We might be living in a simulation – but if we are, wow, whoever’s running it is doing an astonishing amount of admin. Michelle is joined by longtime friend and game designer Edward Spence to take the simulation theory seriously and start stress-testing it, from the computing power needed to render the universe to the number of writers it would take to storyboard a single human life. As the conversation unfolds, reality begins to resemble a sprawling writer’s room, complete with NPCs, branching storylines, personality archetypes, cheat codes, and the occasional mid-season rewrite. What emerges isn’t proof that none of this is real, but a growing appreciation for just how much coordination, labour, and narrative intent would be required to fake it.

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