The basics of this one is this. I watched a video called '10 Reasons We May All Be Living In A Computer Simulation' and got really intrigued by this. It's been a really weird political week and I'm a little bored of it so let's do something a bit different. I may do this from time to time. Plus, it's an interesting thing to consider given all the shit going on recently. (You can watch the video for yourself at the bottom of the page, he's a funny guy and explains things really well).
With 'Ready Player One' about to come out, this was in interesting video to come across.
It deals with the notion, which some physicists have put forward, that we are actually living inside a simulated universe. (Or, as pop culture refers to it, a hologram).
While this video is Matthew Santoro's trademark tongue-in-cheek look at it, here are a few things that could occur if this theory turned out to be completely correct. (Warning: This may blow your head a little).
1. THE PROOF OF A CREATOR AND SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY.
If we were in fact the product of a very intricately designed simulated universe, then there is proof that God exists. It may not be the big white beardy dude we all grew up with, nor would it be like polytheisms in Greek or Hindu religions, it would in fact be someone (or something) that has created the computer programming. Or, it could even be a group who created the programming. This means that, while science does debate the existence of a creator, science would be both correct and incorrect at the same time. It would be mostly correct in what it's observed in the universe so far, but it would also be wrong in explaining how the universe came into existence in some capacity.
Equally, devout philosophers and theists would also be proven correct, that the universe was created, and shaped, by (a) creator or creators. The only downside is, is that no religion would necessarily be proven 'correct' as the actual creator(s) in question may not conform to any religion's depiction of Gods. If it was a human that created the simulation, then it would not conform to a Hindu's perception of Ganesha, Vishnu or Shiva for instance. Equally, if it was an alien that created the simulation, then said Creator would not conform to the Christian, Islamic or Jewish depiction say. Either way, although religion would in effect be proven 100% correct, it would cause a massive crisis of faith because, whatever the outcome, there are going to be millions of people who realise that their religion depicted their God(s) in an incorrect way.
On the back of this though, there may be something even weirder in humanity's past.
If we are in a simulation, then the evidence for Jesus existing as well as other prophets, increases exponentially. Because, they were always meant to.
If there is a Creator, and we're all taught that Jesus was the son of God, then why couldn't that be true? Nothing in this situation suggests it can't. It just means that, in this situation, Jesus would be like an Anti-Virus Patch. Or that Paperclip in the old Microsoft Office set. Only less annoying. And Moses and Mohammad may just be characters chosen by said creator to take the story in a different direction, like a plug-in or a Chrome extension.
[I can't believe I'm actually comparing famous religious figures to pieces of software but you get the point].
Either way, you'd be created as bits of code. DNA would be the ultimate binary coding engine and all of your morality, your personality and your uniqueness would all be potentially pre-programmed.
So, for any other Christians reading, Psalm 139:13 ('For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb') would be terrifyingly accurate. Just not as you expected.
So, if this was the case, why create these people and situations?
If it was a human created simulation, and they had these figures too, then why not create them? If you're unsure your God exists, or that your prophet exists, why not create them in your own simulated universe? If we assume we're some levels from the base programme, then this could be a never-ending cycle of Creator and Creation. (But that just creates a whole new paradox that is too mind-bending to go into). If the Creators had Jesus, then why shouldn't their creations? If they had Allah and Mohammad, why shouldn't their creations?
Or, they have completely different figures and they wanted to see what would happen if we had something different. Maybe Jesus is called Richard in their universe, who knows. Either way, in this situation of the simulation, religion becomes a never-ending self-fulfilling prophecy in and of itself.
I think my brain just blew out all over the screen on that one...
So, who knows, maybe God is always with you and watching everything you do. Only it's actually a weird potentially alien being observing everything you do. So, if I were you, I'd delete your internet history because it knows everything you've seen. As it has seen it with you. And it cannot be unseen.
And for any kids reading this, yes. In this scenario, God IS watching you on the toilet.
Sweet dreams.
2. THE MULTIVERSE EXISTS, BUT NOT AS WE THOUGHT.
Parallel universes are popular in the realms of quantum theory and science fiction. The idea that there are a number of alternate universes where things happened differently is a very appealing one. Well, if we turned out to be a simulation, then logic dictates that this multiverse exists. The sad thing is, we'll never be able to access it due to our programming constraints.
This would be because the parallel universe would be the universe in which our Creators exist. And, if THEY were the product of a simulation, then THEIR Creators would have a universe etc etc. So, we'd never be able to access it because we'd have no way of translating our physical form into their universe given that, in a simulation, we're simply products of complex coding and design. (Psalm 139:13). Equally, they could not visit us or inhabit our reality.
This would suck for humanity as we'd never know what another universe was like. We'd never know if there were versions of us in the Creator's universe or if indeed what their universe would look like. (Unless they decided to send us a planetary email showing what their world was like). Even if our creators weren't human, we'd still never truly know what they looked like because they would be, to us, extra-dimensional. (4D+). Unless they sent photo evidence but, even then, we'd have no way to prove that's exactly what they looked like. We'd have to take them on their word. Which, in a situation like this, would be VERY tricky.
So the multi-verse exists. But we can't access it.
Unless...there are multiple existences within the programme itself.
Think of it like this. Some people have a multi-screen set up for gaming. So they can observe two different things in tandem. In a standard game of SIMS, you can create one house or you can have multiple. And, while you can only work on one house at a time, the occupants of your multiple houses can visit each other and interact.
In our simulation, nothing suggests that this isn't possible. Up until now, we've just been assuming we're an independent reality simply existing. But what if they ran multiple programmes at once? Comparing the variations in code? That doesn't mean we couldn't access their programming too...
I know, it's a lot to take in.
3. WE WOULD DISCOVER THAT THE UNIVERSE IS ACTUALLY FINITE.
Imagine that. We now know the universe is actually finite. Because it only takes a certain amount of computer processing power to run a simulation. (Assuming we accept here that 'simulation' means a computer one and doesn't have some other supernatural alternate meaning). With this, this limits many factors. How many galaxies there are, how many life forms are actually out there and it limits what humans can understand by the very nature of being simulants. Not only have we just met God, but we've also just had our entire reality shattered by being shown what we thought we knew to be right as actually wrong.
This creates another huge vacuum in knowledge. Because, even though we'd know the universe is finite, we wouldn't know how finite it was unless we were told. Even if our universe, to our creators, was the size of a pixel, we still wouldn't be able to comprehend that from our perspective. It puts the whole of physics into disarray. Suddenly, natural law becomes quite unnatural by the nature of the existence of the universe. Also, it creates a very disturbing notion about how our universe could end. (But I'll get into that on point 4).
Even with the universe being finite, we'd still never be able to explore it all because, to us, it's still unimaginably huge. And created almost perfectly. Science becomes irrelevant to an extent. Because, unless we could create our own simulated universe on the scale that ours would be, we'd still never truly understand how it worked. Maybe our many Creators still don't understand how the universe works. Maybe it's an endless, fruitless, search for meaning but coming up empty.
That's both a scary and depressing concept. But it leads on to the worst case scenario of what could happen if this were proven true.
4. WE WOULD HAVE A WORLDWIDE CRISIS OF IDENTITY.
Weirdly, this is something Rick and Morty deals with quite well.
In the Rick and Morty Season 2 episode, 'The Ricks Must Be Crazy', we discover that Rick's car battery is actually powered by a tiny race of people in a miniaturized reality of his design. When Rick and Morty visit this universe, they are treated and viewed as Gods. (Again, realistic seeing as Rick did create them). Once there, Rick discovers that his creations have created their own energy source, powered by a miniaturized universe full of people. They then visit that universe, and the cycle repeats until, eventually, they reach a universe occupied by extremely primitive beings that have no concept of science yet. In the end, and very subtly too, Rick and his own creation's version of him, fight and accidentally destroy two of the miniaturized universes without a second thought. Later in the episode, Rick even advocates destroying the primary mini universe that powers his own car battery and starting over so that situation couldn't occur again.
The main crux I'm getting at, however, is this. In every universe Rick visits in this episode, the people of that universe are told they are actually an energy source for a bigger specie's universe. This causes the people who discover this to arrive at the same conclusion. We were created for this, and now life has no meaning.
Putting aside the fact Rick and his rival destroy two of these universes and commit literal armageddon, this is exactly the same kind of feeling humanity would experience if we discovered we were part of a simulation designed to study us.
It's been a constant in humanity's development and history that we have been looking for the meaning of life. But we never think about what we'd do if we did in fact discover it. Chances are, we wouldn't like it, and life would now be meaningless. Especially given the situation we're talking about. If humanity learnt it was created by a simulation run by people who wanted to see how we'd work, we'd lose a number of things. We'd lose our sense of planetary exceptionalism. Because, let's face it, we still don't know if we're alone in the universe or not. For the time being we are the only planet with life in the cosmos. (I personally don't believe we are but the point still stands).
Not only that, we'd be more aware of what our fate would be. Sometimes computer programs glitch, or worse, crash. And, in cosmic terms, we may not be autosaved enough for a restart. We would have to work out that, at some point, the observation would have to end. Either due to a power-cut or other means. So our universe could just end in the blink of an eye and we wouldn't know any differently. (GAME OVER PLAYER ONE).
Or, even scarier than that, the individuals who created the first simulation may have that thought and end every ensuing universe just because they can. Like putting a document in the recycle bin and pressing delete permanently. We would be at the mercy of a specie's tech department. If that doesn't make you feel insignificant, I don't know what will. But, this time, turning it off and on again won't bring back the universe.
Who knows how elaborate this simulation would be. Either way, we would all face an existential crisis and it would probably drive everyone insane. Or drive them to something even worse but we won't think about that.
We'd finally find meaning but we would hate it above everything else. Because, suddenly, the truth hurts. Humanity is nothing but code and, at some point, we will have to end.
Maybe the Sun expanding is a pre-determined protocol? Maybe there's an asteroid that could hit us? Or, maybe, we're being programmed to bring about nuclear war. Who knows.
[MAYBE DONALD TRUMP IS A VIRUS IN THE PROGRAMMING AND HE'S TAINTING THE WORLD]
Either way, existence would be utterly pointless and not worth living more. And everyone on planet Earth would feel this sensation. We would finally be united under the premise of 'well, this really wasn't worth it, was it'.
Nihilism wins.
Let's just hope we weren't created by Rick Sanchez.
For more information, and a more light hearted look at this, check out the video below. If I haven't depressed you already, this guy will try his hardest not to.
And, if you are actually depressed by this, here's a picture of me confusing my dog to cheer you up.
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