Although the possibilities – of what the Overlords could do to change the simulation – are endless, the major, driving fear is that they switch us off. While it could be argued that we would never know/feel we were switched off has some comfort, most of us prefer to wake up tomorrow versus dying peacefully in our sleep.
It turns out that some scholars have put great thought into what might cause our simulation to end, and I will summarise those here.
We Discover/Determine/Prove We are in a Simulation
Opinions are divided on this. On the one hand, just like we have double-blind tests for drugs, it can be critical that the subjects do not know what is going on. But on the other, maybe they want us to show them what such a discovery looks like, in case it ever happens in their world.
Resources Run Out
For all we know, the simulation is funded by a kid’s pocket money and next week he decides to buy a bicycle instead. We cannot know what constraints may or may not exist. But the more simulations that exist, I think the more easily each can end.
We Drain the Resources
The more instances of people there are, the more they need to be shown their current environment, which costs more compute. On top of that, scientific experiments, quantum experiments, quantum computers, exploration, digitisation and even space travel can all cause a need for an increase in computing resources. We cannot know if there is a limit, and if that limit is reached, we will likely notice and ruin the simulation. That is a good argument cease such things.
The biggie is if we use computers to create simulations of our world, and then those simulations create their own, and at some point it all gets too much. But given that our planet has finite resources, all currently being managed with the resources available, it makes sense that the computations are not a burden for us, so they are not for our benefactors.
And arguably that is the situation we are in (nested simulations) and it is still operating…
We Achieve the Goal
Again, we cannot know what that goal is, it could be the creation of a pop song that pleases the boyfriend of the Overlord. Or interstellar travel.
But also any suggestion that we are not working towards that goal could be a reason to end us early.
If we somehow knew what we were supposed to do to beat the game—and thus incur a shutdown—and then purposefully avoided it, that could also result in a shutdown because we would be trying to willfully dodge what we as sims were made to do in the first place!*
We Go Off Track
This is my favourite, because it aligns with the morals and ethics of most people anyway, regardless of simulation theory. If the simulation has goals we cannot possibly know, I would suggest they are more likely to be positive, adventurous, intelligent,, benevolent outcomes because the possibilities are infinite.
Whereas negative outcomes like starvation, ruining the planet, world wars, nuclear wars and human extinction don’t take much imagination and are not too hard for us to achieve. The odds are they do not want this.
By Accident
Literally someone tripping on the power cable, or forgetting to pay the bill. While that sounds like something beyond our control, the more interesting and valuable we become to the Overlords, potentially the more care they will take. They won’t take less care.
We Break It
Similar to the resources issue, but rather than the amount of resources available, what if we do something that the system cannot handle computationally? Likewise a bug or glitch could occur. My strong preference is to keep away from any quantum computing, and if SASO ever has a radical branch I think it would be stopping quantum.
Further Reading
*This post was always in the back of my mind but prompted by an excellent overview of the above – presented much more intelligently – by Elliot Edge’s paper Testing the Simulation Hypothesis: The Annihilation of the Universe and Campbell’s Consciousness-Based Alternative