---
title: "Guided routes · Simulation Hypothesis"
url: https://simulation-hypothesis.com/guide
description: "Three routes through the site. Five minutes for the headline numbers, an hour for a student, and the formula, data, API and citation for research."
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
credit: "Ross Allan Dahl, Simulation Hypothesis (simulation-hypothesis.com)"
---

# Guided routes · the same site, by how much time you have

## Five minutes · the headline numbers

How much processing power a simulated world takes, and when our computers could run it.

1. [The Sandbox](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/sandbox) · The baseline world, Earth atom by atom since 1900, and the computing it takes: 10⁶⁸ operations a second.
2. [What a computer can run](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/budget) · The same sum run backwards: what every computer on Earth, or a star, could run instead.
3. [The countdown](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/countdown) · When our computers could run each scenario if processing power keeps growing, and which ones never get there.
4. [Tests](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/tests) · Has anyone looked for the seams, and what did they find?

## An hour · for a student

The argument, the model behind the numbers, and the case against it.

1. [Bostrom’s trilemma](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/library/bostrom-trilemma) · The argument in three propositions, and why at least one must be true.
2. [Thinkers](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/thinkers) · The same question from Plato’s cave to Chalmers, each one tied to a dial.
3. [Your Reality](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/reality) · Ten questions that build a world and measure it as you answer.
4. [Method](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/method) · One formula, every constant with its source, and how far you can trust each one.
5. [Simulations within simulations](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/nesting) · Why every stack of simulations has to end.
6. [Objections](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/objections) · Nine objections, and where a computing model stops.
7. [Reading](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/reading) · Where to go next, with a difficulty tag on each.

## For research · formula, data and citation

Everything you need to check, reuse or extend the model.

1. [Method](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/method) · The formula, the physical anchors, the ladders and the dated changelog.
2. [The Sandbox](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/sandbox) · Every total with its 80% range, and the inputs ranked by influence. You can compare worlds and copy a citation.
3. [Engine API](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/api/openapi.json) · The engine as JSON. /api/price takes the parameters from any Sandbox link. /api/budget runs it backwards.
4. [Datasets](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/data/index.json) · The site’s datasets as open JSON, with a catalogue. Entities publishes its own under /entities.
5. [Tests](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/tests) · Experiments and bounds, with checked citations.
6. [Entities](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/entities) · Minds and collectives, sourced and tagged.
7. [Licence](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/licences) · CC BY 4.0: what you can reuse, and the credit line.