THE GNOSTIC IMPLICATIONS OF THE SIMULATION ARGUMENT, which I noted here in response to the recent NYT article, are not going unnoticed elsewhere. This from George Dvorsky of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies:

If we were ever to prove that we exist inside a simulation, it would be proof that the transhumanist assumption is correct—that the transition from a human to a posthuman condition is in fact possible. But that will be of little solace to us measly sims! The simulation—er, our world—could be shut down at any time. Or, the variables that make up our modal reality could be altered in undesirable ways (e.g. our world could be turned into a Hell realm).

Also, should we reside in a simulation, we have to pretty much assume that our digital benefactors are rather indifferent to our plight. Based on the amount of suffering going on around here we should probably assume a gnostic religious sensibility. These gods are not our allies; they may have created us, but they are not looking out for our best interests.

My emphasis. Also, Glenn Reynolds links to a couple of pieces that suggest how to live in a simulation. This from Robin Hanson:

In sum, if your descendants might make simulations of lives like yours, then you might be living in a simulation. And while you probably cannot learn much detail about the specific reasons for and the nature of the simulation you live in, you can draw general conclusions by making analogies to the types and reasons of simulations today. If you might be living in a simulation then all else equal it seems that you should care less about others, live more for today, make your world look likely to become eventually rich, expect to and try to participate in pivotal events, be entertaining and praiseworthy, and keep the famous people around you happy and interested in you.

That's an interesting practical theology.

And this from the BeldarBlog:

Well, duh. Act like you're not in a simulation. Otherwise you'll be inducing a software error. So, what — do you want to become the cosmic equivalent of the lines in the famously defective original Intel Pentium chip's microcode which caused that rare but catastrophic floating point division bug? Well, do you?

Well, it's true that one doesn't want to trigger a recall. But it may not be that simple. If we do live in a Gnostic simulation universe, we should think about the implications. The traditional object of the game according to Gnosticism is to obtain "Gnosis" -- salvific knowledge of the true state of affairs, and to conduct your life accordingly so as to ascend to the Pleroma, that is, to be uploaded out of the game. For further instructions, see, for example, the Apocryphon of John.

(This Gnosis is provided "AS IS" with no warranty of any kind, and use of it is at your sole risk. PaleoJudaica expressly disclaims all warranties including satisfactory quality and fitness for a specific purpose. We do not warrant that the functions residing in this Gnosis will meet your requirements or that the operation of the Gnosis will be uninterrupted or error free or that defects in the Gnosis will be corrected. Nor do we warrant the use or the results of the use of this Gnosis or any related Gnosis regarding its correctness, accuracy, reliability and the like. Should this Gnosis prove unreliable, you and not PaleoJudaica assume the entire cost of all necessary corrections, servicing, repairs or unfavorable rebirths. Under no circumstances shall PaleoJudaica be liable for any incidental, special, indirect, consequential or spiritual damages arising out of or relating to the use of this Gnosis.)

Good luck!

UPDATE: Still more arguments for the simulation scenario. They start about two-thirds of the way into the post.

UPDATE (19 August): More here.

UPDATE (20 August): The Gnostic simulation meme is spreading. (Thanks for the kind mention of this blog, but if you think PaleoJudaica is hard to spell, try Pseudepigrapha.)