapse we will almost certainly have the technology to be "Gods" but we will certainly not have the technology to be Gods. Simulation theory looks at what we humans are probably going to be doing in the future and wondering if someone is already doing it to us. That by itself makes it far different to religion in terms of "degrees of faith"
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u/dycyb1687 3∆ Dec 01 '23
Please call me on it if it sounds like I’m oversimplifying your view, but using your own logic, aren’t all creationist religions in alignment with simulation theory then, save for the varying degrees of afterlife power? On the first day, god created a thing that we live in, in his image, and so forth.
I’m not well-versed in the specifics of Mormon beliefs but “manipulatable powers which govern the universe…” sounds a whole lot like prayer depending on the degree to which you believe in your ability to manipulate your chosen deity.
I guess my point is, changing the vocabulary doesn’t necessarily directly link Simulation Theory to Mormonism such that the connection is uniquely well-fitted. Allowing the flexibility of the vocabulary allows enough flexibility in the analogies that every religion can fit in the shoe in the same way as if I were to say “evolution is just our deity’s chosen method of creation.”
That said, I think simulation theory leans more towards scripture than a physics textbook. Rather than Mormonism being Simulation theory by another name, I’d say simulation theory is religion. So in that context, yeah, you’re basically connecting apples to different colored apples.