The Simulation Hypothesis

For anyone who has ever seen the movie The Matrix, you might have pondered the question — does the material world actually exist, or are we living inside of a computer game and just perceive that we are real? This question is not just considered by the folks who created The Matrix or those who have seen it, but prominent scientists have been deeply pondering this for nearly a century. I recently sas the short documentary “The Simulation Hypothesis” which argues that, because of quantum physics, we are much more likely to be living in some sort of simulation rather than actually real. It’s certainly a fascinating thought, and here are a few aspects of the documentary that I found the most interesting.

The argument for the simulation theory is that the material world does not exist at all. The argument states that all atoms are ultimately made up of quantum bits, which are analogous to to foundational ones and zeroes that make up computer codes. That is, our world is really made up of computer code and energy waves, and nothing material. It argues that our ability to perceive reality is just another aspect of the overarching programming of our virtual world.

What supports this argument is the fact that we know now that that the material world can be broken down to the quantum level due to the certainty that quantum physics exists, which is well accepted by the scientific community. Quantum theory basically states that 1) again, fondational bits and energy are the only things that exist 2) these particles always exist in all possibilities of being and location at any one moment and 3) 2 or more particles can be entangled i.e. what happens to one also affects all the others, regardless of location. Quantum particles can change its state of being based on whether it is observed or not, and they can revise ther past location to match the “future” observation of the particle. This has been proven over and over again by observing light particles “photons” using the slit and double slit experiments.

I find the Simulation Hypothesis to be crazy interesting, but ultimately it is kind of a “who cares” and certainly doesn’t make me want to give up and stop living — even if I was living in a simulation, would I change anything I do? Definitely not.