It’s “useless” in part because, as you note, it assumes Omega works by simulating the player
Or, if you are thinking about it more precisely, it observes that however Omega works, it will be equivalent to Omega simulating the player. It just gives us something our intuitions can grasp at a little easier.
That’s a fairly good argument—simulation or something equivalent is the most realistic thing to expect. But since Omega is already several kinds of impossible, if Omega didn’t work in a way equivalent to simulating the player it would add minimally to the suspended disbelief. Heck, it might make it easier to believe, depending on the picture—“The impossible often has a kind of integrity to it which the merely improbable lacks.”
Heck, it might make it easier to believe, depending on the picture—“The impossible often has a kind of integrity to it which the merely improbable lacks.”
On the other hand sometimes the impossible is simply incomprehensible and the brain doesn’t even understand what ‘believing’ it would mean. (Which is what my brain is doing here.) Perhaps this is because it is related behind the scenes to certain brands of ‘anthropic’ reasoning that I tend to reject.
Or, if you are thinking about it more precisely, it observes that however Omega works, it will be equivalent to Omega simulating the player. It just gives us something our intuitions can grasp at a little easier.
That’s a fairly good argument—simulation or something equivalent is the most realistic thing to expect. But since Omega is already several kinds of impossible, if Omega didn’t work in a way equivalent to simulating the player it would add minimally to the suspended disbelief. Heck, it might make it easier to believe, depending on the picture—“The impossible often has a kind of integrity to it which the merely improbable lacks.”
On the other hand sometimes the impossible is simply incomprehensible and the brain doesn’t even understand what ‘believing’ it would mean. (Which is what my brain is doing here.) Perhaps this is because it is related behind the scenes to certain brands of ‘anthropic’ reasoning that I tend to reject.