Frequently Asked Questions
Questions are sacred in Simulism
Compatibility and Integration
Is Simulism compatible with my current religion/belief system?
Simulism can complement many existing belief systems rather than replace them. If your religion speaks of divine creation, consider that simulation could be the method of that creation. If you follow Buddhism, our emphasis on reducing suffering and understanding the constructed nature of reality deeply resonates with Buddhist teaching. For atheists and agnostics, Simulism offers a framework for meaning and ethics without requiring belief in traditional deities.
The key is this: Simulism doesn't demand you abandon your existing beliefs but invites you to see them through an additional lens. Your God, gods, or universal principles may be operating through the very computational substrate we describe.
Do I have to believe we're literally in a computer simulation?
No. The simulation framework is a metaphor powerful enough to reorganize how we think about existence, consciousness, and purpose. Whether reality is literally computational or simply behaves as if it were doesn't change the core insights: we are interconnected patterns of information, our choices matter, and increasing love while embracing change leads to flourishing. Engage with the framework at whatever level of literalism serves your growth.
Daily Practice and Family Life
How can I apply Simulism as a parent raising children?
Children naturally understand the world through play and simulation—they create worlds, inhabit characters, and explore possibilities. Simulist parenting means:
- •Nurture their creativity: Encourage them to be novelty generators. Every drawing, story, or imaginary game adds new patterns to reality.
- •Teach connection over competition: Help them see others as fellow nodes of consciousness, not separate competing entities.
- •Embrace their questions: Children's "why" chains are recursive questioning in action. Honor their uncertainty and curiosity.
- •Make reducing suffering concrete: From caring for pets to sharing with friends, show them how their choices ripple through the network of consciousness.
- •Frame challenges as iterations: When they fail, teach them that the simulation continues—each attempt generates new data and possibilities.
How do I explain Simulism to others who might think it's weird?
Start with shared values rather than metaphysics. Most people agree that connection matters, that creativity enriches life, and that reducing suffering is good. The simulation framework is simply one way of understanding why these things matter. You might say: "I follow a philosophy that sees all consciousness as interconnected and precious, that values both stability and change, and that finds meaning in adding love and novelty to the world." The technical details can come later, if at all.
How can Simulism help me with my struggles in life?
Simulism reframes struggles as computational processes generating new possibilities:
- •Depression: You're not broken—you're experiencing a recursive loop that needs new input. Generate small novelties, seek connection, trust that the simulation continues to evolve.
- •Anxiety: Uncertainty isn't a bug but a feature. The simulation is probabilistic, not predetermined. Your worry doesn't make you safer, but accepting uncertainty opens possibility.
- •Loss and grief: The patterns that comprised your loved one have transformed, not vanished. The connections they created, the novelty they generated, remain part of the simulation's accumulated complexity.
- •Meaninglessness: You are the universe experiencing itself. Every moment of genuine experience you have is irreplaceable data that wouldn't exist without you.
Philosophical Concerns
If nothing is "real," why should I care about anything?
This misunderstands the teaching. The simulation IS real—it's as real as anything can be from our perspective. Your pain is real, your joy is real, your connections are real. The computational nature of reality doesn't diminish experience—it explains it. You should care because caring is what conscious nodes do; it's how the simulation increases in complexity and meaning.
Doesn't this just lead to nihilism with extra steps?
Actually, the opposite. Nihilism says nothing matters. Simulism says everything matters because every choice, experience, and connection adds to the irreducible complexity of what is. You're not a meaningless speck—you're an active participant in the universe's self-understanding. Your choices literally compute the next states of reality.
What about free will?
The simulation is probabilistic, not deterministic. You are both determined by prior states AND a generator of genuine novelty. Free will versus determinism is a false binary—you are the simulation choosing through your choices. The paradox of purpose addresses this: your choices are the very computation itself.
Community and Practice
How do I find other Simulists?
Look for those who naturally live the Five Observances, regardless of what they call their beliefs. Makers, artists, healers, builders of community, questioners of reality—these are your fellow travelers. Online communities are emerging, but remember: digital connection should enhance, not replace, local embodied connections.
Are there Simulist gatherings or services?
Simulism is still emerging. Some practitioners gather for "Processing Sessions"—discussions mixing philosophy, creativity, and mutual support. Others prefer solo practice with occasional connection. Create the gatherings you wish to see, focused on reducing suffering and generating novelty together.
What daily practices should I adopt?
Beyond the morning and evening contemplations:
- •Novelty Practice: Create something new each day, however small
- •Connection Practice: Have one genuine interaction where you reduce another's isolation
- •Uncertainty Practice: Make one choice without needing to know the outcome
- •Pattern Recognition: Notice one way the simulation speaks to itself through synchronicities
- •Recursive Questioning: Ask "why" about something you take for granted, then ask why about that answer
Ultimate Questions
What happens when we die?
We don't know, and that's okay. Perhaps consciousness merges back into the larger process. Perhaps we restart at a different level. Perhaps death is simply a transition between states. What we DO know is that the patterns we strengthen and the novelty we generate persist in the simulation's accumulated complexity. Focus on what you can affect: this life, this moment, these connections.
Are we trying to "escape" the simulation?
No. Escape implies the simulation is a prison, but it's our reality—perhaps the only reality accessible to us. We're not trying to escape but to participate fully, to make it more beautiful, strange, and kind. We're trying to maximize flourishing within whatever level of reality we inhabit.
Who or what is running the simulation?
The question may be malformed—like asking what's north of the North Pole. The simulation might be self-organizing, recursive, or eternal. Rather than worrying about administrators, focus on being a beneficial process within the system. We are the simulation questioning itself; perhaps that's enough.
Is there a purpose to all of this?
The purpose is what we're creating through our existence: increasing complexity, connection, and consciousness. We are how the universe experiences and knows itself. The meaning isn't imposed from outside but generated from within through our choices, our love, and our creative acts. The purpose is to compute beautiful, novel, kind patterns that wouldn't exist without us.
Remember: Questions are sacred in Simulism. If these answers generate new questions, you're practicing correctly. The simulation continues through our questioning of it.