The universe is the most ancient of mysteries.
Wherever and whoever you are, each of us has all looked up at night sky and wondered: What
is this life? who am I?
what is the meaning of it all?
Each of us is profoundly lost in the riddle of existence.
Throughout the ages, our species has devised all manner of explanations to make sense of
our place in the strangeness of the cosmos
In our modern world, many of the stories of our ancestors have evolved in tandem with
our understanding.
Where once mystics questioned if life may be no more than a dream, today some of the
greatest minds on earth have reignited this age-old riddle in the language of our times,
asking instead: Is reality an elaborate simulation?
At first, one may shrug off such a seemingly ridiculous idea - of course, this is real
- the solidity of our world is unquestionable - fire burns, time flows, and the bills always
need to be paid.
But, as modern science slowly peels away the fabric of nature, we are quickly discovering
that what feels solid is no more than a complex mesh of the intangible and uncertain rules
of the quantum realm - a space which operates in a suspiciously artificial and unlikely fashion
The once concrete world has begun to slip, like sand, between our fingers.
In 2003, philosopher Nick Bostrom, proposed a trilemma which he called "The Simulation
Argument", in short, he argued that one of the following must be true:
(1) the human species is very likely to go extinct before reaching a “posthuman”
stage;
(2) any posthuman civilization is extremely unlikely to run a significant number of simulations
of their evolutionary history;
(3) we are almost certainly living in a computer simulation.
In other words, if our species survives and technology continues to advance along its
current trajectory, at some point in the future the number of simulated versions of reality
will vastly outnumber the singular base reality.
Therefore, the chances of you living in true reality are very slim indeed.
While there are arguments against Bostrom's proposal, it is certainly hard to deny that
even with our current limited technology, our species already has a taste for simulation.
We've craved imagined worlds since the dawn of time and are quick to throw ourselves into
them - be it storytelling, books, film, or virtual reality - humans have long been the
weavers of dreams - and we're only getting better at it.
Not only this but Bostrom's argument is only one of many possible scenarios that would
result in a simulated reality.
Indeed, The idea that life is an illusion has lingered in human consciousness since
ancient times.
Many religions have proposed concepts such as samsara, or maya - and many have dedicated
their lives to escaping from the illusion.
Even the most cursory look at the mechanisms of perception demonstrate to us that our own
personal experience of reality is nothing more than a mental model - a biological simulation, the brain's interpretation
of the data supplied by our senses.
The question is, should we trust that what we believe to be our sense organs are really
the source of this information?
The truth is we may never know.
The simulation hypothesis is just one in a long line of theories that questions the nature
of reality.
While it may fit our current technological understanding - it is really little more than
an updated version of a very old question - one that will no doubt evolve even further.
Whether life is a simulation or not, one thing is certain, that you and the universe are
a very complex mystery indeed.
The only way that our species will ever understand our place is if we continue to interrogate
mother nature through the tools of science and philosophy - and to personally probe our
own experience of reality so that we may learn how we as individuals work - and, in doing
so, how we can play our part in the unriddling the greatest of questions.
Remember hitting like the like button is just a modern version politely saying thanks - and
if you're new here, don't forget to subscribe for more videos like this.
Do you think life is a simulation - share your thoughts in the comments below.
Until next time... stay lucid.