Fixation on Simulation

If you start with the premise that nature's symbolic, that is, it's a string of symbols and algorithms, then you can conclude it can be decoded. If you work hard enough, get enough support for your work, eventually you'll figure it out, that is, you'll come up with a grand unified theory that explains everything. Then you'd be able to build a computer that simulates everything. It could create a whole new universe in a box.

That belief is pervasive among adherents of scientism, even though lots of scientists even all the way back to Descartes have much more subtle view of their work and are candid about its limits. They're too aware of the Cheshire cat nature of reality, or the "I know that I know nothing" nature of philosophy to make such claims.

It's a really much more interesting question, at least to me, to ponder how the symbols themselves are sort of a prison for our perception and consciousness. How do you transcend them and get a little closer to the real divine stuff?