Former NASA Worker Seeks to Prove We're Living in a Simulation

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The idea that we could live in a computer simulation is no longer reserved to science fiction, and is gaining more and more ground in scientific and philosophical circles. So much so that a former NASA physicist has designed a series of experiments to prove that our reality may be nothing more than an advanced digital construct, orchestrated by a higher intelligence.

“Simulation theory” posits that our entire existence—the universe, the Earth, nature, and human beings, of course—may be the product of a digital simulation, akin to a highly advanced video game. The idea was popularized by Swedish philosopher Nick Bostrom in a 2003 paper titled “Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?”[Are You Living in a Digital Simulation?] He explains that a sufficiently advanced civilization could have the ability to create simulations indistinguishable from reality, a sort of sophisticated metaverse, and it is statistically likely that we are living in one of these rather than in the “real” reality. This is reminiscent of the Matrix movies.

Everybody Wants to Be the One

The Wachowskis' 1999 film Matrix is often cited as a popular representation of this theory. It depicts a future where humans live in a virtual reality called the Matrix, created by intelligent machines to keep human minds under control while their bodies serve as a power source. The protagonist, who becomes the Chosen One, Neo, discovers the truth about this illusion by choosing the red pill, and fights to free humanity.

Categorized as “science fiction,” the trilogy raises pertinent philosophical questions: What are the limits of technology? ? How do we know what we perceive is real? ? If our senses can be fooled by sufficiently advanced technology, is there a way to distinguish reality from simulation? ? These questions have inspired generations of philosophers, scientists, and technologists. So much so that today, there is an increasing shift away from the “fiction” side of things to the “science” side of things, seeking to prove the fundamental truth invoked in The Matrix.

A Lot of “What Ifs” to prove the simulation

Nick Bostrom’s hypothesis is based on three main propositions: either advanced civilizations die out before they can create such simulations, or they have no interest in creating them, or we are almost certainly living in a simulation. In a 2018 interview with Joe Rogan, Elon Musk said: “The universe is 13.8 billion years old, so all the civilizations that have arisen throughout the cosmos have had a lot of time to perfect their technological know-how.” Now, if we accept the possibility that civilizations more advanced than humans can create simulations, then the most likely conclusion is that we are part of some kind of chain of simulations, digital layers, experiments.

Reputable scientists have explored the idea. As reported by Futurism, in 2017 Thomas Campbell published a paper in The International Journal of Quantum Foundations, describing a series of five experiments designed to test the “simulation theory.” The former NASA physicist did not just write his paper, as he also founded the Center for the Unification of Science and Consciousness (CUSAC), an NGO whose goal is to fund the implementation of said experiments.

Based on the intriguing double-slit experiment, first performed in 1801 by Thomas Young, Thomas Campbell hypothesizes that without the observer's gaze, the information in the experiment does not exist. In other words, he starts from the same operating principle as a video game: when you discover a digital “open” world, the information that is projected on your screen is only there when you arrive at its level. That is to say, until your character has moved forward, or until you have turned your camera, the world behind you or a little further away does not yet exist. The physicist sums it up by describing the universe as being solely “participatory”; without us to “play” it would not exist.

On the other hand, astrophysicists such as Silas Beane have proposed experiments to test whether the laws of physics as we understand them might be the result of constraints in a computer system. For example, in a computer simulation, there might be limits to the spatial and temporal resolution, analogous to pixels in a digital image, which might manifest themselves as effects detectable in cosmic rays or other astrophysical phenomena. In effect, they are all looking for a flaw in the system, like Neo in the Matrix.

For the moment, although our technologies are getting closer and closer to reality and researchers are looking into the subject, the experiments are inconclusive and simulation theory therefore remains at the level of philosophical speculation. And finally, if that was the most important thing? Thomas Campbell himself distanced himself from his predecessor Bostrom by assuring that “our consciousness is not a product of simulation: it is fundamental to reality.” So, let's ask ourselves the right questions, consciously!

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