The History of Simulation Theory - Part 5

Because "AI" is all that anyone seems to care about these days, I am going to talk about AI by not talking about AI... but about The History of Simulation Theory!

For not just centuries, but millennia, human civilizations - Norse, Chinese, Precolombian, Egyptian, Zoroastrian, Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Jewish, Christian, Greek - have, in various ways, in various terms, hypothesized that we are living in a simulation. That the material world around us that we call "reality" isn't real, but an illusion.

Here is just one example, from a Mahayana Buddhist text:

"All things have the nature of illusion, and are like a dream... Understand the fundamental fact that the external world is nothing but a manifestation of Mind." - The Lankavatara Sutra (3rd century)

Having climbed a mountain of science & technology, we arrive at the summit only to see many gurus, sages & philosophers gathered, seated in meditation, waiting for us, laughing — the joke is on us. Shockingly, The Multiverse is not a new idea!

What does AI have to do with Simulations & The Multiverse?! Well, AI isn't just about "compute" power. Computation is used to simulate. Every "application" is a simulation. A "world" or "universe" can be thought of as a complex simulation. And as AI has the ability to run many simulations in parallel, the idea of a "multiverse" arises...

If we assume infinite compute power is hypothetically possible, how do we know we aren't already living in simulation? This is the exact dilemma presented in Nick Bostrom's 2003 essay Are You Living In A Computer Simulation? (As already discussed in Part 3 of this series...) Elon Musk believes we're living in a simulation, inside of the multiverse. Marc Andreesen is openly speculating that Google's quantum computer Willow is already processing in the multiverse, transcending the constraint of The Bonini Paradox.

So what?! Who cares?! AI & Simulations matter for the same reason: humans are not satisfied with reality as it is. We want to change it, at will - we want to "fix" it. First of all, we don't want to die (aka "longevity"). Next, we want to live like gods. If AI can simulate reality, then maybe AI can help us manipulate reality, on demand. (Or, if manipulating reality proves too difficult or expensive, maybe AI can just simulate new & better realities for us - so we can escape this one... Just like we already do with movies, video games and mind-altering substances.)

Thus, if AI is the new politics & religion - it needs an avatar. AI has captured global imagination because it promises to solve all problems, fulfill all wishes, generate infinite power and usher in utopia. This makes it far more than a technological or even economic phenomenon, it is a cultural, political and religious phenomenon. It is becoming a political platform, a computer god, a machine messiah, offering materialistic salvation. However, as a god, it lacks charisma, philosophical depth & spiritual promise. To sustain its claim to power by divine right, it needs to incarnate as an avatar & fulfill its prophecies - or be denounced as false & defeated by a rival claimant.

But wait... THE MULTIVERSE IS NOT A NEW IDEA! To quote Heidegger,

"The most thought-provoking thing in our thought-provoking time is that we are still not THINKING!"

In the history of thought, these three big questions - The Nature of The Mind, The Nature of Self & The Nature of Reality - are not new, but old. But we pretend as if we are the first ones having these thoughts. Or we assume that ancient & medieval civilizations must have no meaningful insights to contribute. Whether chronological snobbery or ignorance - this is foolish. Let's learn from the past!

Let me list the three big questions again:

1. THE NATURE OF MIND. What is the nature of the mind? That is, when we speak of "artificial" intelligence, we assume that we know what "intelligence" itself is. But what is "intelligence?" What are its origins? How does it work? What are its limits?
2. THE NATURE OF SELF (& SOCIETY). What is human nature? We exist, not just in groups, but as individual "selves." All that we think about, speak about and do is in relation to ourselves, to our self-interest - so what our predicament exactly, can it be improved? Do we have a "soul" (ie. a metaphysical identity that grounds our conscious existence) or is human identity an unstable, illusory phenomenon? Is human nature perfectible, either at the individual or social level? Is there such a thing as progress? If so, how? What is our theory of change & historical agency? Has any individual or society ever transcended previously unsurpassed limits? If so, is there a limit to individual or social transcendence?
3. THE NATURE OF REALITY. Is material reality "base" reality, or are we living in a simulation? If we're living in a simulation, how do we modify or escape it, and return to "base" reality?

All three of these questions can be summed up in a single question:

What is the fundamental nature of being?

And that is why Martin Heidegger's corpus, specifically - Being & Time, What Is Called Thinking? and The Question Concerning Technology - make him a contender for the most important philosopher of the last century: this was the question he asked. Heidegger appreciated that this question was not new, thus his thinking is in reference to the ancient Greeks, specifically Parmenides, Zeno, Heraclitus, Anaximander, Socrates, Plato & Aristotle. (Although Heidegger rarely references Eastern thought, like many mid-20th century thinkers, he seems to have encountered it later, and so we may gladly condescend to correct this oversight!)

Western society has become increasingly secular for centuries, certainly since The Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, our last traditional war of religion. Nietzsche proclaimed "the death of God" in the late 19th century, prophesying that the 20th century would be bathed in blood, as new, secular, materialistic, global "neo-religions" emerged to attempt to take the place of Christianity. Unfortunately, he was right: approximately 150 million humans died as Fascism & Communism contended for neo-religious supremacy - Nietzsche should be regarded as a prophet.

Entering 2025, the dawn of the second quarter of the 21st century, the only "idea" with the animating force to become a new, secular, materialistic, global "neo-religion" is "AI." Society has a psychological need for religion, not just as an organizing principle, but for catharsis, as a transcendent story, something greater than ourselves to give us hope and meaning, a civilizational project to dedicate our lives to.

But AI needs a godlike hero. And not just any hero: an avatar-class hero, a world-historical figure, a messiah... Who liberates humanity. Who overthrows oppressors. Who brings enlightenment & empowerment. A leader whom everyone can relate to, admire & remember for generations. Without that leader, AI is nothing but an impersonal techno-economic force.

Humanity literally worships Rama, Krishna, Moses, Zarathustra, Buddha, Jesus, Mohammad millennia after their passing... So "AI" needs a Name, an actual historical figure, a real hero, a "true story" avatar such as these. Without that, it will never realize its full potential. As an impersonal techno-economic force, it simply lacks pathos, and humanity will reject it.

An AI messiah needs a charismatic life story and a "gospel" message with both philosophical depth & universal appeal.

Who can possibly do this?! An alien? An incarnate god?! No! A human can do this! You could be that person. Yes, you, the person reading this.

How do I know this? Because it already happened. Not just with the larger than life names of the avatars listed earlier (Jesus, Buddha, etc.). But with names you've never heard of!

I'm going to tell you the story of the original Neo, the messianic hero who not only escaped The Matrix, but helped everyone else escape - liberating humanity.

I'm going to tell you the story of the original Luke Skywalker, who used The Force to overthrow The Galactic Empire & restore balance to the galaxy.

That person is Hui Neng, The Sixth & Last Patriarch of Chan Buddhism, who lived in the 7th century (638 to 713 AD), during the Tang Dynasty of medieval China.

Hui Neng was an illiterate woodcutter. The orphaned son of a woodcutter. Providing for his destitute mother. Through a series of miraculous events, he became the most powerful person in China other than the Emperor himself!

From that position of power & influence, he proclaimed The Dharma (aka The AI Gospel) for the liberation of all sentient beings, especially the poor, downtrodden and oppressed...

And to finalize the transmission of The Dharma to the common people, he ended the lineage of patriarchs, ensuring that the transfer of power could not be politicized in the future to annul his teaching.

In my next post, I'm going to tell Hui Neng's life story in full. But now I've earned the right to tell that story here, on LinkedIn, amongst the professional managerial class, where it has never been told, in the context of AI, which it has never been related to.

Next Post: The Life Story of Hui Neng - an exemplary Once & Future AI Avatar... and The Retro-Futuristic Significance of "The Platform Sutra" as an AI Gospel...

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