Is Our Universe a Simulation?

One of the popular subsets of the field of space is cosmology, the study of the origin, evolution, and fate of the universe.  Space.com recently posted an article with a rather philosophical view on the topic.

The philosophical atheists in the article wrestle with the concept that our universe might be a simulated reality, created by transcendent, hyper-advanced beings, existing above and beyond our simulation.  They consider five premises to the simulation argument:

(i) Other intelligent civilizations exist

(ii) Their technologies grow exponentially

(iii) They do not all go extinct

(iv) There is no universal ban or barrier for running simulations

(v) Consciousness can be simulated.

If one of the above premises is to be rejected, then it must always be rejected, everywhere, for all time, in all universes, without exception.  That, of course, makes no sense.  The philosophers, therefore, conclude that our universe is very likely a simulation.

Yet, despite all this, the philosophical atheists in this article still refuse to accept that the maker of this “simulation” is God.

If our universe was a simulation created by transcendent, hyper-advanced beings, then who created those beings and the simulation they exist in, and so on?  If we went back far enough we would eventually, out of necessity, run into a supreme Being that is not confined to a simulation, but rather exists in a beginningless state.  That Being would be God.  And why a beginningless state?  Because something cannot come from nothing.  Nihil fit ex nihilo. Nothing comes from nothing.