Jenna ❤ ❀ ❤'s Reviews > Sea of Tranquility

** spoiler alert ** How would we know if we're living in a simulation? Could we even know?

The Oxford philosopher Nick Bostram posited that one of the following must be true:

"1) All human-like civilizations in the universe go extinct before they develop the technological capacity to create simulated realities; 

2) If any civilizations do reach this phase of technological maturity, none of them will bother to run simulations; or 

3) Advanced civilizations would have the ability to create many, many simulations, and that means there are far more simulated worlds than non-simulated ones."

If number three is correct, we're probably living in a simulation. We could all just be Sims characters playing out in some pimply teenager's computer program.

(Disclaimer: I don't know for sure if alien teens get acne, but until we see them, they both do and don't have acne. Or something like that, right, Shrodinger?)

Ever since I first read about the simulation hypothesis, I've enjoyed thinking about it. What or who is this "god" that created the digital universe we live in, our pixelated selves, everything we know and feel and think is real? 

For some reason, considering the simulation hypothesis makes the negative things in life seem not quite as important. Maybe they feel like they're real and so it doesn't matter if they're real or not, but at the same time, it does my worrying brain a lot of good to think in this way.

Emily St. John Mandel has written a gorgeous novel considering the possibility of a simulated universe. It is imaginative, fun, and philosophical. 

The characters, living centuries apart, come to life in Mandel's lyrical prose. They might or might not be simulations, but they are every bit as real as fictional characters can seem.

There are some fabulous twists that left my brain reeling, but it is not an "action" type of story. It's very much character-driven and introspective.

It's more "science-fictiony" than Mandel's previous novels, with time travel and human colonies on the moon and Titan, but I wouldn't call it science fiction because there really isn't any science. 

I won't say more; you can read the blurb if you're interested... this is a rare case where the GR blurb of the book is more than sufficient -- and accurate. 

If you enjoy speculative fiction, the simulation hypothesis, or just beautiful and well-written novels, this is the book for you. It's a quick read at only 255 pages, but wow is there a lot of story in those few pages!

"I think, as a species, we have a desire to believe that we’re living at the climax of the story. It’s a kind of narcissism. We want to believe that we’re uniquely important, that we’re living at the end of history."