[unboxingelf]

The Simulation Theory presents the following trilemma, one of which must be true:

1. Almost all human-level civilizations go extinct before reaching a technologically mature “posthuman” stage capable of running high-fidelity ancestor simulations.

2. Almost no posthuman civilizations are interested in running simulations of their evolutionary history or beings like their ancestors.

3. We are almost certainly living in a computer simulation.

[lotyrin]

If you take the idea of it needing to be a constructed simulation you get the dream argument. If you add that one can't verify anyone else having subjective experience you get Boltzmann brain. If you add the idea that maybe the ancestor simulations are designed to teach us virtuous behavior through repeated visits to simulation worlds you get the karmic cycle, and Boltzmann brain + karmic cycle is roughly the egg theory.

I think some/all of these things can roughly true at the same time. Imagine an infinite space full of chaotic noise that arises a solitary Boltzmann brain, top level universe and top level intelligence. This brain, seeking purpose and company in the void, dreams of itself in various situations (lower level universes) and some of those universes' societies seek to improve themselves through deliberate construction of karmic cycle ancestor simulation. A hierarchy of self-similar universes.

It was incredibly comforting to me to think that perhaps the reason my fellow human beings are so poor at empathy, inclusion, justice, is that this is a karmic kindergarten where we're intended to be learning these skills (and the consequences for failing to perform them) and so of course we're bad at it, it's why we're here.

[crazygringo]

But there are lots of critiques of that supposed trilemma.

Why would beings in simulations be conscious?

Or maybe running simulations is really expensive and so it's done sometimes (more than "almost none") but only sometimes (nowhere near "we are almost certainly").

Or simulations are common but limited? You don't need to simulate a universe if all you want to do is simulate a city.

The "trilemma" is an extreme example of black-and-white thinking. In the real world, things cost resources and so there are tradeoffs -- so middle grounds are the rule, not extremes.