Simulations and the Fermi paradox
If we are living in a simulation, does that resolve the Fermi paradox? I would think so. The “aliens” would be here, we just would not “see” them as such. But in fact we would be looking at nothing but the alien products, namely the creators of the simulation.
Should we expect to find alien civilizations in a simulation? The priors are not so clear: do the simulation creators want full Bayesian realism? Is the universe run by an alien version of Daniel Kahneman? The simulation has not excluded animals, but it has (so far) excluded self-replicating von Neumann probes or the use of supernovae as alien corporate advertisements. The simulation still might have alien civilizations turn up in ways which do not make Bayesian sense, but which add to the drama. For the time being, we are still in a “no aliens” do loop.
I thank Jim Olds for a conversation related to this topic. In any case, the Fermi paradox raises the likelihood that we are living in a simulation.