Repost: Quantum Interrogation | Cosmic Variance | Discover Magazine

http://mblogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2010/05/26/repost-quantum-interrogation/

Pete Mandik
www.petemandik.com

A PATCH FOR THE SIMULATION ARGUMENT

A PATCH FOR THE SIMULATION ARGUMENT [.pdf]

Nick Bostrom
Future of Humanity Institute
Faculty of Philosophy & James Martin 21st Century School
University of Oxford

Marcin Kulczycki
Institute of Mathematics
Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science
Jagiellonian University

(2010) [under review]
www.simulation-argument.com

Abstract
This article reports on a newly discovered bug in the original simulation argument. Two different ways of patching the argument are proposed, each of which preserves the original conclusion.

The bug
An earlier paper by one of us (N.B.) argues that, having accepted some plausible assumptions, one must conclude that at least one of three propositions is true:

(1) The human species is very likely to go extinct before reaching a posthuman
stage
(2) The fraction of posthuman civilizations that are interested in running a
significant number of ancestor simulations is extremely small.
(3) We are almost certainly living in a computer simulation.

This paper has generated several commentaries from the philosophical and scientific community and has drawn considerable interest from the wider public. What has so far passed unnoticed is a mathematical non sequitur in the original
paper.

Blindsight (science fiction novel) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Blindsight (science fiction novel) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Eighty years in the future, Earth becomes aware of an alien presence when thousands of micro-satellites surveil the Earth; through good luck, the incoming alien vessel is detected, and the ship Theseus, with its artificial intelligence captain and crew of five, are sent out to engage in first contact with the huge alien vessel called Rorschach. As they explore the vessel and attempt to analyze it and its inhabitants, the narrator considers his life and strives to understand himself and ponders the nature of intelligence and consciousness, their utility, and what an alien mind might be like. Eventually the crew realizes that they are greatly outmatched by the vessel and its unconscious but extremely capable inhabitants.

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Hypercube

Quotes:

Hypercube

The user can rotate around the hypercube, or perform direct-manipulation rotations in 4D.\n\nFor a 4D rotation, the 3D vector described by the dragging of the mouse in the plane of the screen combined with the 4D unit vector (0 0 0 1) specify two basis vectors of a four-dimensional plane of rotation.\n\nThis is a lot more intuitive than a set of sliders.\n\nBefore I show an example of the 4D rotation, wrap your head around this simple 3D rotation of a regular old cube.\n\n        

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The Man Who Folded Himself - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The Man Who Folded Himself - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Daniel Eakins inherits a belt from his uncle that allows him to travel in time. This results in a series of time paradoxes, which are only resolved by the existence of multiple universes and multiple histories. Eakins, who repeatedly encounters alternate versions of himself, finds himself in progressively more bizarre situations. Much of the book deals with the psychological, physical, and personal challenges that manifest when time travel is possible for a single individual at the touch of a button. Eakins repeatedly meets himself; has sex with himself; and ultimately cohabitates with an opposite-sex version of himself. He spends much of his own contorted lifetime at an extended party with dozens of versions of himself at different ages, before understanding the true nature of the gathering, and his true identity.

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Susan Schneider on Future Brains

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Susan Schneider on Future Brains

In this video, Susan Schneider, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, discusses "Future Brains: How Might Our Great-Great-Grandchildren Think (and Will They Still Be Human?)."

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Egan's Reasons to be Cheerful

This is one of my all-time-favorite short stories: Greg Egan's Reasons
to be Cheerful.

[update 5/19/2010: link removed at Greg Egan's request]