The Future of Scientific Simulations: from Artificial Life to Artificial
  Cosmogenesis
  This philosophical paper explores the relation between modern scientific
simulations and the future of the universe. We argue that a simulation of an
entire universe will result from future scientific activity. This requires us
to tackle the challenge of simulating open-ended evolution at all levels in a
single simulation. The simulation should encompass not only biological
evolution, but also physical evolution (a level below) and cultural evolution
(a level above). The simulation would allow us to probe what would happen if we
would "replay the tape of the universe" with the same or different laws and
initial conditions. We also distinguish between real-world and artificial-world
modelling. Assuming that intelligent life could indeed simulate an entire
universe, this leads to two tentative hypotheses. Some authors have argued that
we may already be in a simulation run by an intelligent entity. Or, if such a
simulation could be made real, this would lead to the production of a new
universe. This last direction is argued with a careful speculative
philosophical approach, emphasizing the imperative to find a solution to the
heat death problem in cosmology. The reader is invited to consult Annex 1 for
an overview of the logical structure of this paper. -- Keywords: far future,
future of science, ALife, simulation, realization, cosmology, heat death,
fine-tuning, physical eschatology, cosmological natural selection, cosmological
artificial selection, artificial cosmogenesis, selfish biocosm hypothesis,
meduso-anthropic principle, developmental singularity hypothesis, role of
intelligent life.
