simulation argument
E708978
The simulation argument is a philosophical hypothesis suggesting that advanced civilizations could create highly realistic computer simulations of conscious beings, raising the possibility that our own reality might be such a simulation.
All labels observed (2)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Are You Living in a Computer Simulation? | 1 |
| simulation argument canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T8072501 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: simulation argument Context triple: [Niklas Boström, notableIdea, simulation argument]
-
A.
von Neumann probe
A von Neumann probe is a hypothetical self-replicating spacecraft designed to explore and potentially colonize the galaxy by using local materials to create copies of itself.
-
B.
Chinese Room
The Chinese Room is an ornate, historically themed observation lounge located near the top of Seattle’s Smith Tower, known for its carved woodwork and panoramic city views.
-
C.
Proof of an External World
Proof of an External World is a famous 1939 philosophical paper by G. E. Moore in which he defends common-sense realism by offering a straightforward argument for the existence of the external world.
-
D.
Turing test
The Turing test is a benchmark in artificial intelligence that evaluates a machine's ability to exhibit human-like intelligence by determining whether its responses are indistinguishable from those of a human in conversation.
-
E.
anthropic principle
The anthropic principle is a philosophical and scientific idea that explains the universe’s observed properties by noting they must be compatible with the existence of observers like us.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: simulation argument Target entity description: The simulation argument is a philosophical hypothesis suggesting that advanced civilizations could create highly realistic computer simulations of conscious beings, raising the possibility that our own reality might be such a simulation.
-
A.
von Neumann probe
A von Neumann probe is a hypothetical self-replicating spacecraft designed to explore and potentially colonize the galaxy by using local materials to create copies of itself.
-
B.
Chinese Room
The Chinese Room is an ornate, historically themed observation lounge located near the top of Seattle’s Smith Tower, known for its carved woodwork and panoramic city views.
-
C.
Proof of an External World
Proof of an External World is a famous 1939 philosophical paper by G. E. Moore in which he defends common-sense realism by offering a straightforward argument for the existence of the external world.
-
D.
Turing test
The Turing test is a benchmark in artificial intelligence that evaluates a machine's ability to exhibit human-like intelligence by determining whether its responses are indistinguishable from those of a human in conversation.
-
E.
anthropic principle
The anthropic principle is a philosophical and scientific idea that explains the universe’s observed properties by noting they must be compatible with the existence of observers like us.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (52)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
hypothesis
ⓘ
philosophical argument ⓘ thought experiment ⓘ |
| assumes |
future civilizations may have enormous computing resources
ⓘ
it is possible in principle to simulate human-like minds on computers ⓘ |
| conclusionType | disjunctive conclusion ⓘ |
| coreClaim | at least one of three propositions about future civilizations and simulations is true ⓘ |
| criticizedFor |
potential misuse of probabilistic reasoning
ⓘ
reliance on speculative assumptions about future technology ⓘ uncertainty about appropriate reference class of observers ⓘ |
| distinctionFrom | it does not directly claim we are in a simulation but that one of three propositions is true ⓘ |
| field |
ethics
ⓘ
metaphysics ⓘ philosophy of mind ⓘ philosophy of religion ⓘ philosophy of science ⓘ philosophy of technology ⓘ |
| hasAlternativeName | Bostrom's simulation argument ⓘ |
| implies |
if many ancestor simulations are run then simulated observers vastly outnumber non-simulated observers
ⓘ
if simulated observers vastly outnumber non-simulated observers then a randomly selected observer is probably simulated ⓘ |
| influenced | public discussions about whether reality is a simulation ⓘ |
| inspiredDebateIn |
analytic philosophy
ⓘ
popular science writing ⓘ technology and AI discourse ⓘ |
| involvesConcept |
Bayesian reasoning
ⓘ
anthropic reasoning ⓘ computationalism about mind ⓘ observer selection effects ⓘ posthuman computing power ⓘ reference class ⓘ self-locating belief ⓘ simulation hypothesis ⓘ substrate independence of consciousness ⓘ |
| oftenConfusedWith | simulation hypothesis ⓘ |
| premise |
almost all civilizations at our level of technological development go extinct before reaching posthuman stage
ⓘ
posthuman civilizations are extremely unlikely to run significant numbers of ancestor simulations ⓘ we are almost certainly living in a computer simulation ⓘ |
| proposedBy | Nick Bostrom ⓘ |
| publicationYear | 2003 ⓘ |
| publishedIn | Philosophical Quarterly ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
Boltzmann brain problem
ⓘ
linked to:
Boltzmann brain
Matrix-style virtual reality ⓘ brain in a vat ⓘ skeptical hypotheses ⓘ |
| topic |
ancestor simulations
ⓘ
computer simulations of conscious beings ⓘ consciousness in artificial environments ⓘ nature of reality ⓘ posthuman civilizations ⓘ probability of living in a simulation ⓘ technological singularity ⓘ transhumanism ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: simulation argument Description of subject: The simulation argument is a philosophical hypothesis suggesting that advanced civilizations could create highly realistic computer simulations of conscious beings, raising the possibility that our own reality might be such a simulation.
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
linked to: simulation argument