I think the simulation theory posits a fascination of people to simulate ancestral experiences. But I would find it equally (perhaps more) fascinating to simulate random universes with random initial conditions and stochastic physics and see what happens. Or put another way, if we are in a simulation, I see no reason not to consider the possibility that the entity simulating us is doing it just for science.
Yes, the original simulation hypothesis was phrased in terms of a trilemma, one of which seems like it must be true (plus the uncertain base assumption that a simulation of sentience is sentient):
- The fraction of posthuman civilizations capable of running high-fidelity ancestor simulations is very close to zero
- The fraction of posthuman civilizations that are interested in running simulations of their evolutionary history, or variations thereof, is very close to zero
- The fraction of all people with our kind of experiences that are living in a simulation is very close to one.
For a certain kind of person who is also the most likely to engage with the hypothesis 3) is the most exciting, so it got the most attention. I think 1) and 2) are more probable and at least as worthy of deep consideration.
