Years back I wrote about how obviously influenced by the drug war the Transhumanist movement is, and I'd been meaning to do a follow up regarding the sheer ridiculousness of simulation theory for apparently more than a half decade and just haven't gotten around to it. Now seemed to be as good a time as any for whatever reason. Oh wait, a dude named Rodney Asher who once interviewed me about astral projection has a new movie about the concept that's getting craptons of buzz after Sundance, and also features one of my all time favorite musicians. On top of that I'm super COVID bored, so I'm guessing that means it's probably time.
Wow, where do I even start here? Maybe I should start with a shameless plug for my new book. Nah, I feel like I almost have to get into a wee bit of basic theory in alternative spiritual philosophy first. While I do, keep in mind that this is absolutely the simplest shit in the universe. Couldn't be simpler. Seriously, this is only going to take a few sentences, the problem is that it goes against what you've been taught so you're going to fight it with every fiber of your essence, because that's how human psychology works. I know I did when I first started geeking out on this shit. Why? Western society is a joke. Just full blown bat-shitshow cosmic parody art project territory. Keep that in mind while reviewing these super duper complex (but somehow shockingly difficult for westerners to digest) concepts:
You know how most modern academic thought is based on the idea that we can solve the world's problems by studying repeating patterns in what we refer to as the material world? Well, as it turns out, there have always been multiple other shamanic/occult philosophies arguing sort of the exact opposite i.e. that we'll only truly understand existence by turning inward. To one, inner states of consciousness are an illusion. To the other, the material realm is a mirage.
Hmmm, why does that second perspective sound familiar? Oh yeah, that's what simulation theory is when get right down to it. It's an update on dream theory, or moreover, the thing mystics have been trying to point out to everyone for, hmmm, let me check again...huh...weird. Looks like the entirety of human history is still the only correct answer to that question. But why would that be? Well, as one of those mystics, I can field that. What fun we're having.
Look, I know this is difficult to grok, but most people dream. And yet academic science, to this day, does not have an explanation for this quite fundamental aspect of human psychology. They willingly admit this if pressed I might point out, you just have to pay attention. On the other hand, there are people like me (and there have always been people like me) who put their time and energy into intentionally intensifying these states. It's sort of what we do. Since this happens to be the rather unique area of very specified expertise I've devoted my life to for the last 25 years (I did start as teenager but yeah, wow, I just hit that mark didn't I?), I suppose it's up to me to point out the obvious, which I'll kick off by explaining a typical lucid dream in my particular microverse.
Keep in mind that this is something I've experienced at this point now roughly twice a week for the last quarter century. Yet, even though it has happened to me roughly (runs the numbers) 2,600 times, I'm more than used to it but the experience still retains a bit of fundamental astonishment nearly every time, to this day. It usually goes something like this:
I find myself lost in an unfamiliar identity when suddenly I realize that I'm dreaming. Except that it feels exactly like supposed "real" life so there's a level of confusion. I've actually been getting better at recognizing the subtle but slightly surreal sensation of it all, but I still sometimes need to prove it to myself. Let me say that again, even though I'm suspicious of the idea that I might be dreaming and latching onto it, it all feels so "real" that I can't accept the "reality" of that conclusion. I used to have to put my hand through walls just to get myself to believe that I wasn't awake in a traditional sense. The wall would give resistance for a few seconds, then my hand would go through it like I was a ghost. Quite the obvious metaphor I must say.
Of course you realize that this throws the idea that consciousness flows from the outside in completely on its head right? You do get that right? No, seriously, all of my sensory input is essentially turned off when this is happening. I'm in the dark literally, and yet I'm in an environment designed by strange unconscious processes that comes across as just as "real" as anything I wander into while awake. It's often more beautiful if I'm being honest, and even when I get hip to the fact that I'm dreaming, I don't entirely remember who I am on the other side of it all. I have a vague familiarity with skewed details of who my "human" self is, but no way to verify it with any sort of accuracy while on the inside. Most of the time I don't really care, as I'm too enamored with the fact that I'm now an entire world rather than merely a person.
But that doesn't happen to everyone? Here's where I suggest trying. There are things you can do to intensify dream states, most people simply don't do them. There are zero societal institutions encouraging anyone to, but if you think I'm making this up, science has straight proven that lucid dreaming's legit. We've officially known that since the 70's. Just because it doesn't happen to you, doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
So then, the theory is that because just recently computers have sort of started to be able to create virtual environments that technically aren't even a tiny fraction as complex as the ones our imaginations have always had the ability to create, we're probably living in a computer simulation. That's what you're running with? Computers. It doesn't track. The narrative's what then?
I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm glad people are taking a concept borne from inner exploration seriously in the first place, it's just cute how they're looking in the complete wrong direction. Let the writer in me point out that no one can process mathematics unless they are first embedded in a parent written/spoken linguistic framework. But the world's truly made of math huh? You can keep running from this but it'll always be there taunting you; chillin' at the finish line on the other side, waiting for you to catch up.
I must confess that until digging into the hype for this film, I wasn't even aware Elon Musk is into this obvious capitalist groupthink insanity, but I'm not surprised. As long as we're talking about illogical nonsense, why does it take a dude who writes about his astral communications with sprawling daemonic hive minds to point out that the douche king of the tech bros is clearly insane. Dangerously bughouse in the worst of ways. His plan to stave off environmental collapse is to go to a planet where, get this, the environment is already inhospitable to humans.
It doesn't add up skipper, never will. The world's a dream, a film, a video game, a simulation, a reality tv show (and a sketchy exploitive one at that), whatever you want to go with. All science is doing is creating new metaphors for this much deeper fundamental reality. It's like the math embedded in the words. If you want to believe it's computers creating this particular corner of crazyville, in your world it's computers, but please take a sec to contemplate why that does not compute on a level of basic narrative coherence.
Humans lived tens of thousands of years, and the whole point was to eventually create incredibly rudimentary versions of the technology that would eventually create them or, uhhh, was creating them all along? That was the point? You do know we're sort of light years away from birthing anything as interesting as a dog with computers yet right? They've been here the whole time. How are you going to program lucid dreaming into a simulation when you don't even know what lucid dreaming is, by your own admission? This is what happens when you insist that the world is made of matter and that people are smart. You forget that it's truly made of stories, and that story's utter crap.
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