we all live in a yellow submarine, right?

One of my favorite NY Times writers, John Tierney, informs me that the odds are "maybe better than even" that I (and you too) am living in a computer simulation. Tierney finds this oddly comforting:

It’s unsettling to think of the world being run by a futuristic computer geek, although we might at last dispose of that of classic theological question: How could God allow so much evil in the world? For the same reason there are plagues and earthquakes and battles in games like World of Warcraft. Peace is boring, Dude.

Then there is this:

Maybe, as suggested by Robin Hanson, an economist at George Mason University, you should try to be as interesting as possible, on the theory that the designer is more likely to keep you around for the next simulation.

I would like to go on record thanking my programmer for sending me to Tanzania and Rwanda this summer and I urge her to consider a trip to Madagascar, where I am certain to do some fascinating stuff, before terminating my program.