Are you Real? - The Simulation Hypothesis

As we all know, our computing power is increasing day by day. It was just 77 years ago when the first computer, ENIAC, was invented which occupied 1800 square feet in area and weighed at a whopping 50 tons. Now we have computer systems that are presently computing the combinations of various compounds that could control the spread of the Corona Virus. They run for tens of hours connected to multiple CPU's and run multiple combinations at the same time. And the technology to construct complex simulation games are up and booming. We are able to create games where we give a character a set of missions to accomplish.

Now imagine a day when you can create a simulated world so perfectly, containing humans and other life forms as real as you and me, to a degree where you can put together every single neuro-synaptic thought that a person can have and also giving that character the perception of free will! Give that line another read. 

This is called the Simulation Hypothesis, where we come across the thought that we are in a simulation of a highly civilized class of beings. You might ask why would we want to create a simulation of ourselves and the Earth in the first place. One of the main reasons for this is that the curiosity of scientists would push them to learn different processes like Evolution, Mass Extinction, and more.

Let's talk about how these simulations might take place. In almost all video games of the present, there is a huge area within which the character can roam about. It contains all the details the character might come across. But we have to know that all parts of this terrain /region are not loaded at the same time. The graphics of every single nook and corner isn't preloaded. As the character moves through the map, the region within the visibility of the character is loaded. This happens in most games, for example, Minecraft, Fortnite, PUGB, etc. This helps the game to run smoother with high FPS. Now if the simulator has to create 7 billion human characters in simulation and has to compute every single human with all the details of the Earth at the same time, it would require an unrealistic amount of computing power.

So, the solution would be to load in the details within the line of sight of the character and nothing else! This raises a few questions like,

1.What if we are a part of a grand simulation where the loaded part of our environment is to the extent of the horizon?

2.What if the concept of digging underground is just that the program goes on adding soil as we dig deeper?

3.What if the speed of light is the limit to the computing power of the system on which the simulation is being run on? This means that we are not able to travel faster than the speed of light because if we do, the system couldn't load the region as we move further.

4.What if the phone you are holding right now is hollow on the inside and the programmer adds its contents only when you decide to open it?

These are some of the mind-boggling questions that need answers to! Now comes the questions that scientists lose their sleep over. If we are actually in a simulation, then we would grow to a state where we create such simulations. We would create a perfect world with all its characters and environment. Now those characters will grow to a stage where they will have the computing power to create their own simulation! This means that there might be billions and trillions of simulations before us by now! Probability of us not being in a simulation is so low because what would the odds favor, a billion other or just 1?

What do all of these simulations have in common? The power to simulate themselves. The characters in the current simulation are able to create a perfect copy of themselves and the Earth and those simulated characters also have the power to simulate their own simulations. Here comes the silver lining! Do we have that power yet? NO, we don't. So, the odds of being 1 in a gazillion simulations directly comes down to 1 in 2. It can be either that we are the first in the cycle and are yet to create a simulation or we are the end of the chain and are the most recently simulated world! This makes it way easier to believe that we are not in a simulation considering the 1 in 2 odds. But if Morpheus ever comes and offers you a RED and a BLUE pill, always choose the RED!