this post was submitted on 19 Dec 2025
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Philosophy

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[–] mindbleach@sh.itjust.works 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

If you're poised to cleverly bust out the halting problem - nature can't solve the halting problem either. It's not a riddle; it's a contradiction.

Your brain is three pounds of wet meat powered by cornflakes. Unless you think it's secretly a radio to heaven, it's only biology, and the underlying physics of biology are rules we can emulate.

[–] magic_lobster_party@fedia.io 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

There are more ways the universe can be uncomputable.

  • Does the universe have random elements? (as opposed to being deterministic)
  • Is the universe continuous? (as opposed to being discrete)

We don’t have definitive answers to any of these two statements.

If any of these two statements are true, then no computer can simulate the universe, as all computers are both deterministic and discrete. If consciousness exists and there are parts of the universe that aren’t computable, then I believe consciousness is more likely to be in the uncomputable part of the universe.

[–] mindbleach@sh.itjust.works 1 points 4 days ago

... computers can handle randomness.

Being continuous would not rule out simulation that's accurate enough for whatever a brain needs. Brains work after a fifth of whiskey. Planck-length timing differences are not going to crash the simulation.

The universe evolved us. Consciousness is just a thing matter can do. There's no sensible reason to declare it unknowable, unrepeatable, or unfakeable.