NASA scientist Rich
Terrile is a supporter of the theory that the human experience is an incredibly advanced, metaphysical version
of the Sims. The author of the text, Ben Makuch, uses ethos in his introduction
to gain supporters for Terrile’s theory by saying that he is a highly praised
scientist and director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In the interest of
supporting his theory, Terrile provides the reader with valid arguments. First,
he uses ethos and says that his theory is a result of a combination of several
things, like working in the fields of evolutionary computation and artificial
intelligence. Then he goes on by using logos and explains that there is a
finite number of things the universe can be, and those are computable. If they behave
in a finite way, when being observed, then the question arises whether it is
being computed. Also, “if two things are mathematically equivalent, they are the
same. So the universe is mathematically equivalent to the simulation of the universe.”
In order to evoke any kind of emotion, Terrile mentions the possibility that our
lives are being controlled by a 13-year old teenager in Korea playing on his
Xbox. By saying this, Terrile tries to implement a dose of humor into the text.
(210 words)
