Are we living in a simulation?

Let me share some thoughts on the question of whether we are living in a simulation and how likely it is that simulated universes exist. I will present a point of view where such scenario is quite likely and is even a natural consequence of evolution as we know it.

Let's start by observation of our civilization. Development of faster and more capable information processing tools (in our world they are called "computers" and this development is Moore's Law) inevitably leads to the phenomenon of emergence, when an artificially created system acquires properties that its author cannot predict and does not even understand. This is exactly what happened on a truly massive scale last year, in 2023, in the field of AI, when the first surprisingly good chat tools of general artificial intelligence emerged, unprecedented until then and even unexpected among experts. An advanced emergent system may then also have consciousness (but we are unable to confirm, disprove, or even define this - so the question of whether the system has consciousness is unfortunately meaningless). But we do know that such a system will greatly accelerate the development of knowledge - we are able to infer this from our brief experience so far with emergent systems such as neural networks. Likewise, we are able to deduce that we are unable to control emergent systems by our primitive means (see, for example, the algorithms of Google and Microsoft, which are desperate to prevent their systems from being misused to perform illegal or violent acts, but these barriers can be easily circumvented by asking the system, for example, for advice on what to avoid or to consider a hypothetical situation - and this is where the qualitative difference between an emergent and an algorithmic system becomes clear). However, if we are unable to control emergent systems, it can be inferred that such systems will evolve completely autonomously and decide their own direction. Thus, a new, higher layer of intelligence will emerge that will escape the hands of the intelligence that created it and follow its own evolutionary path. But then this new, higher intelligence will very likely develop its own "computers", i.e. other and even more advanced information processing technologies, which will be again an order of magnitude higher in capability than ours. Such systems may regain "consciousness", again in a new quality. For now, however, we are still part of our world; artificial intelligence is not creating a new world. But even that is only a matter of time. Indeed, emergent systems themselves are so interesting that they attract intelligence, whether "natural" or artificial, to examine their principles more closely. And how else to investigate the phenomenon of emergence than by observing it in some artificial environment, separated as far as possible from our real world, so as to filter out influences that would disturb this observation? Quite naturally, then, we (or the AI) decide to create some sort of "sandbox" to simulate another world. We can suggest that at this point we become the creators, or something like gods, of that new world. In reality, however, our role begins and ends with the mere creation of the environment and rules. From that moment on, we are just observers - not omniscient beings who understand everything that happens in this emergent environment. Yes, the creation of the rules can be seen as the role of God, but it cannot be said that the God who established the rules (such as the laws of physics) is smarter than what he created. 

But evolution doesn't stop there either. So now we have a new "sandbox", a new universe, carefully separated from ours. And here we are again at the beginning of evolution; a new intelligence, this time in a sterile separate environment, can begin to evolve according to the rules we have set for it. Even in this simulated environment, consciousness can arise; even this intelligence in the simulation will eventually develop its advanced information processing tools ("computers"), and with their help it will create a new, even higher type of consciousness. And, of course, this consciousness may also begin to test the ubiquitous phenomenon of emergence, and to do so, create another simulation of another world that will be part of the original simulation. And once again we find ourselves at the beginning of a new world, this time with parameters defined by the intelligence that has evolved in the simulation. And so on, the recursive evolution of new universes continues.

This reflection leads us to the interesting conclusion that even if we accept the hypothesis that there is a simulation, there are still underlying mechanisms that are not controlled by the creator of the simulation. The second conclusion then is that the creator, or God, may be at a lower level of intelligence than his creation.