Creation of Universe

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I am 15 and have been a strong catholic all my life however, last night i read the “Simulation Theory” pretty much in short form, the universe, everything we know, god and life is not real and we are pretty much just a computer game, I now no longer believe in God and i want to believe in him again but i need to restore my faith, im so scared and depressed i want to believe in god and an after life please someone help me!
 
Since you are Catholic and interested in creation, I would suggest you also spend some time reading an explanation from a Catholic perspective. The following from St. Thomas Aquinas are quite thorough and tackle topics about God and Creation in an easy statement/response format. You can just click on the chapters, and then go directly to the information:

Book One: God

Book Two: Creation
 
I would agree with AveOTheotokos. Read Aquinas. Specifically, his argument from Motion. It can get technical but if you persevere I think you will find it pretty compelling. Even if we are in a simulation, the fact that change exists makes a difference. As you will read from Aquinas.

Good Luck!
 
vince said:
I am 15 and have been a strong catholic all my life however, last night i read the “Simulation Theory” pretty much in short form, the universe, everything we know, god and life is not real and we are pretty much just a computer game, I now no longer believe in God and i want to believe in him again but i need to restore my faith, im so scared and depressed i want to believe in god and an after life please someone help me!
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Vince,

Faith and reason go together. They don’t contradict each other. Except when science ignores the supernatural, because they can’t measure it, see it, touch it, which is the problem an atheist has, which most scientist fall under.

As Thomas Aquinas said, for one who has faith no explanation is necessary, for one without faith no explanation is sufficient.

Keep in mind. Jesus performed incredible miracles, in the presence of eyewitnesses. He raised people from the dead, healed incurable illnesses, All with eyewitness accounts. Yet when Jesus gave His bread if life discourse, many of His own disciples left Him saying that what Jesus taught was to difficult to even listen to. Reason is, Jesus said they had no faith. Not even God in the flesh will go against free will He gave all human beings. It is what makes us culpable in the end, for all that we do.

The book you read can’t give you a reason to deny God. Don’t let yourself get played.
 
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vince said:
last night i read the “Simulation Theory” pretty much in short form, the universe, everything we know, god and life is not real and we are pretty much just a computer game
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Vince, that is the plot of a movie. Not real life.

I encourage you to talk to your parents and your pastor.
 
vince said:
… last night i read the “Simulation Theory” pretty much in short form, the universe, everything we know, god and life is not real and we are pretty much just a computer game…
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I second what 1ke wrote. It’s a work of fiction. Talk with your folks, your pastor, or another trusted adult about it.

That book must be fairly well written to have had such an impact on you, but get a grip. It’s a story. Don’t let it change your whole outlook on life. The story has an interesting premise. Let it stimulate your mind. Think about what it would take for it to be possible (e.g., what kind of technology? Developed by whom? How can a computer game give rise to your consciousness?). Look for loose ends and contradictions that could lead you to see that it is not possible. And read other kinds of books to get a more balanced view of life.
 
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vince said:
the universe, everything we know, god and life is not real and we are pretty much just a computer game, I now no longer believe in God
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who made the game?

this story/theory is just a way to remove God from the equation.

what specifically do you have issues with that changed your mind?
 
Could God love each and every one of us as he loves himself?

Here is a childlike and yet profound way to test the power of the greatest commandments; when looking for a purpose for the creation of the universe and life.

Imagine you are God sitting in your favourite armchair. You are looking out into the vast empty void of space, and you think, I have the power to create anything I want, what is the greatest good thing I can create?

You could create all the stars and planets of the universe; and be a builder. You could create a whole variety of life with almost no intelligence like plants; and be a gardener’ You could create life with more intelligence like animal, and you are a farmer. You could create children in your own image, children who could love in the same perfect way as you love.

God could make a covenant with himself, and say he will love each and every one of his children as he loves himself. God could sow the commandments of love in our hearts, (conscience). God could give us the greatest commandment to love God in exactly the same way that God loves us. Because God loves everyone as he loves himself, he has given us the second greatest commandment to love all of my neighbours as I love myself.

Can there be any greater purpose to create the universe and life?

How does this fit in with your understanding of Christianity?
 
Alright, so I watched the video you referred to and the follow up video that the youtuber gives. One thing that I would like to say is that this topic is quite fascinating. But the main problem with the idea is that we cannot prove it is true. The youtuber even mentions this. The simulation theory is just that, a theory. He makes no arguments for it, just assumptions. Furthermore, he says a computer big enough to store simulations of that kind is basically impossible. Only if technology advances enough, only if no one blows up the the thing during war, and only if you build a death star computer that wraps around a sun-like gas planet will it work. Who has money for that? Just to create a simulation? That is huge!
Also, as the youtuber said, we have no idea what consciousness is (At least scientists don’t). Then he goes to say that we can create it. What?
Another point, if you actually believe we are in a simulation, where does morality go? The person next to you is a simulation. Its all in your mind so nothing will happen if you kill that person. You might get caught in the “simulation world”, but if you make sure you don’t get caught are you good?

I must admit, I have thought about the simulation theory as well. It is an interesting theory. But always remember, there is no proof. There proof for God. Some might say it is inadequate but there are still proofs. There is no such thing for the simulation theory. It’s like saying that trees can walk. Is there any proof? No, but it is an interesting idea.
 
vince said:
this is what i watched that made me all scared and doubt god
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Reminds me of a story from The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, by Douglas Adams (the second book of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe “trilogy.”) You might enjoy this passage:
A race of hyperintelligent pan-dimensional beings once built themselves a gigantic supercomputer called Deep Thought to calculate once and for all the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. For seven and a half million years, Deep Thought computed and calculated, and in the end announced that the answer was in fact Forty-two – and so another, even bigger, computer had to be built to find out what the actual question was.

And this computer, which was called the Earth, was so large that it was frequently mistaken for a planet – especially by the strange ape-like beings who roamed its surface, totally unaware that they were simply part of a gigantic computer program.

And this is very odd, because without that fairly simple and obvious piece of knowledge, nothing that ever happened on the Earth could possibly make the slightest bit of sense.
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It’s great fiction, lot’s of fun if you’re into sci-fi humor.
 
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The universe was made out of nothing that is God created it out of nothing. It was not an random act and nothing can create itself into something. No one knows how God created the universe, but its vastness should tell us that some higher being created it. What I’m saying is if the universe did not exist it could not make itself exist, there has to be something to make it come into existence. While science is discipline which helps one to understand the nature of things, it is always evolving that is to say theories believed on day may change the next as new information is gleamed There are a great many theories out there and not everyone is a valid one. There is also a lot of opinions that are no where coming even close to truth. Look at it this way,If one believes in God and there is no God nothing is lost, but if one does not believe in God and God exists then one lost everything. So i think it is better to believe in God then not.
 
It doesn’t matter if we are in a simulation or not. In order for anything to exist at all there has to be a a perfect, absolute, all-powerful, timeless, non-physical, intelligent act of reality - this is what we call God. Without God nothing exits, not even a simulation. Whoever told you that simulation theory proves that God is just a simulation doesn’t understand what Catholics mean by God.

Like others have already said i recommend Aquinas. It will take time for you to comprehend and understand, but it will help you.

Personally, while i do like the idea of finding out that we are in a simulation it is ultimately junk science based on unfounded assumptions more specifically about the nature of consciousness.
 
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vince,

ask yourself what is this world simulating?

perhaps the people that are trying to influence you should use the word creation instead of simulation?

are not they actually saying that something greater than this world gave this world being?

a simulation is an imitation of something real? so if this world were a simulation, then there is an actual world that is just like it but real? for what purpose would a simulation be developed by the real thing? how could the real thing, of which this world is the simulation, be great enough to create this simulation since in the simulation itself such a simulation is impossible?
 
vince said:
I am 15 and have been a strong catholic all my life however, last night i read the “Simulation Theory” pretty much in short form, the universe, everything we know, god and life is not real and we are pretty much just a computer game, I now no longer believe in God and i want to believe in him again but i need to restore my faith, im so scared and depressed i want to believe in god and an after life please someone help me!
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@vince I stumbled across this article today that you might find comforting:

 
Simulation theory doesn’t solve anything. Every simulation is just one additional step removed from the same question. If there’s a more real universe and we’re just a simulation in that real universe, why does the real universe exist? Such a thing would not be self-explanatory.

Anyway, and this is a gross simplification, mind, but the classical theist conception of God basically makes us a simulation and God both the computer we’re running on and the programmer anyway.
 
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