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  • The Simulation Hypothesis: An MIT Computer Scientist Shows Why AI, Quantum Physics, and Eastern Mystics All Agree We Are in a Video Game

  • By: Rizwan Virk
  • Narrated by: Kory Getman
  • Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (20 ratings)

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The Simulation Hypothesis: An MIT Computer Scientist Shows Why AI, Quantum Physics, and Eastern Mystics All Agree We Are in a Video Game cover art

The Simulation Hypothesis: An MIT Computer Scientist Shows Why AI, Quantum Physics, and Eastern Mystics All Agree We Are in a Video Game

By: Rizwan Virk
Narrated by: Kory Getman
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Publisher's Summary

The Simulation Hypothesis, by best-selling author, renowned MIT computer scientist, and Silicon Valley video game designer Rizwan Virk, explains one of the most daring and consequential theories of our time.

Drawing from research and concepts from computer science, artificial intelligence, video games, quantum physics, and referencing both speculative fiction and ancient eastern spiritual texts, Virk shows how all of these traditions come together to point to the idea that we may be inside a simulated reality like the Matrix.

The Simulation Hypothesis is the idea that our physical reality, far from being a solid physical universe, is part of an increasingly sophisticated video game-like simulation, where we all have multiple lives, consisting of pixels with its own internal clock run by some giant Artificial Intelligence. Simulation theory explains some of the biggest mysteries of quantum and relativistic physics, such as quantum indeterminacy, parallel universes, and the integral nature of the speed of light.

“There’s a one in a billion chance we are not living in a simulation.” (Elon Musk)

“I find it hard to argue we are not in a simulation.” (Neil deGrasse Tyson)

“We are living in computer generated reality.” (Philip K. Dick)

Video game designer Riz Virk shows how the history and evolution of our video games, including virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing could lead us to the point of being able to develop all encompassing virtual worlds like the Oasis in Ready Player One, or the simulated reality in The Matrix.

While the idea sounds like science fiction, many scientists, engineers, and professors have given the simulation hypothesis serious consideration. But the simulation hypothesis is not just a modern idea. Philosophers and mystics of all traditions have long contended that we are living in some kind of “illusion“ and that there are other realities which we can access with our minds.

Whether you are a computer scientist, a fan of science fiction like The Matrix movies, a video game enthusiast, or a spiritual seeker, The Simulation Hypothesis touches on all these areas, and you will never look at the world the same way again!

©2019 Rizwan Virk (P)2019 Rizwan Virk

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Game changer or should I say, expander!

This is undoubtedly one of the most important book I have ever read. It perfectly marries my scientific self with my spiritual self and has given me so much more motivation to learn more about the science behind this theory. I will never see the world in the same way again.

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A clear and concise explanation of how we could be living in a computer simulation

Of the books I have read so far on the Simulation Argument, this book provides the clearest explanation of how we could be in a computer simulation based on what we know of our world, where we have been with spiritually and where we are going with technology. As can be expected with Rizwan’s background in computer games, he spends much of the book covering how a simulation we could be living in compares with a computer game. His reasoning is strong enough to convince many that we live in a computer simulation. Although he touched on the role of advanced artificial intelligence and the possibility of other dimensions with different laws of physics, most of his discussion was within our current knowledge of physics. As he covered, advanced AI and the Simulation are intertwined. The consequence of this and the technical singularity is that advanced AI would likely throw our scientific models out the window and many of the limitations and design aspects of the simulation Rizwan described become irrelevant. Rizwan covered the two scenarios of a NPC only and a PC simulation but not much about a simulation with both and how they would get on. I would have liked Rizwan to have expanded more on the possible commercial justification of a simulation for humans based on his activities in venture capital investments and come up with potential strategies for commercial interests. He touched on nested simulations but did not expand on how the resolution of a simulation inside a simulation changes and the implication of higher level simulations having higher level technologies, beliefs and agendas. These topics were covered in another book on the Simulation Argument : The Word of Bob - an AI Minecraft Villager. I would have also liked him to expand on the question of a simulation censuring information about itself to preserve its appearance of being real. I wonder if he has experienced that in his efforts to spread more information about the simulation argument.

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This Book Compells The Matrix Is Real…

Highly recommend this read for those who have been on the spiritual path of enlightenment and who have arrived at the theory we are in a simulation or are seeking answers about The Matrix we can all sense, and our purpose within it! Excellent read!

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It went for too long

The book could have been much more shorter had it not focussed so much on video gaming. I get the reference point but to me sim theory is so much more than trying to compare video game tech and the history of the industry.

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