In the first part of Simulation & Eros, we discussed how the simulation hypothesis relies on the assumption that matter (be it a brain or computer) creates or causes consciousness. This has never been shown scientifically. Given that this is a massive assumption, rooted in the reductive materialist paradigm, which is being questioned from all sides, The Simulation Hypothesis itself appears to be on shaky ground.
Nevertheless, the theory is quite popular. Why? In part one, I said I think there are at least three reasons: 1) from the perspective of consensus reality/reductive materialism, it seems almost inevitable; to anyone steeped in this paradigm, it will make intuitive sense. 2) The hypothesis is similar to, although importantly different from, spiritual frameworks like the Hindu concept of Maya or the Gnostic idea that the material realm was created by the Demiurge. So, while distorted, it may nevertheless strike a chord with a more spiritual intuition.
In this part, I speak to a third reason: political pressures driving the appeal of the simulation hypothesis. In this liminal moment of late-stage-not-even-really-capitalism-almost-something-else-altogether, right on the cusp of a new world order, there is massive incentive toward the promotion (intentional or not) of worldviews and philosophies that clear the way for accelerated datafication.
Given that our current economic model demands continuous growth, there’s a need to develop and exploit new markets. The key market being developed at the moment is data. Market pressures, politics, and power skew culture that favours philosophies and thinking that make way for intensified “datafication”. If we already believe we live in a simulation, then why not live more of our lives online? Why not give our attention away? Why not hook our brains up to the internet? Why not merge with the machine?
Here’s the thing though: no matter how dystopic it looks: we are free. I haven’t figured out how to really express this; there are important and tangible ways in which we are not free. But there’s a deep spiritual truth here. We must remember we are free. Just because certain forms of thought are popular or promoted by “important” people, doesn’t mean they are true. It starts in the mind. This is our spiritual work. This is our initiation.
Our power is the well of creativity we have access to as beings still in touch with actual reality, which is precisely that which cannot be theorized, captured, or coded. The extent to which we see ourselves as victims, or wait around for governments to fix things, is the extent to which we revoke our power. Do you see how our reaction to the realization of this distortion can so easily play into it? How we respond to this situation is everything.
We are here to create. Creation must begin before there is any evidence for it. It’s through believing in our own very human, non-machinic modes of loving and imagining that we seed the beautiful world that is alternative to the dystopic one on offer. We can’t expect them to do it for us. This is our work. This is our privilege. This is our initiation.
What if WE are the creator beings, dreaming new worlds into being, not by code, but by love?
It’s come full circle in an interesting way: we are trapped in a simulation. The simulated-theoretical-structure that pretends at reality, that seeks to trap all of life, The Great Mystery, the ineffable, the relational, the affective, within its finite frame. The simulation we are trapped in is a mental construct, not a coded one. The good news is, this is a simulation we have the power to break free of…..
This episode is part of my series
Science and the Erotic Order
The other episodes in this series are:
Sacred Matrix: the Goddess in Western Thought and Practice
Paradigm Crux: Consciousness Science and Metaphysics
Theory’s End: Abstraction Implosion and the Return to Wholeness
Spiral Time: the Metaphysics of Gender
Simulation & Eros (1): the Simulation Hypothesis as Distorted Spiritual Truth
To go deeper into the concept of distortion that I mention in this episode, you can receive my recording Distortion Dynamic as a paying subscriber.
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