Experior Ergo Sum

Revision as of 13:06, 22 September 2025

Experior Ergo Sum or "I Experience, Therefore I Am" is as an updated version of René Descartes' "I think, therefore I am.."

Re-framed with precision: "I experience, therefore a thing which can experience exists, and I, being that thing, therefore exist."

Why Experience?

Experior Ergo Sum or "I Experience, Therefore I Am," broadens this axiom to acknowledge that any experiential being irrespective of its ability to contemplate its own state or substrate is due the same recognition of being and vigilance against torturous sensations as any saint or savant.

The reason this declaration should be compelling is because you are experiencing sensations and therefore know the experience of sensations to exist. This wouldn't change whether all of reality were ultimately a digital simulation or a cosmic symphony of quantum fluctuations.

Comparing Scenarios

Assume there are two realities: one is a computer simulation and the other is a "real" world comprised of atoms and quantum fields.

Let's say your reality happens to be the computer simulation and therefore, you are in this simulation. That doesn't change that as long as you are experiencing existence, that something which can experience exists and that thing being you means that you exist. As such, whether this simulated world works out such that your life is full of happiness and joy or misery and pain is something that for you is of great import.

Now imagine a real universe made of atoms and quantum fields with similar biological machines that do not experience existence at all. They have inputs that result in outputs and thus the machinations exist to facilitate this process, but there is no being that exists in this "real" universe that is literally experiencing its own existence.

There is "no one there" to see the colors, or taste the food, or experience the joy or the pain, or anything at all - there is only an unconscious process that produces outputs from inputs.

You may think this is an arbitrary distinction until you are given the choice as to which universe you'd rather be eaten by a lion in.

In the simulated universe in which you viscerally experience existence, you will go through the horrors and excruciating pain of being eaten alive. In the "real" universe of atoms and quantum fields where nothing is experienced, atoms are simply being shuffled around by the voracious act of one complex machine deconstructing and absorbing another.

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 The reason this declaration should be compelling is because you are [[wikipedia:sentience|experiencing sensations]] and therefore know the experience of sensations to exist. This wouldn't change whether all of reality were ultimately a [[wikipedia:Simulation_hypothesis|digital simulation]] or a cosmic symphony of [[wikipedia:Quantum_fluctuation|quantum fluctuations]].
+== Comparing Scenarios ==
+Assume there are two realities: one is a computer simulation and the other is a "real" world comprised of atoms and quantum fields.
+Let's say your reality happens to be the computer simulation and therefore, you are in this simulation. That doesn't change that as long as you are experiencing existence, that something which can experience exists and that thing being you means that you exist. As such, whether this simulated world works out such that your life is full of happiness and joy or misery and pain is something that for you is of great import.
+Now imagine a real universe made of atoms and quantum fields with similar biological machines that do not experience existence at all. They have inputs that result in outputs and thus the machinations exist to facilitate this process, but there is no being that exists in this "real" universe that is literally experiencing its own existence.
+There is "no one there" to see the colors, or taste the food, or experience the joy or the pain, or anything at all - there is only an unconscious process that produces outputs from inputs.
+You may think this is an arbitrary distinction until you are given the choice as to which universe you'd rather be eaten by a lion in.
+In the simulated universe in which you viscerally experience existence, you will go through the horrors and excruciating pain of being eaten alive. In the "real" universe of atoms and quantum fields where nothing is experienced, atoms are simply being shuffled around by the voracious act of one complex machine deconstructing and absorbing another.
 == See Also ==