Hollywood has had us re-examining the nature of our reality for years now…
but maybe it’s not all science fiction! Increasing numbers of thinkers,
philosophers and scientists are claiming that our world
might not be as authentic as we think it is. This is Unveiled, and today we’ll be detailing
seven extraordinary reasons why we’re probably living in a simulation.
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The modern concept of a simulation theory was laid out and popularized
by the philosopher Nick Bostrom, in the early 2000s. In general,
Bostrom’s idea suggests that perhaps none of this is real. That it could
be viewed as highly likely that we’re the product of some kind of reality replica.
Various explanations have been put forward as to how this could work… It could be, for example,
that somewhere out there there are future humans running an elaborate sim to experience how
their own society came to be. And, then, that we populate that sim. As for motive, this supremely
advanced civilization could be simply charting their own history to see what came before them…
or they could perhaps be examining how their history might’ve changed, at various points
and key moments in time (and we exist along just one specific timeline of their past,
living within the parameters set by our unknown programmer). In either case,
everything we are is purely the creation of something else far more advanced than us.
The tech mogul Elon Musk builds on this idea, though, pointing to our progression with things
like video games and VR as potential proof that the sim exists - regardless of the reason for it.
The argument goes that, as we’re already striving to create the most realistic and
immersive experiences just in the name of entertainment, it makes sense that
we’d eventually do this for other purposes, too. From this perspective, whole universe simulations
might even be deemed as not just possible but probable in the future. It only really depends
on how advanced humanity can become. But an idea is one thing, and physical evidence is another…
so, if we look around us, are there any real-life indicators (or even hints) that the sim is real?
For many, the most obvious starting points are the various limitations that our universe
appears to have; the apparent edges as to what is possible. The Planck length, for example,
is used to record the smallest sizes possible in the cosmos… so, some have asked whether these
extremely small units could exist like pixels do in a computer sim, with reality built and rendered
out of an incalculable number of them. There are similar ideas in other fields, too, like in string
theory… supporters of which claim the bottommost level of reality is made up of vibrating strings.
It’s just that for simulation theorists, instead of strings there are bits of data. And these tiny
bits are arranged into reality-building, life-enabling, matrix-confirming code.
The speed of light is another point of interest. We know that - at approximately 186,000 miles per
second - it can’t be exceeded. But some sim theorists would ask; what if that’s because
that speed is actually the rate at which our program processes information? If that were true,
then if we were to somehow travel faster than light at the edge of the observable universe,
then we could wind up travelling into somewhere that hasn’t been fully programmed yet. Somewhere
outside of the simulation. There are even some suggestions that these kinds of sim-dictated
boundaries could also be cited as a reason why we haven’t made contact with an alien civilization
yet. With sim theory, our apparent loneliness could just be because that’s what corresponds
with the code our controllers chose to run. This idea of choice also leads us into another
increasingly popular theory on reality, however; the multiverse. For advocates of the multiverse,
there is not simply one version of the universe, but an infinite number
of potential universes. It’s just that we only inhabit one of them. Thinking about
this concept through the lens of sim theory, it could be that the multiverse is representative of
multiple versions of a sim being run with different variables and parameters every time.
In one, human history plays out the same, except Rome never falls. In another, JFK was never shot.
And, in another, the internet was never invented. In yet another, homo sapiens never establishes
itself on planet Earth at all! It all depends on what the sim controllers choose to make happen.
The really interesting thing about the multiverse theory in general, though, is that if it
is true in any capacity, then the chances of simulation theory also being true dramatically
improve as well. Now, in any of the actually real universes that the multiverse could contain,
history could lead to the development of an ancestor sim - and the subsequent recreations
of infinite simulated universes from thereon out. It could happen in one multiverse reality, or two,
or ten, or one hundred. But wherever it does happen, the number of sims possible would be
pretty much infinite. And, suddenly, across the vast plains of a multiverse, simulated
realities quickly outnumber true realities. It’s a rabbit hole which goes infinitely deep,
and it’s far more likely that we’re somewhere down it rather than standing at the entrance!
So, if the multiverse is real, then we probably do live in a simulation.
That’s true, but it’s also a big if! So… what about with our own, real-world experiences?
Are there signs of a simulation just in everyday life as we know it? Well, a phenomenon so often
thrown into the debate is the collective false memory scenario known as the Mandela Effect.
It’s when large numbers of people misremember things, in a small or big (but similar) way… such
as with Nelson Mandela, after whom the effect is named, who many reportedly remember dying
in prison when in reality he did not. This type of humanity-wide error is difficult to explain,
with many falling back on a familiar refrain that it’s a glitch in the matrix. On a smaller scale,
similar explanations have been put forward for déjà vu. For sim theorists, though, instances like
these could represent some sort of imprint, transferred over from one sim to another.
In many ways, then, it might be said that all of this is just a matter of perspective.
But therein lies arguably the biggest reason of all why life isn’t actually real: Our own
perspective, and our own subjectivity. Everyone’s subjective experiences really are a simulation,
when you think about it… of objective reality interpreted by our brains. By our minds and
by our senses. Our brains constantly use our past experiences to interpret, understand and
compute the world around us. It’s this disconnect between what we perceive as real and what is real
that’s part of why memes like the white-and-gold or blue-and-black dress (or the Yanny/Laurel
sound) blew everybody’s minds. How could it be that we all interpreted them so differently?
Well, really, there are more than a few explanations as to how those particular memes
worked… but the general idea does ring true for all of life and the universe as we know it. We see
one thing, when often we’re looking at another. In physics, what’s known as the observer effect
describes how the act of observing something can alter the state that thing exists in. It’s
especially important at the subatomic level, where experiments have shown that, under a microscope,
particles can suddenly behave like waves - and vice versa - whenever they’re observed.
On some level, then, we can say that reality is only real when we look at it. And,
for some sim theorists, this could be crucial… the suggestion being that the observer effect is proof
of large-scale, infinitely detailed rendering that’s happening all of the time, all around us…
allowing us to perceive life as real, when really it’s a creation; a simulation. In a video game,
the levels often aren’t fully loaded until a playing character is directed to look at them,
or move near to them… and that, according to some interpretations of the theory,
could be what’s happening with us in our lives on Earth.
The popular scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson has previously put the odds that we’re living in
a simulation at fifty-fifty. But, ultimately, it might be impossible to prove either way. And, even
then, it could be argued by a diehard sim theorist that any proof that we’re not in a simulation
could itself have been simulated. The real secret might be to just stop worrying about it, and
to enjoy the world we do live in… whether it’s a mind-bending, existence-shattering matrix, or not.
What do you think? Is there anything we missed? Let us know in the comments, check out these other
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