The Simulation Hypothesis and the Rules for Life

I’m really intrigued by this idea of living in a simulation. This idea is that we are controlled by our own computer, and the lives of other people in our lives are controlled by their own computer. And these individual computers are linked together so we can all interact in a giant simulated world. This world has NPCs and other real players, but it’s hard to tell who’s an NPC and who’s in their own simulation. 

Here’s the book I’m reading:

This guy is convinced that we really are living in a sim. He could be right, and he could be wrong, but the interesting thing about this is that it doesn’t really matter. 

In this world, there are certain rules to play with. There are certain commands that you can give yourself to give you a certain outcome. For example, you can select a life path of being an employee, or you can select a life path of owning your own business, or even better, owning multiple businesses. If you were immersed in a video game, you would lose the safety and inhibition of puling up to the same job day by day. You would start a business, because in a simulation, it doesn’t matter if you fail. And in a simulation, if you start a business, you usually do really well. And if you start multiple businesses, you become a Level 40 Boss, and you are winning the game. 

Is it a life hack to start a business to become a Level 40 Boss? I think it is. The game we are all in has rules that favors the business owner in the form of tax breaks and reward through profits. The game allows you to be unscrupulous if you choose, but also in the game if you’re dishonest to the NPCs, you will start to fail at tasks, so it’s better to take the proven path of integrity. This works in simulation games, and it works in real life, or the “big simulation.”

Other things that work in this real life simulation are the idea of using other people’s time and talents to enrich your own life. You hire a tax guy to manage your S-Corp, because the S-corp is the best way to structure your business and personal life for growth. This offloads your simulation attention to other things that matter. As Kevin Christie says, “write the check.” Write the check to hire people to do the things you don’t want or have the talent to do. Clean the house and do the yard. Manage the marketing. Fill in the hours that I’m not in the office with another chiropractor, and maybe offload some of the rehab to a DPT. There are so many possibilities, and the rules are already established. One person said that when you have a corporation, there is no ambiguity to the rules, because corporations have been around for centuries, and the laws are in the books. 

I wonder if a corporation is the greatest life hack?

Another great life hack: You can develop XP in certain areas of your life by working at it. Bigger muscles? work on your strength training to develop strength and body composition XP. Watch the bar graph rise with your efforts. I remember playing The Sims decades ago where the Sim would stand in front of the mirror practicing public speaking. And like a sucker, I was sitting behind the computer screen making an imaginary character improve his life. I because self aware, and I turned off the game to go work on myself in my “real life” instead. So if you want to work on public speaking, you can do this in front of a mirror or camera, and raise your charisma, influence, and articulation XP. 

Level 40 Boss!