Over the years and often from tech or sci-fi people, the idea of living in a simulation has been posited, with many giving it a near 100% certainty. However, regardless of your opinion on this, it does give an individual an interesting operating system to work with, as seeing life as a game makes it something that lowers the cost of trying and, it also introduces the opportunity to find exploits in the code.
"Hacking" the system can mean many things of course, but considering that we are "flesh and blood" a lot of the hacking comes through seeing ourselves as outside of the constrains of our body and able to do more than what "god has given us".
For example, my operating system doesn't factor in a god of any kind as I see the reality of it irrelevant, because regardless of what I do, the answer is binary, there is a god, or there isn't a god. Since I cannot possibly know which it is, my only way forward is to act as if there isn't. The reason is that if there is a god like the one people believe that has rules and conditions in order to get into some fantastical afterlife, there is no way for me to actually adhere to those rules (regardless of what you believe is the rulebook), which means that if I must pass all those tests, I am going to fail. I am okay with failure.
The next part of this is that living without those rules means taking full responsibility for myself in this life and since I am someone who looks to maximize wellbeing now and in the future, I figure that despite the many mistakes I make and degrees of failure, I am generally a good person. If there is a god that judges inferiority based on not believing or not meeting the specified standards, even though judging a generally good person - that is not the kind of god I want to spend my time with. If there is a devil that accepts all regardless of who they are or their sins, that sounds far more godly, as judgement doesn't come into acceptance and there is no need to pander to a childish, attention-seeking deity.
But, I believe in neither - I am a "fade to blacker" and think that when my body dies, I die with it. Regardless of me being unable to imagine the void of an experienceless life (death), it doesn't scare me and actually empowers me to take experience in this world seriously, as it is my only opportunity to do so. There are no "respawns".
However, no respawns and fade to black also mean that I don't have to worry about how I will be perceived after I die, since I won't be there to experience it. I think a lot of people care about their "legacy" because they have a sense that when they die, they will be able to see how much they were loved or despised and they fear the post-life judgement of others. For me, I do care about how I live my life though and even what is thought of me post-life, not because I will experience the consequences, but because those who survive me will. I don't want my daughter to suffer in her life, because her father was a useless toss.
And this is part of the problem with "acceptance" as many people use it, as they see it as many seem to think it is about accepting conditions as they are to the point that nothing changes. This in my opinion, leads to a lot of attachment and suffering, since change is inevitable even if we as a species are not driving the change. We evolve without new technology because the environment in which we live changes conditions, and we adapt thoughtlessly and naturally.
But, we have evolved to be able to change our world too - for better or worse. This means that the reasons we have been able to advance to where we have so far, where medicine is better, less people are starving and we can share information globally instantaneously. To me, while I might not directly benefit from progress, I think it is safe to assume that there will be more people to come in the future, which means they will benefit. While some people seem to be working so that they can get to heaven and an unknowable god - I think it is far more practical to work toward what is quite certain at this point, that there will be more people to come in the future who would benefit from better healthcare, improved opportunity and of course, a much improved economy. All of these things tie into the economy of course, which is where I spend most of my free time these days.
Of course, we all have the operating systems of our life that we subscribe to, whether we actively choose it or are conditioned to follow it, but I think that thinking pragmatically about life today and life tomorrow, we shouldn't be spending as much time worrying about our individual afterlives, and instead be looking how to live a good life now. A good life doesn't mean an easy life, nor does it mean getting everything we want or never failing - in my opinion, a good life is about being part of the world as it is and being part of shaping it toward what me as an individual thinks is a better world.
I have limited affect as an individual however, so collaboration is needed, but luckily, we have a global system of communication to support cooperation and ways to build trust and track progress, without having to live in a tiny localized community. I am an idealist and believe in a better world, but believing doesn't make it happen, that takes activity, which means change. Accepting things as they are today shouldn't come with the binding of attachment to them, it should be to see them as they are, dynamic systems that are all going to be superseded eventually.
As will we all be.
Everything, including us, is transitory. What we transition to is an unknown, but one thing is certain for each of us - we have choices to make on how we live today.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]