I) [...] at least one of the following propositions is true: (1) the human species is very likely to go extinct before reaching a posthuman stage; (2) any posthuman civilization is extremely unlikely to run a significant number of simulations of their evolutionary history (or variations thereof); (3) we are almost certainly living in a computer simulation. It follows that the belief that there is a significant chance that we will one day become posthumans who run ancestor-simulations is false, unless we are currently living in a simulation.

II) The simulacrum is never what hides the truth - it is truth that hides the fact that there is none.The simulacrum is true.


III) I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain! One always finds oneís burden again. But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He, too, concludes that all is well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night-filled mountain, in itself forms a world. The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.


1. Bostrom, N., 2003, Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?; Philosophical Quarterly, Vol. 53, No. 211.
2. Baudrillard, J., 1994 (1981), Simulacra and Simulation; University of Michigan Press.
3. Camus, A., 1955 (1942), The Myth of Sisyphus; Hamish Hamilton Ltd.



Gwenaël Velge is an emerging photographer and academic. I fly a paraglider for my aerial work, I appreciate experiencing my gaze unmediated. My formal training is in sociology (Hons, Belgium) and political science (Hons, Belgium; MA, Ireland); I am currently completing my PhD in the creative arts at Murdoch University. My work is highly formal and explores the crossroads of photography, human geography, philosophy and sociology.

Image courtesy of Gwen Velge (2017)