No, We Don’t Live In A F%#*ing Simulation

We are excited to announce that we are once again running our infamous mini-course, No, We Don’t Live in A F%#*ing Simulation, and this time it’s in person!

This seminar breaks down, and takes down, three pseudo-philosophical concepts of the digital era which are increasingly appearing in tech company propaganda: the simulation hypothesis, long-termism, and artificial general intelligence (AGI).

The course will be co-taught by David N. McNeill, a philosopher and former professor at the University of Essex and Deep Springs College, and Emily Tucker, the Privacy Center’s Executive Director.

You can read the full course description here and a blog about it here. This time the seminar will be in person, hosted at Georgetown Law Center on Friday, March 7. It will be an all day event, with breakfast and lunch included.

The seminar is free and open to everyone (you do not have to be a Georgetown student or a student at all!), but there is a very short application. Enrollment is limited to 35, so please only sign up if you are prepared to do the readings and participate actively in discussions. When we first offered this course virtually in the summer of 2023, we had almost three times as many applicants as spots, so don’t wait to submit your application. The deadline to apply is February 14!

Accommodation requests related to a disability should be sent to privacy@georgetown.edu. A good-faith effort will be made to fulfill all requests made.