What If We Proved the Matrix?
As digital technologies have advanced, so too has the idea that we live in a simulation.
It’s becoming easier to imagine that we're really characters in a video game, or virtual
world, living out our lives for someone else’s entertainment. If this hypothesis were true,
we might one day be able to scientifically prove it.
This is Unveiled and today we’re answering the extraordinary question: What If We Proved
the Matrix?
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The “simulation hypothesis” has roots in ancient religious beliefs and philosophy.
But it became a mainstream staple of pop culture thanks to the 1999 movie “The Matrix”.
In it, computer programmer and hacker Thomas Anderson, aka Neo, discovers that he’s living
in a digital simulation that’s really just vertical lines of green code. In 2003, the
simulation hypothesis was reformulated and reinvigorated by Swedish philosopher Nick
Bostrom. Bostrom argued that either: human civilizations will never be capable, or interested
in, running “ancestor simulations”; or they WILL, in which case they’ll probably
run a gazillion of them - meaning we’re more likely to be living in a simulation than
in the real world.
The idea has been influential. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has claimed that
there’s a one-in-billions chance we’re living in a non-simulated, organic “base-reality”.
Prominent theoretical physicist Dr. S. James Gates Jr says that certain equations related
to string theory are a mirror image of code you could find in your computer. Just as programs
are based in numbered code, so is our universe similarly governed by mathematical laws. And
quantum mechanics demonstrates that the simple act of observing something, even by an electronic
detector, changes reality - something that’s incredibly difficult to explain. If we imagine
our universe as a bunch of particles all following predictable mathematical equations, this is
analogous to observation altering the code of reality.
Of course, proving that we live in a simulation isn’t easy. Assuming that the simulation
relies on finite computational resources, we might be able to show that spacetime is
divided into a discrete set of points, or only renders when the information becomes
available to us. For now, let’s just assume that such an experiment was successful, and
proved the Matrix.
The first thing that humans would probably do would be to find a way to control the simulation.
After all, just think of the possibilities. By manipulating the code of our existence,
we could stop time, generate endless money, learn skills instantly, or teleport anywhere
in the universe. In doing so, we’d essentially be activating the cheat codes to our lives.
We could even try jumping to alternate realities or parallel universes, which would really
be simulations run simultaneously with ours. If they didn’t exist, we might be able to
just create them, as new simulations “nested” in our own. We could then travel to places
like Middle-Earth, Hogwarts, Westeros, or any other location we could imagine. We could
even fix our own world, ending global warming and solving world hunger.
But how could we go about hacking the code? Maybe it would only requirement awareness
of the simulation, as in “The Matrix” - where Neo learns to bend the rules. Or it
might be possible to see through the illusion using meditation, as is taught in some Vedic
philosophies. Then again, it might be much more complicated. After all, how could a video
game character access the code to their own game? Well, WE might not be able to . . . but
perhaps a sophisticated enough A.I. could puzzle out a way for us to infect life’s
operating system.
Then again, there may also be “bugs” that we can exploit. This could involve manipulation
of subatomic particles, for example through our experiments with quantum entanglement.
Or it could mean altering the code of our DNA to influence traits like strength, intelligence,
and physical attractiveness. In fact, the technology to be able to do this is may already
exist with the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing tool, which, as its name suggests, can alter a living
organism’s genes. Mind you, we might not want to exploit potential “bugs” TOO much
- lest our creators decide to just reset the simulation.
Even if we couldn’t hack the universe, proving the Matrix would fundamentally change how
we think about our world. In particular, it could give us plausible explanations for previously
unexplained phenomena. For example, the claim that Jesus healed people and turned water
into wine. Perhaps he was able to access and alter the code of our simulation! Similarly,
our experience of deja vu might REALLY be a glitch in the Matrix.
It could also explain how our mind is able to strongly affect our body. Consider the
placebo effect, which occurs when a patient’s condition improves in response to a fake treatment
that they believe to be real. Using this method, psychologists at Victoria University in New
Zealand were able to convince research participants that they were drunk on vodka, even though
they’d only had tonic water and lime. The participants felt drunk, acted drunk, and
were more swayed by misleading information. Researchers still aren’t entirely sure how
this happens, but the placebo effect is so strong that in some cases, it can be as effective
as medical treatment.
The public’s reaction to discovering that existence is nothing more than computer code
would likely be split. While some would find it fascinating, others would face an existential
crisis, as they asked themselves: if life is just a simulation, does anything matter?
Many would no doubt look for a way to break free from our virtual prison to see the “real”
world. After all, proving the Matrix would almost certainly point to there being a Creator
who wrote the code. Could we somehow visit them then? Such a crisis could threaten the
fabric of our society. People might no longer see the point of going to work at a job they
hate if their lives are nothing more than code in a program. If that happened, our economy
would collapse as countless people quit, or sought to escape by ending their lives.
In another sense, however, proving the Matrix might give us an answer to the meaning of
life. We would finally know once and for all that we’re not an accident or a byproduct
of random probability. Someone specifically created us for a certain purpose. We might
be a sort of experiment, designed to see how frequently life develops in the universe.
Or we might be a form of entertainment for higher beings, basically an advanced version
of Sims. In some ways, proving the Matrix might even serve to sooth people’s existential
anxiety, because it at least provides an answer as to why we’re here. In such a world, “death”
might not have the same import, and there’s a chance we might continue to exist as code
somewhere. If not, we might be able to find out how to become immortal by manipulating
that same code.
In fact, it might be preferable to remain inside the Matrix, than to escape it, even
if we could. Elon Musk has pointed out that we don’t create games or simulations that
are more boring than our base reality. We create them to add excitement or entertainment
to our lives. So maybe base reality is just . . . really dull!
Proving the Matrix would offer exciting new possibilities. It would completely change
our view of the world, and if we could manipulate or exploit the source code, we really could
dodge bullets in slow motion, leap over rooftops, or obtain all the knowledge in the world - effectively
becoming superheroes or gods.
And that’s what would happen if we proved the Matrix.
What do you think? Is there anything we missed? Let us know in the comments, check out these
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