Are We Living in a Simulation?

Disclaimer: I am not going to attempt to explain scientific studies or hypotheses because I would just be regurgitating information that means nothing to me. Just, humor me here.

I frequently find myself interested in obscure topics (most recently oviraptorids and hobby horsing.) I’ll get on the internet and gather information about them that will just forever live in my brain. Useless yet intriguing. So when I came across the simulation theory I did what I usually do; I got to googlin’. 

Something that initially surprised me was that I wasn’t scouring Reddit or some random blog for this information. No, these were actual scientists and philosophers weighing in on respectable websites. This was a legit conversation. One of those philosophers was Nick Bostrom, director of the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University. Bostrom is credited for creating the “Simulation Argument”. In this argument Bostrom describes 3 different possibilities . First, that there simply is not advanced enough technology to create such a vivid and detailed simulation. Second, the technology exists but isn’t being used to simulate the universe. Third, and most bone chilling, the majority of all consciousness is simulated. Including us. 

The creation of the universe is essential to consider when pondering the idea that we live in a simulation. The universe is estimated to be about 13.7 billion years old. Barely old enough to get a legal drink. So what came before the universe? What created the universe? The big bang theory potentially answers both of those questions and is widely accepted in the scientific community. According to National Geographic, “In the first 10^-43 seconds of its existence, the universe was very compact, less than a million billion billionth the size of a single atom. It’s thought that at such an incomprehensibly dense, energetic state, the four fundamental forces—gravity, electromagnetism, and the strong and weak nuclear forces—were forged into a single force, but our current theories haven’t yet figured out how a single, unified force would work.” Okay so picture that in your head. Nothing becomes everything almost immediately. Now, picture logging into a WebKinz account. Think about all that is simulated once you click “log in.” All the pets, their house, games, the curio shop, that pervy duck doctor. None of that existed before you clicked log in and then all of the sudden it does. Do I sound nuts or are you just in denial because you’ve been starving your pets since 09’? 

So obviously that Webkinz analogy is air tight and you 100% believe we are simulated. Glad we are on the same page. Now comes the question; who could be simulating us and for what reason? One theory is that there are some kind of post human entities that are running an ancestral simulation. It could be for research purposes or it could be their equivalent of the Sims. (If the latter is the case, I’m going to need to have a chat with whoever gave my sim adult acne and back pain.) Something worth considering is the position in which we find ourselves. Political tensions are rising, we are in the middle of a global energy crisis, we are seconds away from nuclear warfare at any given moment, our oceans are filling with plastics, men like Pete Davidson are dating women like Kim Kardashian; I mean seriously pick a struggle and that could be the reason we exist. Some other entity is hoping we figure it out so they themselves can have the solution. 

One argument against us being in a simulation is that the universe is far too complex to be simulated. Now, bear with me because this is my own reasoning and I am an education major but; too complex compared to what? Wouldn’t the maximum level of complexity our minds are able to comprehend be the level at which we exist? What if the universe isn’t all that complex compared to whatever reality is running the simulation. Do pac man characters know what arms are to be aware of the fact that they don’t have them? No, they just eat the little dots and avoid the ghosts. We sit in traffic and pay taxes. A classmate I was talking about this with also brought up a point that if something made the effort to create this simulation, why didn’t they make it cooler? Why aren’t there crazy things everywhere? First of all, what the fuck are giraffes? Second, cool compared to what? Our reality determines what is “real” to us. I think maybe we are just ungrateful. 

So are we in a simulation? Maybe. There’s no way to know for sure so it’s definitely a good idea to keep eating, sleeping, and going to work. To me, it’s just fascinating that it’s even a discussion. If you think I sound nuts, I encourage you to remember that we live on a floating rock. Since that is possible, anything is.