How do we know this is actually Earth, and not just some torture chamber in Hell and we are just being punished?

I just rewatched The Good Place and I'm having an existential crisis... (again)

Like what if, everything I'm seeing is just a simulated reality of a habitable planet, but its all just part of the torture? And worst yet, what if everyone else is just a demon torturing me..

See: Climate Change, Politics, I mean wtf, I leave PRC, an authoritarian country, just to end up in another autocracizing country? (talking about USA btw) Like this seems like part of the script, this is a torture chamber. All the racism I faced, bullying, evil teachers, people olaying loud music in the middle of the night, shitty parents, random kids screeching throught the neighborhood, Everything. Like if this world is really a random chaotic universe, there should be both good and bad if things are random. But the overwhenming thing is just bad. This just has to be a torture chamber. My "parents" and my "brother" could just be demons in disguise trying to torture me.

Like IDK why I'm even asking this, all of Lemmy could be part of the torture, what if everyone on Lemmy is also a demon that are gonna dismiss my theory anyways. (Hello Lemming Demons 👀)

And you might say "Well if its hell, why did they let you know about such a concept", well that's the thing, it makes it more realistic. If a subject in this Fake Universe Torture Chamber wants to question it, the other "people" who could be demons that would dismiss the claim and just say "that's a work of fiction".

Oh yea btw, if this is actually The Bad Place, I have something to say to the demons: go fuck yourselves with your demon tentacles, ya basic

Okay I'm not literally saying I believe all this, but its a scary concept to think about. And now I can't sleep. Thanks, The Good Place

35 comments

Descartes' evil demon strikes again. 😉

It doesn't matter.

How do you know it isn't actually Eden, but you just focus on all the wrong things to see it?
- This is the kind of gaslighting I come to Lemmy for!
- This is probably just to point out the bias in the original question and our incapability to actually answer it or similar questions, but I actually think this is probably the one thing that separates hell and paradise here on earth.
  Well, not the only thing, but once all the basic needs are covered, most of how this feels, probably comes down to what you focus on. Intentionally or not. We’re not very in control of our focus or our minds, after all.

What if world did end in 2012, and we are in simulation, or hell/heaven or something like that
- Definitely hell.

This is earth because we call it earth. It being or not being a torture chamber in hell is entirely irrelevant to the naming convention of this planet.

Look, we also probably don't have free will, but we should live and act like we do. Don't let the minute details keep you from getting what you can out of this life.
- I'm pretty content accepting that I am a walking series of chemical reactions. Makes more sense to me than the alternative and I don't really understand why it fucks with people so much.
  
  I'm kind of in the same boat.
  I think it can fuck with people that rely on self determination for security or self justification? At least the couple of people I've met that take issue with the idea seem to mostly be uncomfortable with the implication that their choices and actions might mean less.
- I mean, I'd love to stop thinking about determinism, but... its not like I could just choose stop thinking about it, since I don't have free will to choose to not think about it... ironic 😅
  
  But you can do your darnest. Drown all that existential dread and other stuff in either of these:
  Stuff. Just things to do. Start hobbies and projects and get carried away enough to forget these, at least momentarily
  Drugs! Alcohol included. It’s not healthy but you can choose to. You’ll probably forget a lot about all this, if you indulge enough. Not a recommendation, just noting this is something you can already choose to do, and for most with access to internet and lenny, probably readily available
  Have fun!

One way we train AI models to "align" them is to create a lot of different ones, and then see how they perform on various tests.
Ones that answer those tests correctly are saved and used to create the next generation of models, those that answer incorrectly are deleted.
What if this is all an AI alignment test that's some alien kid's AI homework that got a C-?

We don't, but it also doesn't matter.

Because hell isn't real. There has never been a single shred of evidence, in the history of mankind, to suggest otherwise.
- The absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence.
  But realistically, and specifically OPs scenario, it doesn't matter because there's literally nothing you can do about it except try to be better than you were yesterday.
  
  The absence of evidence isn’t evidence of absence
  Actually, Stacy, that's exactly what it is

Personally, I think it’s because life is beautiful, the world is beautiful, people are for the most part beautiful. In a hell, I don’t think we should have so much beauty and majority of our time spent in awe of this all, enjoying our time, the nature and each other.
I think this might very well be a hell, though, if one focuses on the bad stuff. Which is way too easy these days with our phones and constant cycle of news and updates and whatnot.
But to be a hell, overall, I would think there wouldn’t be so much niceness, so much endearing stuff, so much love and joy. I know not everyone gets nearly enough of those, but there are people, like me, who are just way too lucky I guess, or maybe it’s a little bit about attitude or perspective gained by having been at the lowest lows, but also able to escape those pits of suicidal despair. And, again, in a hell, I can’t imagine they’d let you escape and lead a joyous, happy life, in a beautiful, breathtaking world
Edit: Also, like one commenter put it so well: What does it matter?
If this is all a hell, then I’m okay with that. It’s nice. It doesn’t matter what this “actually” is. It’s just nice, warts and all.

How do we know anything? Because we can prove it. We can confirm it through repeatable tests or there is insurmountable evidence for it to be true. I don't see how there's any proof of us being in a simulation, thus I live my life as if we aren't. Although I could just be an NPC trying to convince you otherwise...

see: Nihilism
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihilism
- Absurdism > Nihilism
  We may be in hell, but at least I can laugh at the existential horror of being alive.
  
  Big +1 here!
  Everything being inherently meaningless doesn’t mean we can’t just imagine and make up meanings ourselves! The universe doesn’t care, but you can choose to! 🕺✨
  
  I'm definitely at the bottom right, with a dash of absurdism.
  The sun is gonna explode soon anyway - might as well enjoy it in the stupidest way possible while it lasts.

I'd like to think, if it were all just a simulation, whoever running it would be better at it. :)
- I played cyberpunk 2077 at launch and this universe definitely wasn't bug tested
- This is sustainability farming for demons. Do the bare minimum and harvest the sweet anger, sadness, frustration, etc. The fact that it seem like madness but still possible is a bonus. All this to keep the human souls from shattering from traditional hell torture.

Is "actually Earth" some idealised version of Earth where the greedy and the corrupt don't inevitably end up ruining everything for everyone but themselves? Because otherwise "actually Earth" and Hell could well be the same damn thing.
Or if you subscribe to the Catholic fanfic that is Dante's Inferno, we can talk about circles of hell, each one worse than the last. And where we are right now clearly isn't the bottom one. It definitely feels like it's dropped a layer or two in recent years, but we haven't hit rock bottom.
I could add a "yet" to that, but for some in this wondrous circle, it definitely already feels like it, and some feel like they're thundering towards it with no way to stop it.
But, I guess I'm feeling philosophical at the moment, because this just occurred to me: If there's a fly in the ointment, it means we have ointment.
These words will probably ring hollow in a few days when the ointment catches fire. (I'm not sure what that means in terms of translating back from metaphor into reality, but ointment catching fire definitely feels like something that could happen.)
- We don't know but it's impossible to prove or disprove so just ignore the possibility and get on with your life

From your post I can say you have delusion of persecution which is a symptom of schizophrenia. You might need professional help if whatever you wrote here is actually how you feel.
- Okay, you Demon
  /s

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