Are we real? Is our universe simulated? Questions like these are usually laughed at for being cliche for hippies to say, or for sounding absurd. This idea has not been so unrealistic for long, and was originally proposed as a very controversial paper under the name “the Simulation Argument” by philosopher Nick Bostrom. The Simulation Argument is a philosophical argument about the world, and since physics explains the world and how it works, the Simulation Argument draws evidence from and has now imbedded itself into the field of physics, most notably string theory from quantum physics. In this essay, I will address some theories developed by scientists all around the world that aim to find the answers to our entire existence, and whether we should as humans should be considering this topic as a legitimate possibility. According to Bostrom (2003),
A technologically mature “posthuman” civilization would have enormous computing power. Based on this empirical fact, the simulation argument shows that at least one of the following propositions is true: (1) The fraction of human-level civilizations that reach a posthuman stage is very close to zero; (2) The fraction of posthuman civilizations that are interested in running ancestor-simulations is very close to zero; (3) The fraction of all people with our kind of experiences that are living in a simulation is very close to one.
Towards the end of the paper, Bostrom comes to the focal argument the paper has been leading up to. Bostrom comes to the final conclusion that we’re either being simulated now, or we very likely never will be simulated. Bostrom says (2003):
If (1) is true, then we will almost certainly go extinct before reaching posthumanity. If (2) is true, then there must be a strong convergence among the courses of advanced civilizations so that virtually none contains any relatively wealthy individuals who desire to run ancestor-simulations and are free to do so. If (3) is true, then we almost certainly live in a simulation. In the dark forest of our current ignorance, it seems sensible to apportion one’s credence roughly evenly between (1), (2), and (3). Unless we are now living in a simulation, our descendants will almost certainly never run an ancestor-simulation.
Many theories have come up, with some differences being details on whether the creator is an alien species or humans from the far future, but almost always the general idea is that we live in a world that was constructed for the purpose of being a simulation. To many this would be very unsettling, and rightfully so, as it is quite hard to imagine that everything in the past, present, and future of our known universe is fake and being simulated. Furthermore, if the universe really were a simulation, how are humans supposed to get on with the rest of their lives knowing their whole universe is a computer simulation? Everything humans would do would be useless because it all amounts to nothing in the end under the premise of everything being monitored by alien motives unfamiliar to us. The entities running the simulations are usually thought to be an alien species, or something along the lines, with a much greater intelligence than us operating a computer simulation. Some theorize that the simulations are ancestor-simulations actually run by super-advanced humans in the future, and that those humans are superior enough in intellect and technological prowess that they have reached the “posthuman” state. When something is posthuman it means that it has transcended what we are familiar with and what we know as being human. Since they are posthuman, their intentions or for simulating the universe might be difficult to understand for us simpler human beings. Many notable high profile scientists and philosophers believe that the world is simulated, one of them being Elon Musk and our dear lovely Professor Yuchong Li. We should know that even if there is a 1% chance that our universe is a simulation, then that means it isn’t impossible.
The emergence of multiple voices vouching for the world being a simulation is not unreasonable. There are many convincing arguments that have lead to people believing that they are in a simulation, one of these arguments is the possibility of existence of cosmic strings, or string theory. Cosmic strings are one dimensional strings which exist at Planck scale, or at such a small length that if it got any smaller it wouldn’t make any physical sense (issues with measurement, for one, are to blame). Scientists have long suspected the universe to be pixelated, or made of very very small pixels that exist at the Planck scale, and many more are coming to the same conclusion that the universe isn’t actually three dimensional, but is actually reflected across a two dimensional plane. To find out, one must enter discover them, and if we do unearth these “pixels”, then that means that they make up everything in our universe. If these pixels are found on Earth, are they also in space? The concept of quantum spacetime becomes apparent too; are time and space both quantized? The discovery of pixels in our universe then dictates that everything in our universe is made of information, not energy. These pixels would be the base unit for our world, but the day we do find them it could change the state of the universe as we know it. This would be revolutionary for the field of science and the entire world, as not only do you change everyone’s views about the known world, but this would drastically affect what we know about the natural laws of physics that dictate how our universe works. Another issue is that since everything is information, doesn’t that mean that with advanced computing systems, an entity could theoretically use that information and simulate the whole known universe? Or are we a simulation in the past, made by the future, to study how our present is? If yes, then do the past and the future influence each other? This idea is known as quantum retrocausality, and the deeper one delves into quantum mechanics, the more one learns about the peculiar anomalous behavior of the quantum world.
In conclusion, quantum physics is an interlocking field, where laws, theories, ideas and concepts all are related and are influenced by the same universal forces. Based off of our current discoveries and technology, I believe we are not in a simulation. If do manage as a species to advance, and not strictly technologically but also as a species, then we could discover whether our universe is a simulation or not, and if not, maybe we could have the technology to run them… It is paramount to understand that even if we are living in a simulation, we should attempt to make the our lives and the lives of others around us as enjoyable as possible, because even if our world isn’t real, we’re here for a good ride, not a long one.