Over Time with Bill Maher, February 3, 2017

Bill and his guests, Sam Harris, Jason Kander, Tomi Lahren, Rick Wilson and Michael Eric Dyson answer viewer questions after the show.

Are We Living in The Matrix? And What if it's a MORMON Matrix?

My mind is now blown. I'm a totally irreligious sci-fi freak. So the possibility that we're living in The Matrix--while not something I seriously consider--is a notion I can fantasize and speculate about. As an agnostic, I'm open to just about any fanciful idea about the nature of the universe. Open, but not easily convinced. If there is such a thing as a creator, I've always imagined that it was something like a computer programmer or an inventor. Why, oh why does the creator need to be omniscient, all-powerful, infinite, 100% pure love/vengeance, with a pathological need to be worshipped? That's why if I had to pick a religion--had to--it would probably be deism. God made it all, and then either just observes, or moved on to other things.

I suppose it could be worse. . .

But back to that Matrix idea. Suppose we're all Sims in a very elaborate "Universe: featuring Earth" program? Things fit in my brain just fine, until I remember the old SimCity game. I could play it for hours, building and growing my town. Then I'd get bored, and throw earthquakes, tornadoes and Godzilla at them. Suppose our programmer is more creative than that? Suppose in our simulation, Joseph Smith was right? The ludicrousness of the Mormon religion doesn't matter, if it's programmed in!!!

[Excerpt]

Should We Be Mormons in the Matrix?



Many people have noticed that there seem to be no new arguments for the truth of any of the world’s religions. I recently stumbled upon one, however, and it has given me a moment’s pause.



The Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrom has argued that our entire cosmos could be running as a simulation on a supercomputer of the future. This, needless to say, is a bizarre claim, but it can be defended with a few surprisingly plausible assumptions. . .

Read more at: Sam Harris

"The End of Faith's" Sam Harris on Bill Maher's Show

Again, enjoy it while you can.