• you_are_dust@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    If this is a way for our simulation creator to decide to pull the plug without guilt, I guess just go ahead and do it. I was holding out hope that this was all real, but it has been getting more clear that it’s not.

  • durinn@programming.dev
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    2 months ago

    How do you define intelligence? In any case, I think it’s irrelevant. What’s relevant is whether the beings are self aware or if they exist having notions and concepts of fear of death. For this reason, I deem it unethical to slaughter - for instance - animals in a setting in which their peers are aware of the moment of death of their peers. Seeing, for instance, a cow agonize about their peer in front of them being shot to death is heart-wrenching. For this reason, my answer to your question is “yes”. Yes I eat meat. :3

    • mitram@sopuli.xyz
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      2 months ago

      You got me curious, you seem to feel some way about slaughtering animals, but that doesn’t seem to translate into your actions being aligned with your feelings.

      Would you care to talk about it?

      I’ll be honest I have reduced my meat/dairy/egg consumption significantly, but every once in a while I’m not the one cooking at home and I don’t really feel able to go on a side quest while hungry.

      • durinn@programming.dev
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        2 months ago

        It’s not that complicated in my case. Ideologically, I want us - humanity - to move toward vegetarianism. First and foremost because of how unethical I find the production of animals, and secondary for the sake of the environment. I’m just too lazy to actually act on this. I had a two year vegetarian streak when I lived in Japan. I ate meat only if and when I ate out, mainly because Japanese restaurants are not quite informed on vegetarianism and seem to believe that the meal is vegetarian as long as it doesn’t consist of a chunk of meat - which is sad, because Japan has a long history of veganism in their various Buddhist offshoots, but that’s another story. At home, I only cooked vegetarian, although not vegan. It was cheap and easy to find meat replacements, mostly soy based.

        • mitram@sopuli.xyz
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          2 months ago

          Funny, I’m somewhat in the opposite position, when I eat out I always order vegan/vegetarian since it’s usually cheaper and doesn’t require any special effort on my part, but when cooking I might still eat animal parts once in a while since I don’t cook only for myself and can’t always cook twice.

  • CheesyFox@lemmy.sdf.org
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    2 months ago

    Would they feel any pain or suffering if you shut the simulation down? If not, which seems like the intuitive answer, then it is ethical.

    Killing people in a traditional sense is unethical because you inevitably subject them to suffering agony. Also, the killed one won’t be your only victim, as any people related to them would be subjected to psychological trauma.

    Whether plugging off simulated consciousnesses is moral is another question tho.

  • MousePotatoDoesStuff@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    I’d imagine there could be an ethical way to do so through a sunset protocol similar to the concept of rapture (the religious kind, not the Bioshock city) - freeze simulation, move all the beings’ minds to “heaven”, shut down physical universe simulation (lowering operation costs by at least five orders of magnitude, I’d imagine), and let them enjoy afterlife until they get tired of existing, reach nirvana, or something like that.

    That reminds me, I should really get back into AI research.

  • Tudsamfa@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    You can “simulate” life inside your brain, too.


    [Alt text: this is Bob. Bob is a figment of you imagination. When you leave, Bob will leave too. “Don’t leave” says Bob]

    The Bob in your head is intelligent, it can communicate in English. Is it unethical to stop thinking about Bob? Was it unethical of me to show you this picture, creating a “Bob” in your head? Is any story unethical to tell?

  • RecursiveParadox@piefed.social
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    2 months ago

    One of the Minds in Ian M Banks’ last novel, The Hydrogen Sonata, faces and addresses exactly this problem. Much is at stake, so it’s a meaningful discussion.

    • Dadifer@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      You may be referring to the hells, but he had a discussion about having a Mind simulating a particular situation to the point where the participants were basically sentient. In that instance, I do not think it is ethical to end the simulation, but I think it would be ethical to freeze the simulation. If the whole simulation was paused and stored with the potential to be restarted, then no perceivable harm would come to the participants.

    • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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      2 months ago

      Oh is that what it’s about. I thought it was the horror game or something. The advertising for it was so ambiguous I never really looked into it

      • pm me your puppies@anarchist.nexus
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        2 months ago

        It’s hard to describe what it’s about without spoiling it, because the mystery of that universe is part of what draws you in. In a way, the comment you replied to is a major spoiler since you don’t

        spoiler

        find out you’re in a “simulation” until near the end of the game.

        But it’s an incredible game that I recommend to any JRPG fan.