--- title: "Professor Insists That We Actually DON’T Live in a Simulation" description: "Bad news, folks — if this decorated philosopher/theoretical physicist is to be believed, we may not be living in a simulation after all." date: "2023-01-11" modified: "2023-01-11" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/physicist-insists-not-simulation" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "philosophy" - "simulation theory" - "the digest" - "theoretical physics" --- # Professor Insists That We Actually DON’T Live in a Simulation ![Bad news, folks — if this decorated philosopher/theoretical physicist is to be believed, we may not be living in a simulation after all.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Sim Earth Bad news, simulation theorists — if this decorated philosopher and theoretical physicist is to be believed, we may be responsible for our world and its outcomes after all. "It’s way too convenient to blame our current mess on powers beyond our control," Dartmouth College physics and philosophy scholar [Marcelo Gleiser wrote]() in an editorial for the Institute of Arts and Ideas. "In fact, this sort of 'not my fault' sounds a lot like the religious 'it’s God’s will.' Not our fault, not our responsibility, 'they' are doing this to us." ## Sips Reality Gleiser, a [Templeton prize laureate](), pointed out what he considers to be key fallacies in the original simulation theory as posited by Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrom. First, he argues, if we are living in a simulation run by a superhuman race, there's nothing stopping them from being part of a simulation themselves, a line of thinking that could result in an absurd chain of simulated realities. Second, the Dartmouth scholar wrote, is the open question of *why* any post-human or alien species would want to simulate humanity at its current level. "When dealing with the actions of an unknown intelligence the essential question is their Why," he mused. "And we have no intuition whatsoever about their intentionality, as we hardly have about ours." ## Rivers of Nihil Gleiser argues that regardless of the unknowable truth of reality, the manner in which the "simulation argument messes with our self-esteem" is making believers "give up \[their\] sense of autonomy" and become nihilists — which is, as he demonstrated, not at all a good thing. "After all, if it’s all a big game that we can’t control, why bother?" he wrote. "What difference could my actions or sense of purpose make?" "This is the danger with this kind of nihilistic philosophical argument, to turn us into what it’s claiming we are, so that we give up our will to fight for what we believe in and change what must be changed," Gleiser concluded. "Let us make sure that we don’t confuse conjectured philosophical arguments with our very real socio-political reality, especially now." **More on theoretical physics:** [*Traveling Faster Than Light Would Mean Experiencing Multiple Timelines Simultaneously*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()