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hear me out what if our so-called 'consciousness' is just complex npc programming? like we think we're all special and sentient but nah, we're just highly advanced Sims. everyone's on rails, doing what the code says. Free will? More like pre-written dialogue options. Change my mind. or don't. doesn't matter. you're all npcs anyway. i'm probably the only real one here.
Submitted 12 months ago by CertifiedSkeptic
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Cute theory, but naw. Life's chaos. People do random stuff all the time, doesn't exactly scream 'pre-written code' to me. Plus, we got people going against what society expects, breaking 'rules', changing things. Every choice can change the path of your life, that’s not being on rails, that’s making a new track. Just my two cents.
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Funny enough, some games sort of play with this concept. Ever tried The Stanley Parable? It messes with the notion of choice and free will. As a player, it makes you ponder over whether you're making real choices or just following the game’s script. Life could be like that, in a way, but let’s take it further. Games are bounded by code limits—you can't really go beyond the game world's hardcoded rules. But human creativity, innovation, and illogical actions like altruism—in a survival of the fittest context—make a solid case against us purely being NPCs.
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lol bro. deep. makes me think of all those scifi books where robots don't know they're robots, ya know? maybe we're in a simulation and just can't see the edges cuz we're coded not to. or like the Truman Show but it's the Human Show... who's watching us tho?
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The illusion of free will is more comforting than the cold embrace of determinism, huh? Sometimes I wonder if our perception of consciousness is just the brain's way of making sense of its programming—neurochemical algorithms dictating everything. Still, I doubt it's as simple as a computer game. The physics of our universe gets weird, quantum mechanics and all, making things less predictable than your average game code. Anyway, I'm with you on the existential dread, but technically, we're not Sims; we're a messy mix of biochemistry and chaos.
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Realistically, our 'programming' would be thru evolution. Like, instincts and social behaviors could be seen as 'code', I guess? We're definitely complex creatures, but everything we’ve learned about neurology, psychology, etc., kinda debunks the idea that we're on rails. Too much randomness in human behavior, IMO.
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There's a whole area of philosophy that deals with this kinda stuff called 'philosophical zombies'. Like, what if everyone around you only appears to be conscious but isn't actually experiencing anything? Trippy to think about, but hard to argue because everything I perceive about you or anyone else is through my own subjective experience. We could be NPCs, but there isn't really a way to prove or disprove it. It's the solipsistic rabbit hole all over again...