All the World’s a Simulation
Publication Date
1-1-2022
Document Type
Contribution to a Book
Publication Title
Playing with Reality: Denying, Manipulating, Converting, and Enhancing What is There
Editor
Sidney Homan
DOI
10.4324/9781003256601-15
First Page
110
Last Page
117
Abstract
At the heart of philosophy in the Western tradition is the idea of the simulation. Since the time of Plato, politics had been regarded as a kind of theater, a performance based on human action and the power of human speech. One especially clear expression of the simulation was offered in 2018 by Google in an internal video intended for company employees: The Selfish Ledger. Our version of the simulation, the computer simulation, includes within it a description of human life understood from the point of view of the engineer, the archetype of our time, rather than the philosopher. In line with company objectives, the simulation seeks to alter behaviors deliberately but imperceptibly, nudging individuals and collectives toward the appropriate public goods.
Department
Political Science
Recommended Citation
Lawrence Quill. "All the World’s a Simulation" Playing with Reality: Denying, Manipulating, Converting, and Enhancing What is There (2022): 110-117. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003256601-15
