So, there’s that Simulation Argument that Nick Bostrom formalized a while back, and before that was considered by everything from The Matrix to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. Bostrom’s argument specifically is that, assuming such technology is possible, and civilizations last long enough to make them, we are much more likely to be in one of countless ancestor simulations, than not.

It’s an interesting argument from probability. Some people take it surprisingly seriously, calling the average human an NPC and otherwise using it to justify otherwise questionable choices. Most people who discover the argument however, don’t really do anything about it, and probably for good reason.

The argument, even if true, doesn’t really tell us much. The simulators are an unknown factor, akin to God, but perhaps less certainly benevolent. Their intentions are inscrutable. We could be part of some scientific experiment, an experience machine for bored future people to live in the past, or any other of many possible alternative theories.

But, what does it matter? We can see from the degree of granularity that we ourselves are conscious and sentient. There’s nothing that suggests that other people aren’t also. There’s no evidence that sentient life isn’t actually sentient, though it might be convenient to simulate at lower fidelity.

So, in terms of happiness and suffering, these things are most likely still real, regardless of whether we’re in the ground truth universe or not. From a moral perspective, we still have responsibilities to other sentient beings, regardless of whether or not this is a simulation.

It’s possible that we’re alone in the simulation. But we cannot, realistically, find this out. We also, could, be in base reality. We really, really, don’t know. And that’s the thing. If we’re alone in a simulation and nothing really matters, then we can do whatever, but there’s a chance we aren’t, and for the sake of that chance, we should act as if our actions do have impact and matter.

So, at the end of the day, we go on our daily lives regardless of the Argument. It doesn’t change that, given what we seem to know about the universe, there is right and wrong and choices to be made and people to be considerate towards.

We can guess at what the hypothetical simulators want. We can try to hack the simulation. But chances are, it won’t work. Likely, they’ll just make us forget we were thinking about this, and the simulation continues.

Or maybe the world is real. In which case, it’s important to be who you are, and care about the things that you care about. Give it the benefit of the doubt. It’s really the only responsible thing to do.