We'll know what is and isn't "real", whether it can have causal contact
with our own Universe/Reality or not, when we know why anything exists in
the first place. This is an experimental question, not a philosophical
one, and we currently don't possess the ability to do the experiment.
It is possible that other Universes or Realities might exist which are not
in any causal contact with our own, but which are supported by independent
and equally valid First Causes. Or it could be that everything that
exists is necessarily in causal contact. Again, we'll know which is which
when we analyze our own First Cause, which is not presently something we
have the capability to examine experimentally.
-- -- -- -- --
Eliezer S. Yudkowsky http://singinst.org/
Research Fellow, Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence
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