This is one that peaked my interest a while ago. It more than likely happened when I watched the Matrix. So anyway, some people, and I'll give examples, Elon Musk, Joe Rogan, Nick Bostrom, Dennis McKenna and Neil deGrasse Tyson think it's possible, that we're living in a simulated reality. I'm open minded to the idea based on the people discussing it. They seem to know what they're talking about and personally, I have the kind of mind that likes to explore new and strange ideas. Critical thinking is where it's at for me. I like facts. If it's all speculation and "just believe," I tend to get disinterested and walk away. It's kind of like those cheap ghost and ufo documentaries you'd watch when you were a teenager, where it ends, 'maybe they're already here,' or, 'maybe she still walks the halls of...' Believe me, I'd love UFO's and Ghosts to be real, it would add to the excitement of life as we know it.
So, back to is the universe is a simulation. Why do people think this; well technology is probably the driving force behind this idea as it's moving very fast and graphics have moved on leaps and bounds to the point where near photorealistic images are becoming easier to render. But as cool as that is, it's not the whole reason you'd think you're in a simulation. It's about all the tech that goes with it. So Physics is a big part of this equation. A good physics engine in a computer game will add to the immersion, such as glass smashing realistically, balls bouncing like their supposed to and rain causing ripples in puddles etc. Furthermore you need good quality Ai (artificial intelligence), to create believable characters and environments. Ai for example can create interactions indistinguishable from speaking to real people, or create new terrain where there wasn't any before. With the advent of VR (virtual reality), we can go further; we're now able to visit these places and coupled with Force feedback suits, we can experience these simulated places close up and feel them. The next phase in the simulation idea, is that notion of, 'where will we be in the next 50 years or more?' Just to let you know, here's where we're at now...
Well, based on that last thought, let's think about it shall we? Assuming Putin isn't insane enough to end humanity, we can assume that we will continue on our present course. Now imagine highly sophisticated Ai is helping to improve things; we already have it making art like Dall-E 2, writing stories, convincing people they're sentient at Google. It's coming and it will get better with time, and if you've ever seen Ai learn, it'll blow your mind. So without being too clever, I can safely say, that in 50 years time, the stuff in video games that blows your mind now will be the equivalent of Space Invaders, Pong, Doom etc in the future.
Just look at Earth 2 being created by Nvidia...
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So as you can see, we are going to be making simulations of our world real soon. It's common sense then to assume, that in the future you could add simulated people with personalities based on feedback data from things like Cookies or Facebook, Instagram, Google, Amazon. They already collect data on what news, sport and tv you watch as well as your politics, religion and gender. All the data is out there already, either with our name attached to it, or not. Just feed that information into the simulator and it'll probably know roughly what you'd do as a person during the day. If you have a Smart watch, it'll probably know what your doing at night too. Spooky stuff, right? But this is where is gets even more interesting, these people simulations are bound by the laws of the simulator. They're just pawns showing people outside the simulator, possibly at Nvidia, how they'd react to small or massive world events. Do they panic? Do they hide? Do they riot with no food? It's a crazy idea, but they won't know they're in a simulator. They're merely obeying the laws of reality based on what they know. Perhaps we are too? How would you know not to obey the rules of reality in this reality? Short answer, you wouldn't.
To me, the thought of this is fascinating, and not scary. why should it be? We don't know any better and thing are the way they are. We all adapt to our surroundings and circumstances. It's who and what we are. How would we test it anyway if we're bound by the laws of the game like NPC's (non-player character's), the name given to simulated people that populate computer games. I think my question is, what are we testing for? Do we get rebooted once the test ends and get randomly put back into the world to start over? The world is pretty crazy right now. Maybe we're in a political simulation? Also, are the people simulating us, themselves in a simulation since we are planning to make our own? Furthermore, how far back does this go if that is the case, and do we even resemble the original creators at all? A maddening thought, but a fun one at least. Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed the idea. I certainly have.
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