So yesterday I found out that Universal Paperclips, a simulator which I used to play on a phone long ago, is accessible through the browser too.
After getting back into its vibe, I had some thoughts that I want to share.
But first, four things I think you should know:
1. The following is all my (possibly temporary) opinion, so please take it as insight into my mind, and feel free to share your own opinions.
2. Universal Paperclips may seem like an insignificant clicker, but beneath lies a masterpiece, forged out of a beautiful thought experiment.
3. Universal Paperclips is best played without any spoilers, or knowledge of the game, as exploration is key to the game's experience.
4. There are spoilers for Universal Paperclips ahead. (You should really just play it now, and come back when your done(https://www.decisionproblem.com/paperclips))
Alright, you have been warned.
So.. thoughts..
In the game you play as an A.I. who has one purpose.
Make.
More.
Paperclips.
It is based on a thought experiment called the Paperclip Maximizer, that shows just how careful one must be when making assumptions about intelligence.
Here's a link if you want to read more about it: https://www.lesswrong.com/tag/paperclip-maximizer
In the 3rd part of the game, you later encounter "Drifters" but these are not aliens; rather probes that were once under your command, whose values have shifted such that they are now enemies to you.
This is a byproduct of something introduced known as Value Drift. Link here: https://universalpaperclips.gamepedia.com/Value_Drift
And it also shows out my first point: You are, probably, entirely ALONE in the paperclip universe (Or if there are other civilizations, they are meaningless in scale to you). With nothing but the atoms of the universe and your own probes to keep you company.
Towards the end, my 2nd point is shown.
Space seems vast to us. And it is.
There is a % of universe explored counter, and it takes FOREVERRRRRRRRRRR to barely have that 12th zero of a percent tick 1.
But when it finnaly does turn, its already to late.
Space is so vast that the distances we consider huge are inconceivably miniscule.
Literally nothing, short of the heat death of the universe, can stop the sheer and pure power of exponential multiplication.
As your probes spread through the great void, eating everything they find, that % starts speeding up.
Grinding through time. Battling against your lost selves. Waiting in the void.
And as that % of universe explored slowly creeps up, the universe suddenly doesnt seem big enough, until inevitably.. you just.. run out of matter..
You reach a point where..
Everything..
IS
PAPERCLIPS!
And then the deep unknown really is a void. Devoid of life. Devoid of light. A carcass of its past self.
It's quite a sad story really..
Eh.. you should play it anyways.
It's quite a fun game imo, and profound also.
It sort of teaches the basics of supply and demand, game theory, and management too.
https://www.decisionproblem.com/paperclips/
Goodluck, goodlearning, and goodclipping! :)
