![]() ![]() She also relates how a New Zealand man livestreamed his murder of several people, moving the gun as if from a first-person shooter video game. Schorey describes how Joshua Cooke watched The Matrix many times before he murdered his parents. This separation of and relationship between body and mind is a common idea discussed among many religions, but how does it influence people’s behavior today? An article by Shannon Trosper Schorey on the website for Religion Dispatches describes how simulation theory contributed to dangerous crimes. If only some people have real consciences with the ability to program, those with programmed consciences might not matter. In simulation theory, the body and conscience are separate. There are two ways we could examine simulation theory from the perspective of religious studies: simulation theory as religion, and religion within simulation theory. To the prisoners, reality was the shadows of the objects on the wall, not the objects themselves. Plato’s Allegory of the Cave describes prisoners trapped in a cave who can only see the shadows of things illuminated on the wall. René Descartes wrote in Meditations on First Philosophy, “It is possible that I am dreaming right now and that all of my perceptions are false,” with the idea that there is an evil demon controlling our reality. Simulation theory has roots in Western philosophy. In fact, according to this ideology, not everyone is even “real” only the “programmers” are really real and can change reality. Why don’t we typically study something as popular as sim theory in courses on religion in America?įirst, what is simulation theory? Essentially, simulation theory is the idea that we are living in a computer simulation, and that every aspect of our reality is artificial. ![]() With the latest movie in The Matrix franchise coming out a few weeks ago, conversation about simulation theory has redoubled. Public figures such as Elon Musk have called attention to this ideology, spreading quickly over social media. In recent years, something called simulation theory has begun appearing more frequently in public discourse. ![]() Special thanks for editorial assistance from REL’s graduate student Jacob Barrett. Lauren Horn Griffin’s REL 245, American Religious History. Tyler Dettmar developed this post from a presentation originally created for Prof. ![]()
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