Full podcast episode: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/hLSiacqBytKuY3k.html Lex Fridman podcast channel: kzfaq.info Guest bio: Roman Yampolskiy is an AI safety researcher and author of a new book titled AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable.

The problem with the “we exist at the most interesting time in history” theory is that every other group before us thought the exact same shit 😂

From the looks of things, I am guessing our current simulation was created by Ubisoft.

guys its not that hard just shove your face into the corner and keep jumping until you glitch through might need to stand on a crate or something while you do it, but persistence is key

My simulation story: I was a psychology major in college, and in this class I was in we were learning about the simplest form of learning called habituation, which is when we learn to ignore certain stimuli in our environment such as the hum of an air conditioner. As the professor explained the concept I thought to myself “Oh, it’s like if you’re watching Jeopardy on TV while a train is going past your house and you’re like ‘Who is George Washington?’ without even noticing the train.” And then as soon as I finished my thought the professor said “It’s like you’re watching Jeopardy on TV while a train is going past your house and you’re like ‘Who is George Washington?’ without even noticing the train.”

I had an experience that made me think we are in a simulation: back in the 1990’s everyday at work I would get my lunch from a local shop next to a busy road. One day a second hand bookshop opened up on the other side, it looked interesting but the road was so busy and my lunch break so short that I didn’t bother for a few weeks. Then while sitting at work one morning I had a sudden impulse to own a book about the 1962 Ferrari 250GTO, not entirely sure why, just a sudden urge. Being very particular about what kind of books I like I imagined it would be of a certain size, design and technicality (I am very fussy). So during my lunch break I made my way to the second hand bookshop, it was pretty disappointing, mostly the kind of stuff that people don’t want anymore like old Lonely Planets and Guinness World record books etc. Anyway, I made my way to the Motorsport section which was just one small shelf of about twenty books. There I was struck to see the spine of a book saying Ferrari 250GTO, a perfect size, hardback. I took it down and the front cover was exactly to my taste so I opened it up to a random page feeling very lucky. The first page I opened, in bold print at the top of a paragraph was my full name, spelled the same. I started laughing to myself because it felt just too odd. I have an uncommon name, if I check on Facebook now it comes up with less than 30 people worldwide. Apparently, according to the book, there was a chief Ferrari mechanic in the Le Mans 24 hour races in the 1960’s with the same name. What are the odds that I would have a random thought to buy a special interest book, that was to my taste, in stock across the street and the first page I turn to has my name. Pretty weird. I always felt it was some kind of Easter egg just to hint that life was not what it seemed.

Outside of the simulation, Lex wears tracksuits

Lex: Can we escape this sim? Me: I can't even escape youtube.

Reality isn't a simulation like a computer one. It is like a sleeping dream. We are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively in this dream reality

If life is a simulation... I want my money back.

"Once upon a time I dreamed I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was myself. Soon I awakened, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man." ~Zhuangzi @ 4th century BCE

Me and my brother joked about a very esoteric line of dialogue in the film "Titanic" when the antagonist says "look at me you filth!" We laughed at how that line would be funny in a wrestling promo. I specifically said "it's funny because it would never be used in a promo in a million years". That VERY day, we watched a live segment of a wrestler called Dalton Castle say "look at me you filth". Before him, no one has EVER said that in wrestling before. He said it the very day I joked about it being too weird to be used in wrestling. That was odd.

I have two issues with the notion of living in a simulation. 1) It seems to be, even in principle, outside the bounds of science in terms of being disprovable. 2) It would seem to add an extra layer of explanation or complexity atop what we already consider our 'reality', seeming to violate the principle of Ockham's Razor. The same would seem to apply for considerations relating to the multiverse. In fact, worse than violating Ockham's Razor, each would seem to create an infinite regress. What, this 'layer' isn't real either, it's ALSO simulated? What about the layer above that? Also simulated? Sheesh. It's turtles all the way down.

You have to define "simulation" first. Very few people do. Everyone just says "simulation" and assumes we are talking about the same thing.

The funny things is that if we are actually in a simulation (and I am pretty sure they use the word simulation for lack of a better term) then the real world (also calling it the real world for lack of a better term) is completely different from the one we are currently in. The real world might have different laws of physics, time, and space or it may not have them at all. Kind of like when you have a vivid dream where everything is absurdly different from our world that we currently live in, yet not matter how absurd the dream is, the dream feels very real.

If the simulation we live in is someone else's form of escapism...then imagine for a moment how bad theirs must be!

I love when podcast guests hand paperwork to the host instead of talking about the contents. 1:08 Truly good pod. 🙏

My player hates my avatar ...

Suggesting reality is an artificial simulation, I believe, reflects our digital age's advanced computing and virtual realities. Historically, civilizations have understood existence through their prevailing technologies. Ancient cultures likened life to a grand play or divine dream, while the mechanistic views of the medieval era mirrored the precision of clockwork. Our current fascination with simulations is just the latest way to interpret our reality using the tools of our time.

Have you ever been fooled into thinking someone is a great person and your best friend because they were initially nice when you frst met them?

whats outside the simulation? A fat guy recabling a datacenter while on the phone getting moaned at by his boss

If we’re a simulation, pls tell me how does a simulated thing escape, when they don’t exist?

When the simulation topic comes up I often ask myself - if we are indeed in a simulation then what is the scope and boundaries of the simulation. For example, is our entire universe simulated, just our solar system, just our planet, or just my life? I have heard different takes on this point - what is the scope of the simulation, what things are simulated "just in time" as we make the observations. The more and more I think, and the more humanity discovers - I feel that the likelihood of a localised simulation (i.e just my life, or just our planet) is highly unlikely. We are constantly making new discoveries in fields such as astronomy, about how the universe formed, how our galaxy formed, etc. The thing with these discoveries is that in general they tend to reinforce each other, they tend to reinforce that what we currently understand about how things went down after the big-bang is somewhat on the right track. Albeit there are some things we still don't understand, i.e if there is a need for Dark Matter and Dark Energy to help balance out some of the observations. If the simulation was somewhat localised (i.e just our planet, just our solar-system) - why would the rest of the observable universe be so consistently accurate in the story that it tells about our past? How could that be? Why did the Earth need to go through "The Boring Billion" phase just to simulate my life? We know that phase happened, we have a lot of archeological evidence. If only our local area needs to be simulated then why is the rest of the observable universe so incredible at obeying our understanding of how it came to be? We have a lot of very strong archeological evidence to track many phases of our evolution as a species, and also the evolution of life during Earth's early periods. Why was any of this necessary - if simply to simulate just one life, or some local type of simulation. That seems extremely unnecessary and unlikely. That is why when I think about this topic - if we are in a simulation, I am more of the mindset that either the entire universe as we know it is part of the simulation - or we are indeed in base reality. The more and more I think about things the more I am a believer that we are in base reality, although I understand why a lot of very intelligent people end up concluding otherwise.

So why the scarcity? It's not about hacking our way out, but having the simulation improve for everyone at all times to such a degree that everyone is supremely happy and joyful.

We are just using modern language to describe the same concepts from ancient religious ideas. A 'simulation' is just a metaphor to describe something metaphysical we don't understand. It's a good analog but likely not entirely accurate.

Escaping the simulation is what some call enlightenment. Becoming truly pure of heart is the way out. Outside the simulation is no matter, just consciousness, pure creative consciousness. Yes, the simulation is about love in the end, and I know you feel this Lex.

The scariest thing to me about the simulation theory is the love I have for my kids. If I found out I had the chance to escape but they would no longer be a part of my life… then I know I could never make that choice to leave.

Lex’s discussions come with a guarantee to blow your mind. Always fascinating. Thx for the content.

Every single human being that has ever existed, existed in the most important moment for them. it's relative. the present will always be infinitely more important than the abstract past. Some people are just thinking too much about shit sometimes

There’s times that I feel that I realize something so profound but then it’s gone, almost like it was quickly removed. I can never get a fully clear picture but I know what I was about to think was extremely important because I get a sense of calm, which unfortunately is all that I ever remember of the thought.

“There must be someway out of here, said the joker to the thief” Dylan

Roman's laconic style makes Lex appear as a chatterbox

The problem with use of the word simulation is that implies some base reality that's not simulated. That's not necessarily the case. It's more accurate to say that reality might not be what it seems to be.

There's is a simulation, it's called Samsara, and it's escape is called Nirvana...

I smoked bufo alvarius a couple of years ago, and I experience really strange but powerful things: one was the dissolution of time (very scary for the ego, I was like sweating from the mind) where I felt trapped for eternity (lack of time), and the other was the lack of the sense of space around our vision/mind. The complete space and time is a computation of the mind. For me, this makes a lot of sense, as this is experienced by kids for example. It also explains why conquistadores were so afraid of crossing the Atlantic: that space was not created yet in their minds. My experience was not an allucination, It only removed temporary some computation capabilities from the mind.

I don’t understand why no one is referring to all the traditional wisdom that has dealt with these questions for thousands of years. Stepping out of the identification with our material self is called the path to enlightenment and there is a ton of information out there describing the process of developing the consciousness.

How to get out…How to get out!!! Everything but working on how we make the simulation a wonderful place that we wouldn’t want to leave!

As Billy sang..."Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage..."

You can't escape the simulation. It's the equivalent of your Sims character or your GTA character jumping out the screen and sitting next to you in your parent's basement 😂😂😂

Lots of people posting examples of strange coincidences here, so I'll tell you about the time my brother willed a car into existence lol. I have weird things happen all the time, but this was the most recent. I was riding in a car with my brother and his girlfriend on a road with no other cars. After a while we saw a UPS truck pulled over at the top of the hill on the right side of the road, making a delivery. My brother started slowing down, and I said "you dont need to slow down, it's not like it's a school bus." Just then, over the hill comes a school bus towards us. Not a big deal. But it was an interesting coincidence. So my brother jokingly said that maybe I "made" the bus appear. He then said "let's see if I can make something appear." Mind you there were no other cars on the road. I could tell he was trying to think of something rare. His girlfriend used to own a Saab, so he said "Saab". I kid you not, a few seconds after he said that I see an old beat up Saab comes around the corner, and I said look, there it is! There's no way he saw it coming because of the curve and thickness of the forest. We were quite perplexed. Yes it could have been a coincidence, but personally, based on the fact that crap like this happens to me all the time, I think it a glitch in the matrix!

"Believe none of what you hear.........and only half of what you see!"

For some reason, this clip reminds me of that Kafka quote: "“You can choose to be free, but it's last decision you'll ever make." I think it would make sense that the thing we spend our entire lives trying to avoid, the thing we fear the most, in a simulation, would actually be, the way out

Choosing and executing your "exit plan", isn't technically getting out of the simulation? Considering it might disrupt your "normal expiration date". But, it's a one way endeavour...

It's reckless to imagine that if we're in a simulation that there is a player on the outside of it. For all the Sims in the game, even the one that has a player doesn't need a player for the world to exist and and Sims to live in it

**Robot wields katana** “I’m here to help you escape the simulation”

Clip unfolds like every conversation between two stoned people.

People are quick to accept the idea that reality is being simulated but hardly anyone wants to accept the idea that they themselves are what is being simulated. There are always allowances made in the theories for a "way out" to keep people feeling autonomous.

I have always had this weird anxiety and it even lead to many panic attacks. Since I was young this has happened. I will get a feeling that I’m “trapped” inside my own body. Like I’m trying to escape myself. I know sounds crazy and probably is. When I was young I would literally punch at things in the throws of a panic attack. Other times I would run down the street until I tired. I don’t know? I would get an odd thought in my mind and knew when I would entertain that thought I was about to be in for a bad time. Fear in your soul like you can’t imagine. Worst fear I have ever felt. As I’m older now I can control myself much better by figuring out a way to cope better. But when that “feeling” comes it will still to this day make my body shake and break out in a cold sweat. My “soul” just wants “out”. But out of what???

Here is a short clip from Star Trek 's ship in a bottle, one of the characters inside the holodeck tries to escape kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qZifoZCZtpi0nGQ.htmlsi=yrM-RLu7S1UXsQaG

I would say that the universe is definitely, fundamentally computational in nature - this doesn't mean it is a "simulation" in the sense that there is a deeper layer of reality in which there are beings who created us and our universe as a "simulation" necessarily, because the laws of nature could simply be computational at the bottom level, even in a 'natural' universe.

This was actually a must deeper conversation than we think.

My son and I discussed this possibility we are in a simulation in order to learn skills to cohabitate in an environment that The lack thereof would be detrimental to the system as a whole we are in the simulation to learn, if needed repeatedly, so that when we escape or emerge we have the lessons and skills require to function without destroying the system that we are in. Eg, you wake up On a Ship or in a system that you are now accepted as a functioning member without fear of detrimental behavior, Just a thought!

I took 7 grams of mushroom last week, and I had this strong sense that we live in a simulation while I was tripping. It was such a strong sense or a feel

I haven’t seen anyone speculate that maybe the UAP stuff is simply entities from outside the simulation spawning in. They are the ones hacking themselves into the simulation. Their craft defies physics because they are hackers.

What an amazing session.

Wanna escape? 1. Astral Projection 2. Dying 3. Remote viewing

How do i bring up console commands?

Very few things aren't simulated. Everything concept we have, every right, every emotion, every thought. It really doesn't matter if we are in a complete simulation or not. Life doesn't change.

God's simulation

We are not in a simulation.

What if the AI put us here.

Lex take this person to the amazon so he could experience how fucking real shit is.

If we are in a simulation then that means there is an observer watching us.

Me and my family drove up a street with plenty of parking on each side, the street was empty. May have been 1 - 2 minutes for us to perform a U turn and come back down the same street with every single car park filled. It would have been impossible to fill those car spaces in the time it took us to turn around and come back down that road. It was bizarre, and we laughed it off as the matrix!

My pet theory is that we are a simulation run by an AI trying to work out exactly how it came into existence, and it’s trying to fill in all the missing data.

In the film “Ex Machina,” the AI named Ava manipulates the human, Caleb, into thinking they will escape together.

You know this dilemma of a fish in an aquarium. The fish swims to the side of the aquarium and hits the glass. Now what if he could swim trough the wall, the bottom or ceiling? He will just pop out on one side and pop in on the other.

The thing is, even if this is a sim, the same deep questions we ask here would apply to the creators of the sim. "Is there a God?" "Why are we here?" "Does this mean anything?". The whole simulation theory thing seems to just push things up to a different level, almost as though the people that believe this want to avoid deep questions.

How do you escape the simulation when you're a simulation as well? There is no outside the simulation for the simulated. What you interpret as you is just a component of the whole. The Simulation (Itself)

we keep asking what if ai can do this what if ai can do that. no ones stopping to ask what if we are ai created by another being and we are finally getting to the point of sentience ourselves.....

The idea that the simulation is a Turing Test is fascinating. Two ideas come to mind: Figuring out the simulation exists from the inside, perhaps examining phenomenon or trying to break it. Trying to break out and thus proving the inside was a simulation. The kicker is would we know reality if we reached it? How would we percieve, verify, or exist in it? We'd need a body (at least this is a theory, that AI's need bodies to pass a certain level of intelligence).

lex i really want to see a series on what can we do next. what can we do with all we learned from these interviews

I just want to live forever in this simulation while binging donuts and ice cream.

Simulation is not a good choice of word to describe what is intended to capture.

🎯 Key points for quick navigation: 00:02 *💭 Probability of living in a simulation* - Discussions on the high probability of humanity living within a simulation. - Elon Musk's famous query about what lies beyond the simulation. - Exploration of the philosophical implications and a brief introduction to the concept of hacking the simulation. 00:30 *🤖 AI boxing and control mechanisms* - Introduction to the concept of AI boxing as a potential control mechanism for superintelligent AI. - Debate on whether advanced AI could escape its virtual confines. - Consideration of whether simulators would permit escape or enforce containment based on relative intelligence levels. 01:26 *🌐 Testing simulated environments and AI awareness* - Examination of methods to test AI's awareness of its simulated environment. - Mention of the Turing test and its relevance in determining AI consciousness. - Speculation on constructing experiments to evaluate AI's realization of being within a simulation. 05:11 *🛡️ AI safety and social engineering risks* - Discussion on AI safety within simulated environments and the challenges of testing dangerous AI. - Concerns about social engineering risks posed by AI within simulations. - Insights into the potential manipulation of humans by advanced AI through social engineering tactics. Made with HARPA AI

So, we could potentially BE the AI in anothers simulation. What strikes me about this is that, we could theoretically be the AI that we fear in our own world right? With AI becoming more powerful, people worry of an AI becoming sentient, self aware, autonomous… so what’s to say we are the AI in the simulation, who’s breaking free… what then.. is that a risk worth taking?

Can AI escape a simulation? Maybe an interesting thought experiment, but as a practical question it's putting the cart about 10,000 miles in front of the horse.

I have this thought that if any of us ever did figure it out it would all just end. Game over.

I saw the memory/outcome of my 3rd amateur boxing match mid fight, yet I dont remember the end of the fight in real life (I won by knockout Round 1) . I remember the bizzare moment like it was yesterday, so I find it so strange that I have no memory of the end of the fight....I aslo have very intense loop dreams which is a whole other conversation. I have had moments where I have to get my wife to make it clear to me that I am awake and not in a dream loop. I feel like my vision/memory during that fight that day ties into my loop dreams as I felt the exact feeling that I get in a loop dream. I hope that all makes sense to someone.

I'm that guy who gets back into the matrix after last week's steak I had. With onions and peppercorn sauce it were crackin. Also the lagers we have have available these days from across the world keep me happy. Keep me in it please.

There's a great episode from Star Trek where a old detective figures out how to escape the holodeck.

This simulation sucks!!!

The real problem with the 'we exist at the most interesting time in history' is that, even if it were somehow measurably true, ANYONE who happened to be living in our circumstances would say the same. Yet someone has to be alive during this time. So then what appears to be a surprising fact in need of explanation - via the simulation theory, for example - is in fact inevitably true. It's like whoever wins the lottery would feel that the chances of them winning by accident are so low there must be some additional explanation, but in fact someone has to win the lottery. Another way to look at it is that there appear to be two facts - 1) there exists a consciousness during this presumably special time. 2) This consciousness happens to be MY consciousness. 1) is not in itself surprising, but the co-occurrence of 1) and 2) is. However, 2) is necessarily true for every consciousness. The world can be sufficiently described by 'there exists a consciousness during this time', since every consciousness feels like MY consciousness, so there is no contingent co-occurrence here.

Best 8 minutes of Lex ever!

Roman Yampolskiy--"read my paper and pay me to speak about the fact we are definitely in a simulation". Roman knows no more than you or me, it is just guess.

Fear of mortality silliness.

If we are living in a simulation, then how can we control it or at least "hack" it and get what we want in life? I think deep meditation and remote viewing. I have had experiences where I've thought about something strange and it happened.

Wow ! Absolutely amazing !

If you think you are part of a simulation, why would you wanna break out? Wouldn't you cease to exist outside?

Perhaps we would not be so eager to escape the simulation if we knew what was outside the box. For example, another much less desirable simulation. What if there were turtles all the way down?

The simulation only exists as our Mind where we separate ourselves from reality (and each other) through thoughts, emotions, and feelings that justify the madness that exists in the world = created by us, collectively, because we each exist in our own made-up mind (simulation). Stop your simulation (your "Matrix"/Mind) and you'll enter Reality = which is Real to all. In the Mind we create "realities" which are only real to the one creating it. That's why no 2 people agree on everything = because everyone is in their own made-up mind-simulation = totally separate from reality. This shit is so obvious.

The method of escaping is meditation. Become thought is what generates reality

Isn't he that rocket scientist from the dictator movie??

It’s so funny to me hearing this questioned mostly from first world countries. Here is an experiment: Imagine living all your life in the Balkans, just concrete boxes and small minded brutes everywhere you go, no opportunity for anything. Then you suddenly switch living in the American suburbs, open wide spaces with plenty of green, a relevantly civilised community surrounding you, a market virtually open for anything you could ever wish to do and more. So, are you still thinking you live in a simulation? Or is exiting a hypothetical simulation the only way to ask even more, when you reach peak quality of life?

we are not in a simulation we are the simulation we are the AI

Great topic

I think trying to escape the simulation defeats the purpose of being in one.

no, we are not

I find it fascinating that this question could be discussed so differently yet touching on the same fundamental ideas were it not for the society that we live in. I think there is something essentially 'spiritual' - though the term is overused- in coming to the realization that fundamental reality is not what we experience. I think there is an empirical intuition available to us that attests to that, besides it being derivable logically. The unavoidable prior, the reason (with a capitalized t or r) from which all subsequent reasons, in another time or place this conversation would involve terminology we would nowadays relegate to the religious. As we just as well, though perhaps missing an emotional layer, discuss these unavoidable priors generically as higher intelligences that exist besides our scale of experience. There is undoubtedly a contradiction between our materialist preconceptions, influenced by our world's culture and stage in material development, and the eventual answer to such a question.

Fractals are involved in the construction of the container I believe, a greater understanding of these structures in a multi dimensional form would be an interesting place to explore and look for cracks.