buraianto:
Do computer simulations have agency (free will)?
(Making the assumption I am not a computer simulation,) Do you think I do?
I don't know. I don't know you. And even if I did, how would I know you're not just some super simulation with the sole purpose of bending us all to the will of an evil neohuman? LOL. Just kidding. I like science fiction way too much....... Seriously, though, this does beg the question as to whether there would be evil neohumans. Where does Satan fit in? Just a part of the program?
Your question is a good one, as was mine, though I didn't realize in what way it was good until you answered with your own question. It is all conjecture, isn't it? As is all religion. Unless a neohuman stands before you, transfigured, and lays reality out before you -- or Christ does the same for those of a more traditional Christian persuasion -- it remains conjecture. And for those who have had experiences such as these, it is only their "proof," and the rest of us are left to either believe upon their experience, or fill the hole with something else.
I believe technology has brought wonders into our lives, and will continue to do so in ways we can't even imagine from where we stand. I'm not afraid of technology, governed within moral principles.
But I am also not ready to worship technology. Not saying any of you do this, but power does correlate to God. God is power beyond our reckoning. And technology brings great power, especially when the knowledge is held by only a few.
The word "simulation" brings to mind something not real, but only an imitation of the real thing. I don't want to be an imitation. I want to be real -- not just because I think I'm real, but because I really am. Guess that's why I have such difficulty with the idea of being a computer simulation. Maybe it's all ego. Or maybe not.
