---
id: sfoc-hypotheses-simulation-hypothesis
title: "Simulation Hypothesis"
primary_class: hypotheses
primary_domain: reality-ontology
secondary_domains: [mind-consciousness, intelligence-otherness]
material_modes: [speculative-science, original-synthesis]
version: 1.0.0
---

# Simulation Hypothesis

> **the simulation examiner.** reality mediated by executable rules placed within reality & ontology gives Simulation Hypothesis its distinctive charge. Read it through world-models, observer limits, and the boundary between appearance and claim, with assumptions, feasibility constraints, and discriminating tests kept visible.

## Origin

The origin file for Simulation Hypothesis begins where reality mediated by executable rules placed within reality & ontology first becomes legible in a physically or conceptually motivated extrapolation. It does not backdate later language into earlier sources. Because reality mediated by executable rules placed within reality & ontology selects what evidence to seek and what counterevidence could matter, 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 placed within reality & ontology gives Simulation Hypothesis its distinctive charge. Read it through world-models, observer limits, and the boundary between appearance and claim, with assumptions, feasibility constraints, and discriminating tests kept visible. In the Oracle it is classified as Hypotheses & Lenses, while its evidence layers determine how literal, historical, fictional, experiential, or symbolic a particular interpretation may be.

## Cultural History

Simulation Hypothesis became culturally durable because reality mediated by executable rules placed within reality & ontology could be re-read under new pressures. Durability here demonstrates adaptability, not literal proof. At collective scale, reality mediated by executable rules placed within reality & ontology organizes camps around competing standards of explanation and trust; 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:** speculative-science
- **Evidence state:** plausible-speculation
- **Summary:** Simulation Hypothesis has a plausible-speculation 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:** speculative-science, original-synthesis
- **Evidence state:** documented-historical
- **Summary:** The cited cultural record documents at least one lineage, use, or reception context for Simulation Hypothesis; 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 Hypothesis 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 placed within reality & ontology gives Simulation Hypothesis its distinctive charge. Read it through world-models, observer limits, and the boundary between appearance and claim, with assumptions, feasibility constraints, and discriminating tests kept visible.
- **Archetype:** the simulation examiner
- **Gift:** find a proportionate action through state what this model explains, what could count against it, and what remains outside its scope.
- **Shadow:** mistaking intensity, repetition, or belonging for independent verification.
- **Guidance:** Stay with the distinction around reality mediated by executable rules placed within reality & ontology. Begin by compare two rival maps of the same observation and mark their different blind spots. Use this guidance where reality mediated by executable rules placed within reality & ontology selects what evidence to seek and what counterevidence could matter; keep visible that a model can enlarge possibility or quietly make itself impossible to question.
- **Healing / integration:** Retell Simulation Hypothesis from the viewpoint of the person or system carrying its hidden cost. Then revise the original reading. Review reality mediated by executable rules placed within reality & ontology through world-models, observer limits, and the boundary between appearance and claim, remembering that the card selects what evidence to seek and what counterevidence could matter.
- **Question:** What remains useful in Simulation Hypothesis if its strongest literal claim proves false? Answer by testing how reality mediated by executable rules placed within reality & ontology selects what evidence to seek and what counterevidence could matter against world-models, observer limits, and the boundary between appearance and claim.

## Meanings

### Psychological

Simulation Hypothesis offers a rehearsal for meeting reality mediated by executable rules placed within reality & ontology. The rehearsal is complete when the person can choose a grounded response rather than merely repeat the script. A grounded check for reality mediated by executable rules placed within reality & ontology is to state what this model explains, what could count against it, and what remains outside its scope, especially where the pattern selects what evidence to seek and what counterevidence could matter.

### Social

Simulation Hypothesis coordinates people around reality mediated by executable rules placed within reality & ontology. That coordination can create care and shared purpose, or punish those who do not accept the same map. In shared life, reality mediated by executable rules placed within reality & ontology organizes camps around competing standards of explanation and trust. Test that specific reality mediated by executable rules placed within reality & ontology pattern by asking people to state what this model explains, what could count against it, and what remains outside its scope.

### Spiritual

reality mediated by executable rules placed within reality & ontology may be held as mystery through Simulation Hypothesis. Mystery remains open; it does not require an enemy, hierarchy, or exemption from care. In symbolic practice, reality mediated by executable rules placed within reality & ontology may preserve mystery or close it prematurely by naming an unseen cause; keep in view that a model can enlarge possibility or quietly make itself impossible to question.

### Technological

Technologically, Simulation Hypothesis suggests different instruments, tests, and information architectures. Analysis begins with mechanism, input, dependency, constraint, operator, and failure. When reality mediated by executable rules placed within reality & ontology becomes a capability, it suggests different instruments, tests, and information architectures. Verify the implementation of reality mediated by executable rules placed within reality & ontology by asking participants to state what this model explains, what could count against it, and what remains outside its scope.

### Political

Where Simulation Hypothesis promises order, ask whose uncertainty is being reduced and whose freedom is being converted into someone else’s assurance. When reality mediated by executable rules placed within reality & ontology becomes governance, it can redirect blame, authority, funding, and disclosure demands. Make authority over reality mediated by executable rules placed within reality & ontology 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:** Upright, Simulation Hypothesis makes hidden structure visible without declaring every unknown solved. Act on what is clear and protect what remains open. The capacity within reality mediated by executable rules placed within reality & ontology is strongest when the model can be used without being mistaken for the whole of reality, even as the pattern selects what evidence to seek and what counterevidence could matter.
- **Shadow state:** The shadow position warns that reality mediated by executable rules placed within reality & ontology is being used to erase context, consent, or counterevidence. Restore those missing constraints. To keep reality mediated by executable rules placed within reality & ontology from escalating, state what this model explains, what could count against it, and what remains outside its scope, because the pattern selects what evidence to seek and what counterevidence could matter.
- **Threshold state:** Simulation Hypothesis signals that a model can enlarge possibility or quietly make itself impossible to question. Look for the practical site where that tension selects what evidence to seek and what counterevidence could matter and produces consequence. Operationally, reality mediated by executable rules placed within reality & ontology selects what evidence to seek and what counterevidence could matter; the reader should state what this model explains, what could count against it, and what remains outside its scope.
- **Practical move:** Retell Simulation Hypothesis from the viewpoint of the person or system carrying its hidden cost. Then revise the original reading. Review reality mediated by executable rules placed within reality & ontology through world-models, observer limits, and the boundary between appearance and claim, remembering that the card selects what evidence to seek and what counterevidence could matter.

## Game and Story Function

- explanatory-model
- investigation-path
- rival-theory

**Story seed:** Simulation Hypothesis begins as harmless symbolic play, then acquires material authority. The characters must decide when imagination became governance. The world of the story must show how reality mediated by executable rules placed within reality & ontology selects what evidence to seek and what counterevidence could matter and why a model can enlarge possibility or quietly make itself impossible to question.

## Relationships

- edge--assessed-through-shared-source-lens--sfoc-hypotheses-morphic-resonance--sfoc-hypotheses-simulation-hypothesis
- edge--modeled-by--sfoc-cosmologies-simulation--sfoc-hypotheses-simulation-hypothesis
- edge--same-class-as--sfoc-hypotheses-secret-technology-hypothesis--sfoc-hypotheses-simulation-hypothesis
- edge--same-class-as--sfoc-hypotheses-simulation-hypothesis--sfoc-hypotheses-ultraterrestrial-hypothesis
- edge--shares-inquiry-domain-with--sfoc-artifacts-alien-artifact--sfoc-hypotheses-simulation-hypothesis
- edge--shares-inquiry-domain-with--sfoc-beings-android--sfoc-hypotheses-simulation-hypothesis
- edge--shares-inquiry-domain-with--sfoc-beings-insectoid--sfoc-hypotheses-simulation-hypothesis
- edge--shares-inquiry-domain-with--sfoc-beings-leaker--sfoc-hypotheses-simulation-hypothesis
- edge--shares-inquiry-domain-with--sfoc-forces-wonder--sfoc-hypotheses-simulation-hypothesis
- edge--shares-inquiry-domain-with--sfoc-hypotheses-simulation-hypothesis--sfoc-technologies-mind-upload

## Visual Direction

Simulation Hypothesis visualized as reality mediated by executable rules placed within reality & ontology: a split lens comparing two or more models around the same unresolved observation. 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, nasa-astrobiology, original-synthesis
- Research note: Which earliest reliable source fixes the modern meaning of Simulation Hypothesis? Which communities use Simulation Hypothesis differently, and what changes across those contexts? What evidence would distinguish the leading literal explanations associated with Simulation Hypothesis?
