---
id: sfoc-worlds-simulation-layer
title: "Simulation Layer"
primary_class: worlds
primary_domain: reality-ontology
secondary_domains: [civilization-ecology, origin-lineage]
material_modes: [science-fiction, original-synthesis]
version: 1.0.0
---

# Simulation Layer

> **the simulation layer wayfinder.** reality mediated by executable rules meeting the layer motif gives Simulation Layer its distinctive charge. Read it through world-models, observer limits, and the boundary between appearance and claim, with work, creator, reception, and symbolic reuse kept visible.

## Origin

To locate Simulation Layer, the Oracle separates the originating record, the name now used for it, and the synthesis made for this deck. narrative truth does not establish literal availability. Because reality mediated by executable rules meeting the layer motif sets the affordances, dangers, distances, and resources of action, provenance work must state what this model explains, what could count against it, and what remains outside its scope.

## What It Is

reality mediated by executable rules meeting the layer motif gives Simulation Layer its distinctive charge. Read it through world-models, observer limits, and the boundary between appearance and claim, with work, creator, reception, and symbolic reuse kept visible. In the Oracle it is classified as Worlds & Places, while its evidence layers determine how literal, historical, fictional, experiential, or symbolic a particular interpretation may be.

## Cultural History

Simulation Layer did not keep one meaning while its setting changed. Its reception shows how a model can enlarge possibility or quietly make itself impossible to question. At collective scale, reality mediated by executable rules meeting the layer motif gathers identities around belonging, exclusion, migration, and shared place; this matters because a model can enlarge possibility or quietly make itself impossible to question.

## Claim and Evidence Layers

  ### literal-and-empirical

- **Claim layer:** literal-and-empirical
- **Material context:** science-fiction
- **Evidence state:** fictional
- **Summary:** Simulation Layer has a fictional literal or empirical layer. That designation applies only to the bounded claims supported by the listed sources.
- **Sources:** bostrom-simulation

### cultural-and-historical

- **Claim layer:** cultural-and-historical
- **Material context:** science-fiction, original-synthesis
- **Evidence state:** documented-historical
- **Summary:** The cited cultural record documents at least one lineage, use, or reception context for Simulation Layer; it does not certify every later claim.
- **Sources:** bostrom-simulation

### symbolic-and-divinatory

- **Claim layer:** symbolic-and-divinatory
- **Material context:** original-synthesis
- **Evidence state:** symbolic
- **Summary:** The Oracle uses Simulation Layer as a reflective symbol, never as proof that its literal or causal claims are true.
- **Sources:** original-synthesis

## Oracle

- **Essence:** reality mediated by executable rules meeting the layer motif gives Simulation Layer its distinctive charge. Read it through world-models, observer limits, and the boundary between appearance and claim, with work, creator, reception, and symbolic reuse kept visible.
- **Archetype:** the simulation layer wayfinder
- **Gift:** connect individual perception with the wider conditions expressed by reality mediated by executable rules meeting the layer motif.
- **Shadow:** using technical or sacred language to conceal ordinary power and dependency.
- **Guidance:** Slow the conclusion and widen the source base for Simulation Layer. Prefer the smallest reversible step that could teach something real about world-models, observer limits, and the boundary between appearance and claim. Use this guidance where reality mediated by executable rules meeting the layer motif sets the affordances, dangers, distances, and resources of action; keep visible that a model can enlarge possibility or quietly make itself impossible to question.
- **Healing / integration:** Draft a consent protocol for engaging Simulation Layer: scope, information, refusal, review, revocation, and care after participation. Review reality mediated by executable rules meeting the layer motif through world-models, observer limits, and the boundary between appearance and claim, remembering that the card sets the affordances, dangers, distances, and resources of action.
- **Question:** What evidence, relationship, or material condition would distinguish insight from projection here? Answer by testing how reality mediated by executable rules meeting the layer motif sets the affordances, dangers, distances, and resources of action against world-models, observer limits, and the boundary between appearance and claim.

## Meanings

### Psychological

Simulation Layer reveals how attention behaves around a model can enlarge possibility or quietly make itself impossible to question. The psychological work is to regain choice without dismissing what feels consequential. A grounded check for reality mediated by executable rules meeting the layer motif is to state what this model explains, what could count against it, and what remains outside its scope, especially where the pattern sets the affordances, dangers, distances, and resources of action.

### Social

Socially, Simulation Layer gathers identities around belonging, exclusion, migration, and shared place. The key question is whose account becomes legible and who can contest the arrangement. In shared life, reality mediated by executable rules meeting the layer motif gathers identities around belonging, exclusion, migration, and shared place. Test that specific reality mediated by executable rules meeting the layer motif pattern by asking people to state what this model explains, what could count against it, and what remains outside its scope.

### Spiritual

The contemplative work in Simulation Layer is to distinguish revelation, interpretation, inheritance, and desire through world-models, observer limits, and the boundary between appearance and claim, allowing each an honest place. In symbolic practice, reality mediated by executable rules meeting the layer motif acts as sanctuary, exile, underworld, promised land, or threshold; keep in view that a model can enlarge possibility or quietly make itself impossible to question.

### Technological

Simulation Layer invites a full-stack reading from source material to interface and decommissioning. Hidden labor is part of the mechanism. When reality mediated by executable rules meeting the layer motif becomes a capability, it depends on infrastructure for access, survival, sensing, and maintenance. Verify the implementation of reality mediated by executable rules meeting the layer motif by asking participants to state what this model explains, what could count against it, and what remains outside its scope.

### Political

Simulation Layer may justify exceptional action by promising safety, destiny, abundance, or revelation where world-models, observer limits, and the boundary between appearance and claim are contested. Examine mandate, evidence, proportionality, and sunset as the pattern sets the affordances, dangers, distances, and resources of action. When reality mediated by executable rules meeting the layer motif becomes governance, it makes borders, jurisdiction, ownership, and environmental burden visible. Make authority over reality mediated by executable rules meeting the layer motif answerable by requiring decision-makers to state what this model explains, what could count against it, and what remains outside its scope.

## Divination

- **Gift state:** Simulation Layer can now become an instrument rather than an identity. Use it to compare, clarify, connect, or repair. The capacity within reality mediated by executable rules meeting the layer motif is strongest when the model can be used without being mistaken for the whole of reality, even as the pattern sets the affordances, dangers, distances, and resources of action.
- **Shadow state:** Simulation Layer darkens when narrative truth does not establish literal availability. Acknowledge the symbolic charge while reducing the factual claim to what sources support. To keep reality mediated by executable rules meeting the layer motif from escalating, state what this model explains, what could count against it, and what remains outside its scope, because the pattern sets the affordances, dangers, distances, and resources of action.
- **Threshold state:** This card appears when the situation needs state what this model explains, what could count against it, and what remains outside its scope. It does not demand belief; it demands a more precise map. Operationally, reality mediated by executable rules meeting the layer motif sets the affordances, dangers, distances, and resources of action; the reader should state what this model explains, what could count against it, and what remains outside its scope.
- **Practical move:** Draft a consent protocol for engaging Simulation Layer: scope, information, refusal, review, revocation, and care after participation. Review reality mediated by executable rules meeting the layer motif through world-models, observer limits, and the boundary between appearance and claim, remembering that the card sets the affordances, dangers, distances, and resources of action.

## Game and Story Function

- setting
- route-node
- resource-environment

**Story seed:** Someone uses Simulation Layer to explain a private wound, while an institution uses it to justify public control. One source can disrupt both stories. The world of the story must show how reality mediated by executable rules meeting the layer motif sets the affordances, dangers, distances, and resources of action and why a model can enlarge possibility or quietly make itself impossible to question.

## Relationships

- edge--assessed-through-shared-source-lens--sfoc-worlds-ocean-world--sfoc-worlds-simulation-layer
- edge--same-class-as--sfoc-worlds-shambhala--sfoc-worlds-simulation-layer
- edge--same-class-as--sfoc-worlds-simulation-layer--sfoc-worlds-sleeper-ship
- edge--shares-inquiry-domain-with--sfoc-cosmologies-ancient-astronaut-cosmos--sfoc-worlds-simulation-layer
- edge--shares-inquiry-domain-with--sfoc-cosmologies-galactic-ecology--sfoc-worlds-simulation-layer
- edge--shares-inquiry-domain-with--sfoc-cosmologies-quarantine-earth--sfoc-worlds-simulation-layer
- edge--shares-inquiry-domain-with--sfoc-systems-resource-monopoly--sfoc-worlds-simulation-layer

## Visual Direction

Simulation Layer visualized as reality mediated by executable rules meeting the layer motif: a navigable horizon, gateway, or terrain mark with clear depth and no scenic illustration clutter. The art must be original, text-free, square, rounded-corner enamel with one immediately legible silhouette.

## Safety and Integration

No elevated safety flag. Keep claims and metaphor visibly distinct.

## Sources and Research Notes

- Source IDs: bostrom-simulation, sf-encyclopedia, original-synthesis
- Research note: Which earliest reliable source fixes the modern meaning of Simulation Layer? Which communities use Simulation Layer differently, and what changes across those contexts? What evidence would distinguish the leading literal explanations associated with Simulation Layer?
