The Peter McCormack Show

Rizwan Virk joins me to discuss simulation theory, AI, consciousness and why reality may work more like a video game than a physical universe.

Rizwan explains how his experience in the video game industry, virtual reality, venture capital and MIT led him to take the simulation hypothesis seriously. We discuss VR ping pong, AI-generated worlds, smart NPCs, quantum physics, rendered reality, lazy programming, the observer effect, the metaverse Turing test and whether someone may have already built the simulation we are living in.

We also get into Philip K. Dick, déjà vu, synchronicity, the simulated multiverse, DMT, UFOs, the problem of evil, life as a quest, near-death experiences, karma, death and whether we would rather live in base reality or a simulation.

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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 - Are We in Base Reality?
00:00:59 - Why Simulation Theory Won’t Go Away
00:02:55 - The VR Ping Pong Moment
00:05:39 - Could We Build a Simulated World?
00:06:12 - AI-Generated Reality
00:08:36 - Rendering Only What You See
00:09:48 - Quantum Physics and the Observer
00:12:56 - The Universe as Lazy Programming
00:14:11 - How Far Are We From the Simulation Point?
00:21:28 - Mapping a Brain Into a Digital World
00:26:09 - The Metaverse Turing Test
00:33:42 - Did Somebody Already Build Us?
00:36:25 - The Simulated Multiverse
00:40:04 - Philip K. Dick and The Matrix
00:42:50 - Glitches, Déjà Vu and Synchronicity
00:48:34 - Are We Choosing Our Characters?
00:57:50 - The Four Claims of Simulation Theory
01:05:47 - Can the Past Be Rendered on Demand?
01:24:07 - DMT, UFOs and the Code of Reality
01:27:30 - What If Life Is a Game?

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CONTACT PETE
› Website – http://petermccormack.com
› Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact
› Email – me@petermccormack.com
› Instagram – /mccormack555
› X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/

CONNECT WITH RIZWAN VIRK
› Website – https://www.zenentrepreneur.com/
› X/Twitter – https://x.com/Rizstanford
› Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/rizcambridge/

SPONSORS
› IREN - https://iren.com/
› OneSkin - https://www.oneskin.co/mccormack
› Ridge - https://ridge.com/mccormack

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LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE
› Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K
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FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR
› https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/
› https://x.com/curttayloruk/

EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK
› https://x.com/ConorM04

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danny Goler doesn't just argue we're living in a simulation - he claims he's found a way to interact with whoever is running it and that we are the AI they're training before we're "let out to play." His case for simulation theory is built on the hard problem of consciousness, the DMT "code," and a laser experiment that thousands of people say they can replicate.

In this interview we discuss idealism vs physicalism, whether AI can ever be conscious, the "architect" running infinite worlds to answer one unanswerable question, why he thinks the Ten Commandments were an alignment manual and what changes about how we should live if any of it is true.

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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 - Proof We Live in a Simulation?
00:01:03 - The Hard Problem of Consciousness
00:02:49 - Can Matter Create Experience?
00:04:50 - What Is Consciousness?
00:05:04 - Is Consciousness Fundamental?
00:08:24 - Is the Universe Conscious?
00:11:35 - Does Consciousness Need an Observer?
00:16:45 - Can the Hard Problem Be Solved?
00:20:08 - Could AI Become Conscious?
00:23:48 - AI Black Boxes and Consciousness
00:28:56 - Why Does Consciousness Exist?
00:31:15 - Are We Living in a Simulation?
00:35:45 - Are Humans the AGI in Training?
00:40:41 - DMT and Other Realities
00:45:07 - The DMT Molecule
00:48:51 - The Entity in the Room
00:58:32 - The Laser Code Experiment
01:03:04 - 10,000 People Seeing the Same Code
01:15:48 - Testing the Code of Reality
01:20:28 - Can We Escape the Simulation?

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CONTACT PETE
› Website – http://petermccormack.com
› Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact
› Email – me@petermccormack.com
› Instagram – /mccormack555
› X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/

CONNECT WITH DANNY GOLER
› YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@dangothoughts
› Danny’s Website - https://dannygoler.com/
› Retreat Website - https://corretreat.com/
› Newsletter - https://go.codeofreality.org/start--aeeea
› Non-profit website - https://codeofreality.org/
› IG - https://www.instagram.com/dannygoler/
› Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61586952941889
› X - https://x.com/GolerDanny

SPONSORS
› IREN - https://www.iren.com/
› Ledn - https://ledn.io/peter

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LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE
› Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K
› Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu
› Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM
› YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM
› Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM

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FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR
› https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/
› https://x.com/curttayloruk/

EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK
› https://x.com/ConorM04

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rupert Russell joins me to discuss the hidden power of prices, the chaos of financial markets and whether the economy is really just a global game of Monopoly.

Rupert explains how price shocks have shaped history, from bread riots and the Arab Spring to housing, oil, food and the financial crisis. We discuss derivatives, futures markets, commodity speculation, Goldman Sachs, central banks, inflation, asset managers and why the price of essential goods can become politically explosive.

We also get into AI, scarcity, status, the future of work, whether the price system breaks in a world of abundance, and why Rupert thinks The Matrix is a better model for our future than Terminator or Ready Player One.

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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 - Is the Economy Just a Game?
00:00:56 - The Horror of Our Economic System
00:01:39 - Why Prices Shape History
00:05:15 - The Sandpile Theory of Society
00:07:38 - How Governments Manipulate Prices
00:12:00 - Housing and the Broken Social Contract
00:16:10 - How Derivatives Began
00:19:36 - Futures, Farmers and Speculators
00:23:24 - When Insurance Became Gambling
00:27:02 - The Road to the Financial Crisis
00:32:18 - Hayek, Friedman and Price Signals
00:36:20 - How Food Became Financialised
00:41:23 - What Pushes Food Prices Up?
00:49:13 - Did Global Markets Break Economics?
00:54:08 - What Is the Real Price?
01:03:57 - Who Really Runs the Economy?
01:11:28 - The Global Game of Monopoly
01:19:24 - Is the Market Now Correlated to AI?
01:36:14 - AI and the End of Scarcity
01:50:06 - Terminator, Matrix or Ready Player One?

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CONTACT PETE
› Website – http://petermccormack.com
› Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact
› Email – me@petermccormack.com
› Instagram – /mccormack555
› X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/

CONNECT WITH RUPERT RUSSELL
› Website – https://www.rupertrussell.com/
› Price Wars – https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/rupert-russell/price-wars/9781474613996/
› The Last Sacrifice – https://www.anti-worldsreleasing.co.uk/pages/last-sacrifice

SPONSORS
› IREN - https://www.iren.com/
› Ledn - https://ledn.io/peter
› OneSkin - https://www.oneskin.co/mccormack

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LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE
› Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K
› Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu
› Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM
› YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM
› Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM

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FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR
› https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/
› https://x.com/curttayloruk/

EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK
› https://x.com/ConorM04

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fernando Nikolic joins me to discuss the AI productivity explosion, one-person companies and what happens when software becomes something anyone can build.

Fernando explains how he now runs a company as the only human in it, using AI agents to build systems, process data and operate at a level that previously would have required a team, funding and infrastructure. We discuss Claude, Gemini, vibe coding, AI agents, internal tools, the collapse of traditional software moats and why the cost of building has fallen so dramatically.

We also get into the SaaS apocalypse, AI slop, creativity, physical media, culture, democracy, AI-powered accountability, Milei’s Argentina and why Fernando has become Bitcoin black pilled.

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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 - The One-Person Company
00:01:16 - Peter’s AI Breakthrough
00:04:02 - Front-End Coding Is Dead
00:07:35 - Fernando’s One-Human Company
00:11:13 - Building an AI Media Company
00:18:05 - You Can’t Build as Fast as You Think
00:22:14 - The Danger of Doing Everything
00:25:35 - Why AI Content Is Slop
00:27:12 - Can AI Make Us Human Again?
00:28:22 - The Internet Made Us Dumber
00:31:34 - Humans Are Not Robots
00:36:24 - AI and the Future of Film
00:43:57 - Starting a Company With AI
00:48:15 - What Does This Mean in Five Years?
00:51:32 - The SaaS Apocalypse
00:56:39 - The Shape of Companies
00:59:40 - Abundance, Inequality and AI
01:03:20 - The Gap Is Now
01:06:24 - Holding Politicians to Account With AI
01:18:03 - The Bitcoin Black Pill

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CONTACT PETE
› Website – http://petermccormack.com
› Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact
› Email – me@petermccormack.com
› Instagram – /mccormack555
› X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/

CONNECT WITH FERNANDO NIKOLIC
› Website – https://perception.to/
› X/Twitter – https://x.com/basedlayer

SPONSORS
› IREN - https://www.iren.com/
› Ridge - https://ridge.com/mccormack
› OneSkin - https://www.oneskin.co/mccormack

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LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE
› Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K
› Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu
› Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM
› YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM
› Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM

FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR
› https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/
› https://x.com/curttayloruk/

EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK
› https://x.com/ConorM04

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Helen Pluckrose joins me to discuss how liberalism was lost and why free speech, individual liberty and viewpoint diversity need to be defended from both the authoritarian left and the authoritarian right.

Helen explains why liberalism does not mean “left wing”, why it is better understood as the opposite of authoritarianism, and how critical social justice, identity politics and language policing have changed the way people think, speak and behave. We discuss woke ideology, DEI, equality vs equity, trans rights, queer theory, free speech, institutional capture and why suppressing ideas usually makes them more powerful.

We also get into whether Britain needs a liberal revolution, how the anti-woke movement can become authoritarian itself, and why the future may depend on liberals on the left and right defending freedom within their own tribes.

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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 - What Liberalism Really Means
00:00:48 - How Did We Lose the 90s?
00:03:13 - Phones, Algorithms and Anxiety
00:08:11 - What Has Changed?
00:11:16 - Woke and Language Policing
00:13:57 - Liberalism vs Authoritarianism
00:20:57 - How Liberalism Was Lost
00:23:39 - Why Freedom Must Be Maintained
00:25:33 - Can Institutions Stay Liberal?
00:28:43 - Who Represents Liberalism Today?
00:31:28 - DEI and Discrimination
00:35:10 - Equality vs Equity
00:39:29 - Is Pro-Trans Misogynistic?
00:41:38 - Reality, Safety and Liberalism
00:46:03 - Queer Theory and Biological Reality
00:49:26 - How Civil Rights Became Language Policing
00:55:06 - A Radical Defence of Freedom
00:58:51 - Woke Corporatism
01:03:21 - The Problem With Anti-Woke
01:10:48 - Why Suppressing Speech Backfires
01:13:37 - Do We Need a Liberal Revolution?
01:18:03 - Can Sanity Return?
01:21:00 - The Liberal Case on Immigration
01:24:17 - Liberalism as the Higher Value

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CONTACT PETE
› Website – http://petermccormack.com
› Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact
› Email – me@petermccormack.com
› Instagram – /mccormack555
› X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/

CONNECT WITH HELEN PLUCKROSE
› Website – https://hpluckrose.com/
› X/Twitter – https://x.com/HPluckrose

SPONSORS
› IREN - https://www.iren.com/
› LEDN - https://www.ledn.io/peter

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LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE
› Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K
› Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu
› Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM
› YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM
› Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM

FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR
› https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/
› https://x.com/curttayloruk/

EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK
› https://x.com/ConorM04

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.