Phil 1101 1st Edition Lecture 9Outline of Last Lecture I. Descartes and SkepticismII. The Skeptical ChallengeIII. First PremiseIV. Descartes’ StrategyV. 2nd MeditationOutline of Current Lecture I. Appearance and RealityII. Assumption 1III. Assumption 2IV. Assumption 3V. ConclusionVI. The Big QuestionsCurrent LectureI. Appearance and Realitya. Given certain assumptions, it’s highly probable that we are all sims, or computer simulationsII. Assumption 1a. Some fraction of people survive to reach “technological maturity”i. Such people have super-powerful computersIII. Assumption 2a. (some) people in the future are interested in running ancestor-simulationsIV. Assumption 3a. The number of ancestor-simulations run by future civilizations far outnumbers the number of people that have lived in a civilization before it reaches technological maturityThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.V. Conclusiona. Given these assumptions, it is far more likely that you are a simulation rather than notb. Rejecting the assumptions?i. He doesn’t say we are or that it’s even probable that we are simulationsii. Humanity doesn’t surviveiii. Future civilizations don’t run simulationsiv. Future civilizations don’t run very many simulationsVI. The Big Questionsa. Is reality as it appears to be? That is, do we really know what we think we know?b. Do we really care?c. Reasons to care:i. We value the truth over deceptionii. We want to know if we are in control of our own fated. Alternative explanation:i. If we are simulations, that doesn’t mean we are wrong about our ordinary lifeii. It is just that the nature of human bodies, chairs, stairs, and so on is different than we currently think it
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