I think simulation is a hamfisted word for the modern take on something that people have been considering for a long time. The idea that the universe could be "virtual" and conscious experience is more "real" than physical phenomenon have been actively discussed in philosophical literature since the 16th century, and it was certainly a topic of conversation long before that.
I think there's a fundamental difference and 2 different subject here.
On a universe level, it's impossible to tell if the entire thing is just a simulation.
However, I don't think our conscious experience is any different from a physics event happening elsewhere in our universe. If the universe is indeed simulated, we just happen to evolve naturally in that simulation, and there is no special need to simulate our consciousness specifically - that's a little narcissistic to think about.
Totally agree, the people who think we're living in the matrix, all atomic minds plugged into a made up reality haven't thought about the problem enough.
