This episode explores the fascinating and thought-provoking "Simulation Argument" proposed by philosopher Nick Bostrom. The argument suggests that at least one of the following must be true:

• Humanity is highly likely to go extinct before reaching a technologically advanced "posthuman" stage. This could occur due to various factors, such as the development of dangerous technologies like self-replicating nanobots.
• Posthuman civilizations have little to no interest in running simulations of their ancestors. This would imply a significant convergence in the values and societal structures of advanced civilizations. Perhaps they develop ethical concerns about simulating conscious beings, or perhaps their motivations and desires evolve beyond such pursuits.
• We are almost certainly living in a computer simulation. If advanced civilizations have the capacity and the inclination to run ancestor simulations, and they create many such simulations, then it's statistically more likely that we are simulated beings rather than original ones.

The episode will examine the philosophical underpinnings of the argument, including the concept of substrate-independence, which suggests that consciousness isn't bound to biological brains and could theoretically be replicated on other substrates like computers. We'll also consider the potential implications of living in a simulation, including the possibility of multiple levels of reality and the intriguing parallels to religious ideas of gods and an afterlife.