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The Simulation Argument is a thesis set out in a 2003 paper <ref>Bostrom, N., (2003), Philosophical Quarterly , Vol. 53, No. 211, pp. 243-255. , available from: http://www.simulation-argument.com/simulation.html</ref> by [[Nick Bostrom]], a [[transhumanism| Transhumanist]] philospher, in which he argues that the scenario depicted in the film [[The Matrix]] is correct, and that the world that we see around us is merely a [[computer simulation]].

The '''Simulation Argument''' is a thesis set out in a 2003 paper<ref>Bostrom, N., (2003), Philosophical Quarterly , Vol. 53, No. 211, pp. 243-255. , available from: http://www.simulation-argument.com/simulation.html</ref> by [[Nick Bostrom]], a [[transhumanism| Transhumanist]] philosopher, in which he argues that the scenario depicted in the film [[The Matrix]] is correct, and that the world that we see around us is merely a [[computer simulation]].

This paper begins by arguing for the logic disjunction between the following three propositions propositions:  

This paper begins by arguing for the logic disjunction between the following three propositions propositions:  

# The human species is very likely to go extinct before reaching a “posthuman” stage;  

# The human species is very likely to go extinct before reaching a "post-human" stage;  

# Any posthuman civilization is extremely unlikely to run a significant number of simulations of their evolutionary history (or variations thereof);  

# Any post-human civilization is extremely unlikely to run a significant number of simulations of their evolutionary history (or variations thereof);  

# We are almost certainly living in a computer simulation.  

# We are almost certainly living in a computer simulation.  

The paper then goes on to argue that as there is a significant chance that we will one day become posthumans who run ancestor-simulations, therefore it is almost certain that we are living in a computer simulation <ref> see [[Nick Bostrom]]'s website at http://www.simulation-argument.com/</ref> Since 2003 there has been a lot of interest in the idea, especially with the online community.<ref> see, for example the debates and material at: http://www.simulism.org</ref>

The paper then goes on to argue that as there is a significant chance that we will one day become post-humans who run ancestor-simulations, therefore it is almost certain that we are living in a computer simulation<ref> see [[Nick Bostrom]]'s website at http://www.simulation-argument.com/</ref> Since 2003 there has been a lot of interest in the idea, especially with the online community.<ref> see, for example the debates and material at: http://www.simulism.org</ref>

==References==

==References==

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[[category:philosophy]]

[[category:philosophy]]