Dave cites an article that points out that the lack of alien contact, the fact that we are improbably alone in the vast universe, as a possible indication that we might just be bots in a simulation.
I once posed a similar theory when I was 15 when two of my friends, an atheist and a Christian, were arguing over the existence of God and the human soul. They disagreed on the presence of the Judeo-Christian God and agreed that humans had souls, which was perfectly logical, as the notion of the human soul predates both Christianity and Judaism by at least a thousand years, and I would surmise by 200,000 years.
They asked me to contribute and I horrified both of them, by positing that there was a higher power, that it had evolved beyond predation to domestication, that our mania to subdue the world was an imitation of that which had subdued us, and that the purpose for cultivating humanity by this cosmic omniscience, was not to generate us in His own image as Christians think, not to imbibe our suffering and our flesh as the Aztecs thought, but so that we might ascend after our bodily death to a veritable feedlot of souls, where our creator—far beyond concerns of the body—awaited as pure thoughtful energy to devour our awakened souls, just as a good shepherd devours the bodies of his flock.
My friends, Rick and Jeff, looked at me as if I were channeling Satan and shutdown their argument.
I shy aware from metaphysical theories that are obvious projections of the human ego upon the mind of a consciousness which must span the universe. I think that imagining God as a computer programmer is a conceit as crass as imagining him as a bearded patriarch sitting a stone throne above the clouds, not a serious search for truth, but a childish willfulness to craft the God in man’s flawed image.
Thought Crimes: Capital
Masculinity
Biography
It’s no small wonder there are so many adherents to this theory.
People are delegating more and more of their daily tasks to one smart gadget or another, children are spending much of their time online, doing virtual things, playing games that involve watering virtual plants and throwing a virtual stick for their virtual dog to fetch, the sum wealth of mankind’s knowledge and the leisure time to access it is right at their finger tips, and modern man for the most part contents himself with pornography and video games. As people of my age opt out of real life for an artificial world on a screen, the idea that we’re living in a simulation is a virtual truth for many.
Small correction: Christians and “Jews” (I.e. Pharisees) don’t worship the same God. Jews worship Satan and apparently a whole pantheon of gods.
Interestingly, the best Sumerian translation of Satan I have found is "administrator" which would make him the current secular God.
it is a fact, that most people who describe themselves as Christian believe that they worship the God of ancient Israel. If your contention is that such folk: Catholic, Orthodox, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Anglican, Puritan, Mormon are not Christian, than you admit to being part of a tiny cult rather than the massive world religion Christianity is purported to be. Just subtracting Catholics cuts the numbers roughly in half.
My contention is the modern people we call Jews, don’t worship the God of ancient Israel, and it is rather Christians who have taken this baton (to throw in a Hellenic sport reference). But for one small sect, they aren’t trying to worship 30 AD style, but more like 400 AD Babylon style. I mean, I don’t know for sure but this is what I read and it sounds plausible and likely. Orthodox Judaism is essentially an anti Christianity, based in opposition to Christ, rather than worship of Yahwe. You can check out Ron Unz recent article on this if you’re curious for references:
unz.com/runz/american-pravda-oddities-of-the-jewish-religion
Thanks for the link, Chris.
It is an endless source of fascination to me that since Martin Luther most people who regard themselves as Christians deny that most other people that regard themselves as Christians are Christians. Of course, this was also true 1,000 years earlier. I have been reading Rabbinical opinions from the 1600s lately and have found that fascinating as well.