Great critique! Bostrom is a fascinatingly idiosyncratic philosopher.

To me the simulation argument is most interesting by virtue of its existing at all! I think regardless of its ultimate soundness, it speaks volumes about our intellectual/technological zeitgeist.

When I first read the argument it blew me away... I think because it takes some relatively modest and scientific-consensual assumptions and outputs an intuitively absurd (or depressing) conclusion. I can see why it's gained such popularity among maybe more scientistic audiences. It's like an episode of Rick and Morty that we're forced to consider might actually be the case haha

What it did for me was break through my traditional or maybe even conservative expectations for the scientific (materialist) worldview. It's made me reconsider my prejudice towards the "irrational" narratives in theology... reaching counterintuitive conclusions given modest assumptions and extrapolations seems so trivially easy suddenly.

Anyways, this was a really enjoyable read thanks!