> The simulation hypothesis — the idea that our universe might be an artificial construct running on some advanced alien computer — has long captured the public imagination.

Right; that's the feeble public imagination. What captures my imagination is the idea that the existence of the rules alone is enough to obtain the universe; no simulator is required.

We can make an analogy to a constant like pi. No division has to take place of a circumference by a diameter in order to prop up the existence of pi.

The requirement for a simulator just punts the rock down the road: in what universe is that simulator, and what simulates that? It's an infinite regress. If there is no simulator, that goes away.

If certain equations dictate that you exist and have experiences, then you exist and have experiences in the same way that pi exists.