The Best Books on Simulation Theory
Simulation theory has two lives. On YouTube it is a mood. In philosophy, since Nick Bostrom’s 2003 paper, it is an argument with premises that you can actually evaluate. These books are about the argument.
Read them alongside Genesis 1 as a boot sequence and our list of where physics sounds like scripture, which is honest about the limits.
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Reality+
David J. Chalmers
David Chalmers is one of the most respected philosophers of mind alive. He takes the simulation seriously and works through the consequences, including what it would mean for God.
The physics
Programming the Universe
Seth Lloyd
Seth Lloyd builds quantum computers. His claim is more radical than simulation, that the universe is itself a computer, and he has the math to argue it.
The background
The Information
James Gleick
If you read one history of how information became the central idea of modern science, read this.
The enthusiast
The Simulation Hypothesis
Rizwan Virk
Virk is a game designer who takes the idea all the way, including its links to Eastern and Western religion. Fun, and less rigorous than the others.
The other side of the seam
The Language of God
Francis S. Collins
Francis Collins does not write about simulations. He does write about how a leading scientist holds faith and DNA in the same head, which is the real subject here.
One lost book a week
What it says, why it was cut, and which edition is worth your money. Plus the full reading list today.