Do we live in a simulation?

Question:  Do we live in a simulation?  According to THIS ARTICLE, we do.  Okay, some of you are wondering what I'm talking about, so here's a definition:

sim·u·la·tion /ˌsimyəˈlāSH(ə)n  / noun =  (1) imitation of a situation or process.  Example:  "simulation of blood flowing through arteries and veins."  (2)  the action of pretending; deception.  Example:  "clever simulation that's good enough to trick you."  (3)  "the production of a computer model of something, especially for the purpose of study.  Example:  "The method was tested by computer simulation."

The opinion article that says we do was published on April 1, 2021, with the title "Confirmed!  We Live in a Simulation."  It was written by Fouad Khan.  Here's part of the article, quoted:

Ever since the philosopher Nick Bostrom proposed in the Philosophical Quarterly that the universe and everything in it might be a simulation, there has been intense public speculation and debate about the nature of reality. ... Recent papers have built on the original hypothesis to further refine the statistical bounds of the hypothesis, arguing that the chance that we live in a simulation may be 50–50. ...

The claims have been afforded some credence by repetition by luminaries no less esteemed than Neil deGrasse Tyson, the director of Hayden Planetarium and America’s favorite science popularizer. Yet there have been skeptics. ... Why would a conscious, intelligent designer of realities waste so many resources into making our world more complex than it needs to be?

... To understand if we live in a simulation we need to start by looking at the fact that we already have computers running all kinds of simulations for lower level "intelligences" or algorithms. For easy visualization, we can imagie these intelligences as any nonperson characters in any video game that we play, but in essence any algorithm operating on any computing machine would qualify for our thought experiment. ...

Pretty much since the dawn of philosophy we have been asking the question:  Why do we need consciousness?  What purpose does it serve?  Well, the purpose is easy to extrapolate once we concede the simulation hypothesis.  Consciousness is an integrated (combining five senses) subjective interface between the self and the rest of the universe.  The only reasonable explanation for its existence is that it is there to be an "experience."

The simplest explanation for the existence of consciousness is that it is an experience being created, by our bodies, but not for us ... [It is] mostly likely for the benefit of someone experiencing our lives through us. ... All we can do is come to terms with the reality of the simulation and make of it what we can.  Here, on earth.  In this life.