Right at this very moment, scientists are working on realistic simulations of our universe. What if, at some point, a simulation gets so good that it gives rise to our solar system, our planet, and our species? Even more interesting, what if that's already happened and we're living in that very simulation? Many popular figures think this isn't just possible, but likely, while others say it's next to impossible. Who's right? The most popular argument for what's known as the simulation hypothesis came from University of Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrom. In a 2003 paper, he put it this way: "If there were a substantial chance that our civilization will ever get to the posthuman stage and run many ancestor ‐ simulations, then how come you are not living in such a simulation?" He followed that up with a Fermi-paradox-esque formula laying out the likely number of all "observers with human-type experiences" — people like you and me — based on
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