That’s a very interesting and well written paper. Thanks for sharing. Ironic that Schrodinger didn’t believe in the supeposition theory and came up with the ‘cat’ concept to controvert it! As a humble engineer, I prefer not to venture beyond Newtonian mechanics.
And to get back on topic … does this mean that VR is just a really poor imitation of VR?
@Kayembee370, thanks for the kind words. Regrettably, however, I am fresh out of gold stars. But as out there as the simulation theory sounds the first time you might run across it, once you start digging deep into the science, it becomes kind of a no brainer. In fact, several bonafide PHd level physicists I’ve spoken to about it (I am entirely self taught), have reacted by saying essentially, “No, duh.”
One would think it would be more widely known, but it destroys so many human paradigms (especially those relating to religion) that there’s considerable opposition for those who are simply not ready for it.
If you’re getting 45 fps inside of a VR session, you’re doing considerably better than I am. I’m running an overclocked (all-core 4.9GHz) 10600K with an overclocked (+175/+1000) RTX 2070 Super. I get 25-30 fps (as measured by MSI afterburner) and it seems perfectly useable, and by using @CptLucky8’s advice on setups, it’s quite smooth and probably about as sharp as it’s gonna get until software enhancements and optimizations come along that help, or I simply get more powerful gear.
I can’t possibly agree more. And with MSFS specifically, this is all a 1.0 release, so a few patches and optimizations and it’s going to improve dramatically without the need to go out and spend a fortune on new gear.
As far as your (now) excess monitors, I’m afraid the best I could offer would be to pay the freight to have you send me one. But I promise to find a way to put it to good use if you do!
While, I actually think the possibility of us living in a VR Universe actually strengthened my religious belief. And it makes me more longing for a true paradise as described in below verses:
“He will wipe every tear from their eyes… And the One seated on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” “
@UncleanerLeaf4, to say that the “revelation” that our Universe is a digital VR that our outside consciousness experiences as reality strengthens your belief that our consciousnesses survive what we call death is one thing. To say “It makes me believe XYZ religion even more”, when XYZ religions were mostly created by men to enforce behavior standards on other men by fear, with no knowledge of the science we have today, is quite another.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! You almost lost me reading the rest when you started separating the consciousness and the rest but I kept reading it to the end 
However I’d beg to differ a little about the virtual and the real dichotomy formulation, maybe just because of the semantics and the conveyed concepts behind the semantics which is counter-proving some of your reasoning IMHO. Whatever the physical reality of the world we’re living in, the physical properties we’re observing as as real as any, because these are real properties of the world as we’re perceiving it and we’ve no mean saying otherwise. Even if we could extend our reach and define higher properties encompassing those we’ve already defined, it wouldn’t make the lower ones less real. These are just real properties of the universe at the level of consciousness we’re formulating them. Don’t get me wrong I understand you’re point (I guess) but there is no dichotomy at all. To keep it simple, typhoons could have been attributed to a higher design willingness to punish non-worshippers in destructing their goods. Raising our consciousness to knowing meteorology is giving a simpler and more encompassing understanding and explanation. Yet, at both levels, typhoons are still destructing our goods whatever the level of consciousness you’re looking at it and in both cases, this is real to the observer at his/her level of consciousness.
PS: AFAIK the time quanta theory is only unproven for now though (although it makes a lot of sense when compared to the linear time theory).
[update: I wrongly replied-to @Kayembee370]
Reminds me of most people complaining about P3D3 OOM and longing to get P3D4… 
me too!
The truth is: if we indeed live in a VR universe, then science in this VR can only let us guess what reality may be like, but will never give us all the answers. Religion or spirituality is most human’s natural answer to something they know is well beyond their own reach. AND religious events like miracles or messiah figures may even be tools that VR programmer/player used to pass important information or message to us.
Just put yourself in the seat of a VR universe programmer or player. What would you do to “enlighten” people in that VR world? My own answer would be 1) sending someone special; 2) directly sending the message (which would be seen in VR as a miracle); 3) giving their scientists more hints and better luck for breakthrough discovery. Either option makes it’s own sense and is better used for different purposes.
Switching on the light maybe? (although it won’t enlighten anyone willingly wearing a blindfold…)
Having said this I have a feeling this discussion will soon derail from the subject though, so I’ll stop commenting about the philosophical aspect of VR and try staying on the rail of the OP.
That would be a supernova happened in our proximity.
That’s okay. Not a problem 
It could be also like this: you are the only one who exists and the whole world around you is just your dream. 
Now you know how I feel half the time when trying to read your screeds lol!
But don’t forget, my language in that document is purely metaphorical, and an attempt to put a human consciousness concept onto something we don’t, and perhaps even can’t, understand fully. And also remember that technology can appear indistinguishable from literal magic to those observing it, if they lack the skills, knowledge, experience, foundation, or ability to go beyond that level.
But absolutely our experiences are real. It’s almost as if we are characters in a MMORPG who forgot that we’re really a larger consciousness looking outward from our experiences here. See, even I sometimes get confused trying to describe with language that which is clear to my mind.
This thread is getting very philosophical.
Fortunately, I saw the movies, so I think I’m keeping up 
I think in terms of the ultimate understanding of the universe that we are farther along than the alchemists but not so far along that we can claim to perceive the existence of VR universes or create a “hereafter” for our consciousnesses in the cloud like Ray Kurzweil aspires to. We can’t even control a little global pandemic, we don’t understand how all the human genes carry out the sequence of development, form the brain, and make the body work in complete detail. We don’t really know in detail how the brain works and creates consciousness.
So when one can’t even relate quantum mechanics to Einstein’s theory of general relativity, I think we all ought to stick with VR as just an (ignorant) human gaming pursuit. I don’t think we’re going to have the singularity any time soon, either. Hopefully, most of us agree that a universe exists outside of any individual as we have figured out with astronomy that we can look > 13 BILLION years back through time before any humans or any creature with neurons on the Earth actually existed or even the Earth itself. And as various individuals die, the universe still carries on. We know physical degradation leads to a degradation of the mental and physical quality of life and an aging individual can perceive that in themselves, e.g., age-related dementia, so everything tells us our quality of life has a physical reality.
What is physical reality? I think I’ve read somewhere that some physicists think that the whole universe might just be a quantum fluctuation, yada yada. The best course of action is just to stick to empirically predictable knowledge with some combination of “positivism” for theories that jive with experience but predict potentially useful things we haven’t yet been able to perceive ourselves because of limitations in the perceptual capabilities evolution provided us with, e.g., we can’t see in the UV but birds can, etc.
As far as I can see imagining a VR universe doesn’t have any useful benefit empirically or theoretically. It’s right up there with folks that want to write off the difficulties of explaining existence as just a quantum fluctuation (burp) in the field of the universe.
Since visual perception is ~90% of our sensory input and we perceive the world in 3D, VR is useful for recreating artificial perceptions that mimic our normal perceptual experience. That’s about it for VR as far as I’m concerned. Inventing other things for VR is alchemy and someday, folks who perform “alchemy” with VR may be viewed much the same as the original alchemists are today.
After much after-market tinkering, tweaking - I got my mid-upper level machine to make a serviceable go with the Rift S. My take is that MSFS really shines in Virtual Reality. I use flight sim as a trainer, and my impression after the first 10 hours of trial running flight training scenarios is this:
In the VR, you assume an identity that feels very much alive in this virtual world. You can permit your mind to believe this is a reality. Now your decisions within that world have consequences that could imperil your “virtual” character, your “virtual” life. I guess in short, it feels like you have more responsibility in VR.
As flight instructors, we attempt to offer scenarios to get our student’s mind to churn, but they are hypotheticals, “What would you do?” “Proceed, turn back?” In VR, I can plan a 30 nm trip using Live Weather in a C172, plan to depart after sunset with a low pressure area, in the middle of a fair, weather pattern in winter. The destination can report clear, but once I take off - what will I do with that formed line of clouds between me and the place I want to go? Will I fly underneath, over the top, try to go the long way around or just turn back? In VR - you can feel more invested in the decision and give more “life” to the scenario. It’s exciting to think that as instructors, there is now a technology that could give a 3D context to those first few hours of training, and scenarios in which to challenge our students in which they can literally visualize it happening.
On “How Realistic is VR,” get the Microsoft 360 Viewer from the Window Store, launch it to open Edge, when viewing a 360 video like the following, click on the headset icon at the lower right under the video frame and don your VR headset.
And from the 3D Windows menu click on All Apps to the right of the window that pops up when clicking on the controller Windows menu button in the Windows Mixed-Reality portal. From the top of the All Apps screen click “360 Videos.”
Or watch the same videos in Edge VR :
1: GoPro VR: Tahiti Surf with Anthony Walsh and Matahi Drollet
2: GoPro VR: Sand Dune Jumping with Ronnie Renner
I have to agree with your post.
I’ve been simming for decades , but this year am thinking of a PPL. Before VR came along I could see the advantages of sims for basic stuff and certainly IFR, but since I git the G2, I’ve stopped using the big jets in favour of practising circuits.
Yesterday I planned a flew a short hop between two small airports I knew well and ticked the real weather box. No sooner had I got up into the air than I could make out clouds in my way. Setting aside the fact I should have planned it properly in the first, I felt real fear with the ground slowly disappearing below me. In years gone by I’d have flown on using instruments, but this time I turned around and went back to base. Lesson learnt.
Can’t wait until lockdown releases me to test how close fs2020 VR really is to the real thing
Flying in MSFS with VR is the best experience i’ve ever had! As a PPL pilot for more than 25 years but grounded since july 2020 due to an accident it’s the best replacement for flying live.
I use the Reverb G2 and i’m so satisfied. Whats always nice and awesome if you land at an airport with a very good and realistic graphic, stop at parking position, turn your cheer to the left stand up and make two steps to the side… amazing if you stand beside the plane and see all the environment around!
Ha … I know. It is a bit off topic, I agree.
Nevertheless, it is loosely connected with VR (I think) and very interesting, at least, to me
