This quote (paraphrased from memory) from one of my favorite novels comes to mind:
You Christians have been predicting the end of the world for thousands of years, but it keeps not ending.
So far, so good.
Maybe we're in a simulation, maybe we're not. That it hasn't cut off as a failed simulation is good enough for me, but then we wouldn't know if it did.
Maybe the simulation rewards learning about morality, or maybe it just makes us better people and that has its own rewards. Learning about AI improves our understanding of complex systems, and that also has its own rewards.
You Singularists have been predicting the end of the simulation for millions of processing cycles, and it keeps not ending. So far, so good.
42
Heheh.
How do we know the simulation didn't segfault, stay down for 4 "real years," and then reboot again to leave us all right where we left off just 3 micro seconds ago? It may have rebooted while I was typing this message for all we know.
These conversations are best discussed in a hot tub with whiskey.
Our simulation got forked in real time so that different outcomes could be tested.
It supports the multiverse / parallel universe theory too :)
I've thought about that more than a few times. Save state, introduce new parameters, resume testing. Maybe each major leap in the laws of physics was actually a parameter change that we picked up on really quickly...
Try not to drop your smartphone in the hot tub when you're refreshing the comments page...