Jim talks to Robin Hanson about whether we live in a simulation or not, why it matters if we do, simulation types, the Fermi paradox, and much more...

In this Currents episode, Jim talks to Robin Hanson about whether we live in a simulation or not, why it would matter if we do, his view of Nick Bostrom's simulation logic, Boltzmann brains & other possible simulation types, the appeal of simulating magic, the quantum Hilbert space, simulation accuracy, cost, & sizes, simulation theory induced paranoia, the value of & justifications for simulations, evolutionary universes, the Drake equation & Fermi paradox, impacts of increased pressure for human coordination, GameB, Robin & Jim's estimated simulation probabilities, and more.

Episode Transcript

Robin's Blog'

Robin's Simulation post, Sim Argument Confidence

JRS: EP79 Seth Lloyd on Our Quantum Universe

Robin’s book, The Age of Em

JRS: EP2 Robin Hanson – Decision Making and “The Age of Em

JRS: Currents 011: Robin Hanson on RightTalkism

JRS: Extra: On COVID-19 Strategies with Robin Hanson

Robin Hanson is an Associate Professor of Economics, and received his Ph.D in 1997 in social sciences from Caltech. He joined George Mason’s economics faculty in 1999 after completing a two-year post-doc at U.C Berkely. His major fields of interest include health policy, regulation, and formal political theory.