Ahhhh. There's nothing like coffee you've roasted yourself.

Matt- Platypus: WHY?

Again, I don't directly make things, just the rules that that bring about their existence. All living creatures you see have earned their right to exist through competition/coexistence with all other living creatures.

Justin- Hope you are having fun dude!

Remember earlier when I mentioned I have a life outside of work? My biggest hobby used to be gambling. Dealing with chaos and uncertainty is a universal attraction to all sentient beings. To make a long story short, the others watched me game, and offered me this job.

Man, nothing kills an enjoyable hobby like turning it into work.

If humans are part of a computer system that you prompted to eventually begin, then are they also undeletable, as software seems to be?

Are you on drugs? Since when is software "Undeleteable"?

I'll be skipping some people who aren't actually asking questions, and I'll be skipping those who ask stupid questions.

Yes there are stupid questions. You've been lied to all these years.

Could you please get rid of the religious fundamentalists? I realize that would make things a good deal less suspenseful around here, what with fundamentalists of various stripes no longer trying to kick-start Armageddon and all, but please - show some humanity.

Oh no! Not Armageddon! That would be, well, just another day at work to me.

You have all the tools you need to solve your problems. Not only that, but you've solved fundamentalist problems before, and you wrote down how you did it!

Go read a book!

Dr.R.P.- I have several milestones coming up in my life in the next few years, so I would appreciate it if you keep your grubby mits off the “reset” button for say, the next 2 years. We’ll talk again after that.

Sorry man, I don't have a reset button. Your system just collapses eventually. You have the same deal as you did the first day you first opened your eyes.

Everything around you, your friends, your family, the car you drive, the cities you've built, the words you've created, have all been created by people who are working under the same axiom. Your life is limited, make the day count.

It's also the driving force behind my laziness. ;)

Daniel Markham- Only need one thing to kick this whole sim fun right up into overdrive: cheat codes.

Cheat codes are not accessible within the sim. If they were, even in secret, total system failure becomes inevitable. I'm telling you, Chaos is the ultimate foe for system designers. Especially since we have to harness it to have anything happen.

Wouldn’t this simulation be more fun if we all wore pink patent leather pants? You know it would…

I don't know about fun, but it certainly would be more pink.

S_R_C- You have made the most beautiful world I have ever seen in my whole life and I want to thank you for being part of it.

Again, I didn't make it. The rules were set up to bring about a stable system that could have intelligent life develop, it "Just happened" (With > 100% of it happening over the lifetime of the universe.) Feel free to appreciate beauty in life though.

Melinda Green- Please don’t turn it off, OK?

Are you kidding? After the stars burn out, the heat death of this universe is *incredibly* long and boring. Not only is there no interest in keeping it running for eternity+1, I'd quit if they tried to make me do it.

In simpler terms, "Nothing is forever".

Who assassinated JFK?

Some guy with a rifle.

viktor lawryniuk- How many permutations have you attempted in this run-up to the Singularity?

Singularity isn't the purpose of your existence, so, zero.

viktor lawryniuk- Tweaking variables to see how much it takes to derail the juggernaut? Just how much cognitive dissonance in our culture does it take to produce a new dark age instead of the breakthrough to where you are?

Heh. You'll never get to where we are, blocks have been put into place. The experiment becomes invalid if you guys go up a level. And because cleaning up sub-universes is a pain in the ass, I've put in blocks to prevent you from doing that also.

viktor lawryniuk- You probably wonder whether you are the result of a serendipitous combination of events or inevitable. Which is it?

Not really, it's inevitable because I made myself.

viktor lawryniuk- And will we endlessly loop through an infinite series while you test: Are you unique, or are you common?

In this universe, you have one life. Crappy or awesome, you are born, you live, and then you die. That's it.

I'm unique. I strive to do things others have not. I am common. There are many beings like me, but only a few have access to this universe. And I have the sole responsibility for it.

Prime Designer, it's part of the job title.

Ricky- Pull the plug. This is getting old.

It's irritating how people who don't actually have to do any of the work, like to tell you how you've screwed up.

Indian philosophers have long debated whether there anything that is truly in “our” control…

Why would you argue in favor of "Not being in control of anything"? If you're right, then it doesn't matter what you do and you might as well be making life better for yourself. If you're wrong, then you might as well be making life better for yourself.

Stop being retarded and voting for oblivion.

Bonocogito- Because there are so many such theories, it is very improbable that this one (or any particular one) is the correct one. Namely, there are much more such theories no one has imagined yet, then there are such theories that have been thought of. It is quite probable that the right picture hasn’t been thought of yet.

See? Just like that. Don't do that. Hey genius, do you realize that you can stop all scientific progress with that line of thought?

Mike Agostini- Since it seems that you already know what I was thinking and possibly going to say, all I can do now is…errrrr…..play my part in the illusion that we’ve all created and still call…Reality?

As I mentioned earlier, I'm not omniscient. Your reality isn't an illusion either. Your part is to go forth and make every day count.

Life is a lot like the rules that allow the universe to exist. A bunch of very basic rules that give rise to far more complex things.

Man, I've been spending a lot of time on this today, time for a break.

Let's begin.

Cody- Kudos on Jessica Biel.

I didn't design her directly, I mostly just set up the universe and the rules. Her "Attractiveness" is all in the beholder.

Paul C- If we are inside a simulation, or a video game, the rules are quite unfair. In gamer geek speak, Mr. simulator you need to nerf nepotism and despotism.

Actually, I don't "Need" to do anything. Things are working out so far fine according to the design documents.

Paul C- While you are at it, could you kindly make me win the Mega Millions jackpot? I’m sure you are amused at that request, you seem like the type that could appreciate greed and self interest.

You don't appreciate greed and self interest? Where do you think you'd be today if you weren't looking out for yourself? As to the funny, keep your day job.

Croc- Stop nerfing the experience system.

Not my job. If you really think it's an issue, go ahead and fix it yourself. Reality is open source and reacts in realtime.

Daniel- Do you back up your simulation onto another drive in the case of a crash? Does that mean our universe is repeating itself over and over again up to the point of system backup, while the main simulation continues on?

Every few Aeons we do a full system backup. To do this we stop time within the simulation and then make a copy. Those within the "Universe" do not notice time starting and stopping since they are bound to it.

Chris- Enough with the fractals everywhere. It’s a little too obvious.

Reality isn't here to be interesting for you, it exists beyond your approval or disapproval.

Visish- Make me admin!

Ask me when you can admin your own life first.

geoff v- George Bush???

Yes.

W. H.-
1. Is it 42?

2. What is the question?

I’m sure you know what I mean.

Actually, I don't. I'm the Prime Designer, I'm not omnicogniscent or omnipotent. I'm sure you're probably quoting some popular movie or book, I'm just not into simulated fiction. When I get off of work, I have other things I'd rather do.

Adam- Why are we here?

Sorry, I'm not supposed to tell, having a designer tell you the purpose of your existence would override your natural progress. Gary would never forgive me. I can tell you this though, the only beings who are interested in simulating lifeless universes are so boring and slow that I'm astonished they haven't killed themselves through ennui.

Andrew Mass- I’m commin’ for you.

I fear you as much as you fear "Pac-Man"

James- can you rework the religion code? it seems to be causing some problems.

It's a feature not a bug, and life is "Problems".

D.S. - Why is there something rather than nothing?

This reminds me of a funny story, I was so close to getting my "Nothing" simulation project approved until the others caught on. It was almost my job to make sure "Nothing" was working properly. And since there's no end to nothing, I would have been set up for life.

D.S.- What is the “global meaning” of our existence?

This is the same as the "Why are we here" question above. Can't ruin the sim, sorry dude.

D.S.- Is there something after death?

For you guys? No.

D.S.- Who created you?

I did. I could try to describe reality outside the sim, but since you'll never be able to effect it directly, it's pointless. And it would interfere with you living normally within your closed system.

D.S.- Your world sucks!

It's not for your enjoyment, and I'm not customer service. If you want the world to be better, feel free to get your hands dirty and change it yourself.

Nicole Lieberman- But why, why did you program me with unanswerable questions? Is it for my entertainment, or yours?

I didn't program you with anything. You people seem to think that designers place stars like planting wheat. That we carve the coastlines of their world and tweak the DNA of every living creature.

Are you nuts? Do you have any idea how much work that would take? When you type out a message on the computer, do you physically build each letter on the screen dot by dot?

Basic universal rules, like fractals, that can combine to form fantastically complex structures. That's what we deal with. Sometimes we go in and tweak things manually, for experimentation. But that's usually after we've gleaned everything we've needed from the current sim.

epistemology- John Tierney has found a sect of scientists who think they have found god in the equations. Forgive them, for they know not what they do.

Do you really think I care what mental tools you people use to try and decode the universe?

Coffee's done! I'll be back later.

Morning

Hey, Prime Designer here. I figured I'd answer your questions while waiting for my coffee.

The first question not mentioned on the previous link will be "If you're the Prime Designer, why are you using Blogger?"

It's because I'm lazy.