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We shape our world by what we observe.
Quantum Physics 101:
“According To Quantum Physics. It’s a commonplace notion to think that the universe exists ‘out there’ without us there to live in it and observe it. However, in the realm of quantum physics, an observer independent universe is simply impossible.”
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This is consistent with the ideas about the brain and emotions written about by Lisa Feldman Barrett. It’s intriguing. And it helps to provide a way to explain how we actually do have Freewill but we have to earn it (train our brains to want what we want, since our identity/ our conscious selves are only a part of the brain function).
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The “you are not your brain” situation.
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Is that the same as “perception is reality” ?
Does as many different perceptions of the same thing by different “people” create as many realities as there are humans… At least in the sphere of human existence.
Does this only apply to our concept of sentience?
Or is everything a construct LoL!
I hate the matrix 
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What it tells me is that a simulation doesn’t need to create the entire universe at one time.
It doesn’t need a high level of granularity. Granularity only needs to increase when we closely examine an object. I.e. it doesn’t need to simulate the inside of a rock until we break the rock open. Only the things we need to see are simulated. Reality only needs to be “rendered” when observed The universe only exists if we look at it.
We are constantly changing our personal simulation through the things we do like exercise. It suggests that we have a certain degree of free will. Some more than others.
Of course many theoretical physicists don’t believe this, but to me it is more plausible than other interpretations, like the Many-Worlds interpretation, that propose that the universe exists objectively without observers.
How does this relate to longevity? If we live in a simulation with some free will, we might be able to extend our life span through the thought process alone. I find no evidence that anyone has extended their life by this process. 
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Living in a simulation is worse for longevity than living in a real universe. In the latter case you can try and escape while in a simulated universe you are trapped and destined to eventually be shutdown.
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When machines “look” at “it” what does that do in the quantum realm?
The various earth bound machines and space bound machines. They “see” and we see the result of that machines data capture.
We have machines looking at a lot of stuff. Machines can see things we mere mortals cannot see, until that data is put into a format we can interpret with our mind.
How does what a machine sees differ from what a human “sees” in relation to quantum theories? Are we creating the reality of what the machine sees? or is the machine creating that “reality”?
Those are some of the quantum concepts I have a hard time wrapping my head around LoL!
I don’t who said it but, “Anybody that says they understand quantum mechanics is a liar.”
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If the world were a simulation, I would assume that when I die, my real body would wake up in the prime universe. I’d say “That life was awesome! I wonder what it’d be like to live in my simulation child’s/grandchild’s/great-grandchild’s generation. Let’s do that tomorrow!” 
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This in an interesting article, which is helpful in understanding the depth of placebo and nocebo effects. I’m not sure we need quantum mechanics or philosophies of free will vs determinism to explain the observations of top down processing impacting our perceptions. From what I see it can be explained in simple neurophysiological terms.
On the topic of predictive processing, an interesting study cited in the podcast entitled Precognitive Dreaming from Matt Walker, showed that during REM sleep, mice not only integrated their learning about a maze they had run earlier that day, but dreamt up variations of the maze and tested various paths through the predicted mazes. The podcast is interesting for its content but also see how creative neuroscientists can get in researching the black box of REM sleep in another species.
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