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If we assume that we live in a simulation, as argued by Bostrom in 2003, we can question the reasons behind why our creators would undertake such an endeavor. Why would a technologically advanced and intelligent civilization want to simulate a world or a universe inhabited by beings like themselves? We can ask ourselves the same question as well. The straightforward answer is that we do it because we are created in the likeness of our creators, and it is something they do.

As for the beings at the first level, who are not simulations resembling anyone, their motivations could be simple or complex. Alternatively, they might be one species among many who used their technology to create simulations, while the others had no interest. Their reasons might not be strong or significant. The creators at the L1 level, who initiated the hierarchy of simulations we exist in, might have created a simulation simply because they could.

References

  • Bostrom, N. (2003). Are You Living in a Computer Simulation? Philosophical Quarterly, 53(211), 243-255.