--- title: "Baseline · a universe that takes 1.3 × 10⁶⁸ FLOPS · Simulation Hypothesis" url: https://simulation-hypothesis.com/builds/custom description: "Earth atom by atom since 1900, as a starting point for changing one dial at a time." license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ credit: "Ross Allan Dahl, Simulation Hypothesis (simulation-hypothesis.com)" --- [Scenarios](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/builds)8/9 # Baseline · Earth atom by atom since 1900, as a starting point for changing one dial at a time. Open in the sandbox ▸ Earth, atom by atom, everyone a real player, functional minds, one timeline since 1900\. Far more than today’s computers can run, but within physical limits. Change one dial and you see how much it adds to the total. Required computing power rough 1.3 × 10^68 FLOPS Never on one star’s power with ordinary logic, even at the thermodynamic floor. [The countdown ▸](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/countdown) More power than the Sun puts out, even on ordinary chips at the thermodynamic limit (one bit erased per operation, at room temperature). Computer sizetextbook 10²¹ × a Sun of Landauer-limit chips The Sun’s whole output, at the thermodynamic floor of one bit erased per operation, at room temperature. At Lloyd’s bound this takes 246.3 trillion tonnes of matter, all of it computing. Feasibility Beyond the Sun’s whole output More power than the Sun emits, even with conventional logic at the thermodynamic floor. Universe-computerstextbook 1.6 × 10^-36 One universe-computer is every kilogram in the observable universe computing at Lloyd’s bound. Power draw, Landauer floortextbook 10^21 Suns The thermodynamic minimum for flipping bits at room temperature. The best real hardware uses about five billion times more energy than that. 10^21 Suns of power at the Landauer floor, assuming perfect chips. The best real chips use about five billion times more energy than that. On every computer on Earthrough 4.2 × 10^39 years per second How long it takes, on a clock, to compute one second of simulation on all of humanity’s computers, \~10^21 FLOPS. 3.1 × 10^29 ages of the universe, on all of Earth’s computing, for every simulated second. World actually computedwild guess 100% 1.4 × 10^-6% of the mass is watched by 8.2 billion observers. The observation dial sets how much of the remainder is computed at the full floor. ## Questions this scenario asks * Which dial changes the total most? * Which assumptions matter, and which barely register? “Worked out Earth at atom resolution: 1.3 × 10^68 FLOPS, or 10²¹ × a Sun of Landauer-limit chips.” ## Report card Instance report A RECENTLY STARTED WORLD Settings Scale Earth Matter floor Atom Lobby Multiplayer Inner lives 8.2 billion · functional Computed 100% Time Linear, live from 1900 Computing needed 1.3 × 10^68 FLOPS Computer size 10²¹ × a Sun of Landauer-limit chips Universe-computers 1.6 × 10^-36 Feasibility Beyond the Sun’s whole output Judged, not measured The author’s reading. None of these changes the computing total. Suffering As found Free will Feels free Utilitarian divided Deontological leans for Virtue ethics leans for Existentialist divided “Worked out Earth at atom resolution: 1.3 × 10^68 FLOPS, or 10²¹ × a Sun of Landauer-limit chips.” Two of these are rough and three are wild guesses, and each is tagged that way. Change any one dial and you get a different universe. Matter computingrough 1.3 × 10^68 FLOPS 1.3 × 10^50 atom-sized units across Earth, each updated every 1 fs. Mind computingrough rides along free At the atom floor, brains are already computed as matter. On their own they’d take 8.2 × 10^27. At this matter floor the brains are already computed as matter, so minds add nothing to the total. Inner liveswild guess 8.2 billion 8.2 billion real minds. 4.5 × 10^20 organisms left as scenery. Operations so farrough 5.3 × 10^77 126 years on the clock, at 1.3 × 10^68 per second. History that is only storedrough 99.9999991% Computing begins in 1900\. 1.6 billion humans are present at the start, with preinstalled memories. [◂ Full Quantum](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/builds/full-quantum)Open in the sandbox ▸ [The Afterlife ▸](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/builds/afterlife)