X-Message-Number: 8168
Date: Fri, 2 May 1997 20:48:00 -0700 (PDT)
From: John K Clark <>
Subject: CRYONICS  Simulations

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In #8161    On Thu, 1 May 1997 Wrote:


        >The single, original computer MUST run slower and slower (relative
        
        >to demand) as more and more simulations and subsimulations are
                >generated; pretty soon (VERY soon) the whole thing essentially      
        >grinds to a halt.
          

I don't see why speed would be an issue in any of this. Even if the computer 
that was simulating you and the virtual world was very slow, from your point 
of view it would seem infinitely fast. If the machine had performance problems 
all you'd have to do is have the part of the program that was simulating you
slowed down or even stopped, while leaving the part of the program that 
simulated the rest of the universe running at normal speed. Regardless of how 
many calculations it would take to convince you that the simulation was real 
it could all be done instantly, from your point of view. Once the machine was
caught up, your part of the program could be carefully restarted till the 
next speed bottleneck.
          

        >He goes on to ask why would the original computer crash if the        
        >simulated atoms were in the form of a computer, but not if the       

        >simulated atoms were in the form of a rock. The answer is that a
                >simulated rock can't produce  subsimulations, but a simulated         
        >computer can.
          

So what? A lot of complex stuff is going on in a rock if you look close 
enough. You could even argue that for its size, simulating an orderly object  
like a computer would be the very easiest thing of all to simulate, a chaotic 
object much more difficult.
                
                                             John K Clark     

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