Showing posts with label Virtual Reality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Virtual Reality. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Random or Designed Universe: Are Humans Real?

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Hubble eXtreme Deep Field: a new, improved portrait of mankind's deepest-ever view of the Universe

Cosmologist Martin Rees explores and discusses the Universe and asks questions such do we live in a random or designed Universe, where did we come from, where are we going, and what is the nature of reality?

Humans are the most complex organism we know of in the Universe. Remarkably, atoms have been able to assemble into entities, i.e. humans, "which somehow have been able to ponder their origins".

The human understanding of reality, of the Universe, began with religion and a Creator. As science progressed a random, not a designed, Universe seemed probable. Now a simulated reality, a virtual Universe, may be the true reality which implies a Creator once again.

What We Still Don't Know: "Are We Real?"

Chapter 1: In which the cosmologists learn that we were no accident waiting to happen (3:27)
Chapter 2: In which the cosmologists find that just one suit fits (16:38)
Chapter 3: In which the cosmologists find that they are not the most intelligent things in our Universe, or in others (27:57)
Chapter 4: In which the cosmologists learn that their suits are knock-offs (40:55)

Series from Channel 4 featuring Sir Martin Rees. There is a fundamental chasm in our understanding of ourselves, the universe, and everything. To solve this, Sir Martin takes us on a mind-boggling journey through multiple universes to post-biological life. On the way we learn of the disturbing possibility that we could be the product of someone else's experiment.



MatrixVirtualHuman

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Saturday, October 20, 2012

Tom Campbell: Who Are We In This Reality?

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Are humans "Virtual Reality Rovers" that have evolved in, been inserted into, this Universe?

Tom Campbell expands on his Theory of Everything (My Big TOE) and how we humans interface with this reality, the Universe, which is virtual. We are a free will awareness unit. This is a subset of our higher individuated unit of consciousness, outside of this reality, this Universe. That in turn is a subset of the ultimate consciousness, a larger consciousness system, also known as God and also outside of this reality, this Universe.

Bruce Lipton describes us humans as "Earth Rovers", similar to a Mars Rover. The rover is you in this Universe on planet Earth while our higher consciousness is the controller back at NASA. Taking this idea further, you could also consider humans as "Virtual Reality Rovers" or even "Players" in this Universe, this virtual reality, this game.

Tom Campbell: Who Are We In This Reality? As Consciousness, we are an Information System. Reality is Information. R = I is an identity for the 21st century.

We are part of, but not separate from, the Larger Consciousness System. This may sound like the more familiar phrase "we are made in the image of God". If you are a physicist, a Consciousness researcher, and an evolved spiritual being such as Tom, the descriptions are one and the same.

The eternal question "Who are we"? will be answered in a way you have never heard before. Such subjects as free will, the difference between what we know ourselves to be here as consciousness and what we are as Consciousness outside this learning lab we call earth, and past lives will be discussed within the context of a computer analogy by a physicist who has researched this from outside this virtual reality.

As this interview unfolds, you will get a glimpse of why Tom's My Big TOE encompasses all aspects of our reality into one scientifically derived theory of everything. (For in-depth theory see the Calgary presentation on his twcjr44 YouTube channel).





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Wednesday, September 26, 2012

The Thirteenth Floor: Realities Within Realities

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Nested and Interconnected Realities

Nothing like stacking simulated realities on top of simulated realities and/or interconnecting realities to mix events up! Then the question of "What is real?" begins to confuse a wandering soul! See The Thirteenth Floor videos below, in which two realities become interconnected and begin to impact each other.

Humanity is just at the initial steps of virtual reality creations (e.g. computer games, Second Life, The Sims, World of Warcraft, et. al). As these become more immersive, the lines will begin to blur between our so-called objective reality and emerging virtual realities. Will humanity ultimately migrate into virtual reality, leaving our objective reality behind?

If humanity ultimately creates virtual realities which are a viable subset of our existing "objective reality", could this infer our reality is likewise a subset of a larger reality? If so, could this larger reality, which has been called extra-dimensional, metaphysical, and/or spiritual by the pundits and philosophers, have created the Universe as a simulated reality?

Perception of reality, our stream of consciousness, the world as we begin to see with new eyes becomes a series of Russian nested eggs or dolls, one within another within another. A dream within a dream...

The Thirteenth Floor Trailer

The barriers that separate fantasy from reality are shattered in this stylish, mind-jarring thriller, where two parallel worlds collide in a paroxysm of deception, madness and murder.

On the thirteenth floor of a corporate tower, high-tech visionary Douglas Hall (Craig Bierko, The Long Kiss Goodnight) and his high-strung colleague, Whitney (Vincent D'Onofrio, Men In Black), have opened the door to an amazing virtual world - circa 1937 Los Angeles. But when the powerful leader of their secret project (Armin Mueller-Stahl, Shine, The X-Files) is discovered slashed to death, Hall himself becomes the prime suspect.

Arriving from Paris is the beautiful and mysterious Jane Fuller (Gretchen Mol, Rounders), claiming to be the murder victim's daughter. Her instant, magnetic attraction to Hall only further blurs the lines of what is real. Is he the killer? Is the inscrutable Jane somehow connected?

To find the answers, Hall must cross the boundaries into the simulated reality he has helped create - and confront the astonishing truth about his own existence.



The Thirteenth Floor Movie

To unravel a mystery, a murder suspect must explore the boundaries between reality and a computer-simulated fantasy.





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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Mike Adams & Tom Campbell on Reality & Consciousness

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"Is all that we see or seem But a dream within a dream?" ~ Edgar Allan Poe

Mike Adams, aka The Health Ranger, of NaturalNews.com has started another website, DivinityNow.com. The first video released on the new website is The God Within (below).

Mike raises some solid, thought-provoking points regarding physics, objective reality, virtual reality, consciousness, and even political philosophy. I have posted about the various forms of the Simulation Argument, the Universe as virtual reality.

I disagree with Mike on the issue of observation, specifically consciousness, affecting quantum physics observations. The classic example is the Double Slit Paradox. In my opinion, Tom Campbell has successfully explained this. It is information (not consciousness, measurement, or observation) that is determining the resulting data and further explanation is on this website (and the second video below). Sure, consciousness is required to enable the act of measurement or observation, but it is the information created that is the key. However, mind over matter is possible via consciousness and information, in my opinion.

At the end of the video, Mike comes to the conclusion that what is called "enlightenment" in various spiritual traditions is actually the realization that you are in fact inside a virtual reality, a contained reality. Further, you are reaching out to the "outside" reality, outside our virtual reality, outside our Universe, to the creator and designer. This agrees with Tom Campbell's conclusions.

This is an intriguing idea and reminds me of Alan Watts, a Zen Buddhist adherent. Watts said that when a master attained enlightenment it called for a good laugh by the now enlightened master. I personally took this to mean first, the enlightenment was most likely not what was originally expected at the beginning of the spiritual journey, and second, the enlightenment unveiled the ultimate absurdity and humor of the situation the master realized he (and everyone else) was actually in.

The God Within (FULL) from DivinityNow.com - Mike Adams

DivinityNow.com, founded by Mike Adams, releases this mind-expanding documentary on "conscious cosmology," covering consciousness, particle physics, the nature of reality, the Big Bang, quantum physics, origins of life, free will, and more.



Tom Campbell discusses the Universe as a virtual reality and each human as a consciousness receiving a data stream. Humans are virtual creations as is the entire Universe, rendered by something beyond this reality. He begins with the Double Slit Experiment Paradox and later mentions a recent quantum entanglement discovery that confirms his theory.

My Reality = Virtual + Information. Let's go down the rabbit hole with Tom in this interview and discover the world is not as it seems. That is, the Universe is not a physical, objective reality. See tags at end of post for additional information on this subject, including The Universe As a Virtual Reality and the Double Slit Experiment Paradox.

Tom Campbell: Our Reality Is Information

In this informal interview in Atlanta June 8, 2012, Tom Campbell, author of My Big TOE, expands on the significance of the scientific experiment called the Double Slit in terms everyone can understand.

"If you understand the Double Slit experiment, you understand how our reality works". He continues "Everything we do is not different from the Double Slit experiment".

This explanation is valuable to scientists as well as the general public. Tom takes a difficult subject and applies helpful analogies to clarify the implications of this scientific experiment.



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Friday, September 21, 2012

Tom Campbell: Our Reality Is Information (and Virtual)

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"My consciousness" receives a data stream, therefore I am

Tom Campbell discusses the Universe as a virtual reality and each human as a consciousness receiving a data stream.Humans are virtual creations as is the entire Universe, rendered by something beyond this reality. He begins with the Double Slit Experiment Paradox and later mentions a recent quantum entanglement discovery that confirms his theory.

My Reality = Virtual + Information. Let's go down the rabbit hole with Tom in this interview and discover the world is not as it seems. That is, the Universe is not a physical, objective reality. See tags at end of post for additional information on this subject, including The Universe As a Virtual Reality and the Double Slit Experiment Paradox

Tom Campbell: Our Reality Is Information In this informal interview in Atlanta June 8, 2012, Tom Campbell, author of My Big TOE, expands on the significance of the scientific experiment called the Double Slit in terms everyone can understand.

"If you understand the Double Slit experiment, you understand how our reality works". He continues "Everything we do is not different from the Double Slit experiment".

This explanation is valuable to scientists as well as the general public. Tom takes a difficult subject and applies helpful analogies to clarify the implications of this scientific experiment.



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Saturday, August 25, 2012

Welcome To Your Future Brain: Enhancing Our Senses and Perception

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Reality Is A Digital Data Stream

Alas, the human biological platform perceives only a small amount of the data stream, the information, around us. For example, a tiny portion of the electromagnetic spectrum is detected by people. How tiny? David Eagleman says we see one ten-trillionth of the electromagnetic spectrum! And that's just one data stream we are missing out on!

We need enhancement, additional receptors to receive the broadband cable version of reality! Tom Campbell talked about this reality data stream here, Tom Campbell: Why Reality is a Computed Simulation.

David Eagleman: Welcome To Your Future Brain We're entering a very interesting stage of human history right now where we can start importing technology to enhance our natural senses or perception of the world, says neuroscientist David Eagleman. Directed / Produced by Elizabeth Rodd and Jonathan Fowler.




Electromagnetic Spectrum

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Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Future States: When Virtual Games Become Indistinguishable From Reality

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Will Humans Merge With Virtual Reality?

Will games become so realistic in the future that a player cannot distinguish between objective reality and virtual reality? Perhaps humans will merge into virtual reality not just for games but for other life activities, leaving progressively more of objective reality behind. Will a line someday be crossed whereby humanity begins a migration into virtual reality? Perhaps it has already begun...

Future States - Play | Offbeat | PBS Film Festival The film imagines a not-too-distant future where video games have become indistinguishable from reality. These fully immersive games are nested inside each other like Russian dolls - each new game emerging from another and connecting backwards with increasing complexity. Synthetic experience competes with real experience as dream, fantasy, and memory begin to collapse into each other.




PBS Online Film Festival

"Is all that we see or seem But a dream within a dream?" ~ Edgar Allan Poe

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Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Has James Gates Discovered Computer Code in String Theory Equations? Welcome to The Matrix!

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The Matrix is in programmed control & continues inexorably in the background, whether you are aware of it or not.

Dr. S. James Gates, Jr., a theoretical physicist, the John S. Toll Professor of Physics at the University of Maryland, and the Director of The Center for String & Particle Theory, is reporting that certain string theory, super-symmetrical  equations, which describe the fundamental nature of the Universe and reality, contain embedded computer codes. These codes are digital data in the form of 1's and 0's. Not only that, these codes are the same as what make web browsers work and are error-correction codes! Gates says, "We have no idea what these 'things' are doing there".

Gates discloses in the second video below, as an aside in a formal interview, that some of his research can be interpreted that we do live in a virtual reality. He describes this as "mind-blowing" and similar to the movie "The Matrix"! Further, he adds, that if someone suspected they did live in a virtual reality, then detecting computer codes would be a way to confirm. He concludes with finding these computer codes in equations that describe our world: "that's what I just proposed!".

What to make of this? There are two issues: 1) if String Theory will ultimately be a viable and therefore proven model of reality and 2) if so, whether embedded coding is in fact within the related verified equations. Michio Kaku has stated "String Theory Is the Only Game in Town" because it is the only testable theory available.

We have argued on this website that the Universe is a virtual reality. If true, then any theory of reality should eventually confirm this, if the theory has staying power and does not succumb to an early death. Accordingly, time is on the side of the simulation hypothesis to be verified first through theory and then via experiments in the long-run. Technology to provide the means to test that the Universe is a virtual reality is the next step.

Strange Computer Code Discovered Concealed In Superstring Equations! "Doubly-even self-dual linear binary error-correcting block code," first invented by Claude Shannon in the 1940's, has been discovered embedded WITHIN the equations of superstring theory! Why does nature have this? What errors does it need to correct? What is an 'error' for nature? More importantly what is the explanation for this freakish discovery? Your guess is as good as mine.




Red or Blue Pill? Take the blue pill, the story ends, you awake in your bed, and believe whatever you want to believe.


Red or Blue Pill? Take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.

Interview with Dr. S. James Gates, Jr. [Relevant comments begin at about 5:30 in interview] Sylvester James (Jim) Gates, Jr. is a theoretical physicist who received BS (mathematics and physics) and Ph.D. degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the latter in 1977. His doctoral thesis was the first thesis at MIT to deal with supersymmetry. He is currently the John S. Toll Professor of Physics at the University of Maryland, College Park and serves on President Barack Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.




String Theory Computer Codes?

Credits Abe (Twitter: @Esq2776abe) for the initial report Johanan Raatz (YouTube: JohananRaatz) for the first video

"What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning." ~ Werner Heisenberg

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Wednesday, July 4, 2012

The Universe As a Virtual Reality and the Double Slit Experiment Paradox

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I think, therefore I am? -or- I'm programmed, therefore I am?


The Universe As a Virtual Reality and the Double Slit Experiment Paradox

From Newton's mechanical universe to the Einstein revolution and the beginning of quantum physics, the search for base reality is always over the horizon. Is this horizon receding before our eyes? From quantum physics came the standard model, which now explains a grand total of 4% - 5% (depending on who's counting) of the known Universe! A huge chunk of the Universe is missing: dark matter (23%) and dark energy (73%).

Michio Kaku believes String Theory is the only game in town. When (if?) the Higgs Boson is discovered at CERN, String Theory is the only viable avenue to expand the research because it's the only testable theory. He's right. The problem is String Theory kicks the can down the road, adds unnecessary layers of complexity, and therefore is an Ockham's Razor nightmare.

Wave-particle duality, probability wave collapse, non-locality, and yet other anomalies, have yet to be explained without theoretical convolution. Among these anomalies, the results of the Double Slit Experiment and the enhanced Delayed Choice Quantum Eraser Experiment cannot be crammed into the so-called theoretical box and remain mysteries. The video below provides an excellent description and primer of these experiments and the baffling results.

There is an alternative explanation, which is heretical to the traditional human worldviews of the atheists and evolutionists as well as the other end of the spectrum, the religious faithful and creationists. In fact, it's possible these opposing camps could both be partially correct as they battle each other! That is, the Universe is a virtual reality, programmed and created and processing. The Simulation Hypothesis asserts this.

What is striking about the Universe as a virtual reality is how all of humankind's philosophical and scientific questions through the centuries are answered simply and forthrightly. In an odd way, the Simulation Hypothesis really is the Game of Life, although creating a certain uneasiness once the implications are pondered and delved into. What we are taught and learn to perceive that the world, the Universe, is an objective reality of matter still mechanistically functioning at the macro level like Newtonian physics, begins to disappear before our eyes and in our mind. Welcome to the edge of reality! Now on to our show, the video below, and the brave new world of the Universe as a virtual reality...

Quantum Physics 101 - Double Slit Experiment (Revised version from March 4th 2012) This video starts out explaining the basics regarding the double slit experiment, then it goes into detail regarding the setup and results of the delayed choice quantum eraser experiment with its rather strange results. The measurement data of this experiment implies that information obviously travelled backwards in time, which violates known scientific principles regarding causality and time. Finally it provides an explanation for these strange results based on the My Big Toe model of physicist Thomas Campbell who claims that we are living in a virtual reality and that reality as we know it is based on information and created from this information as any other virtual reality simulation on a computer. Most of the content presented in this video is also available in written form here.



Thomas Campbell: The Nature of Reality His key insight is that we live in a virtual reality based on consciousness. Consciousness is the foundation of our reality and the main method for consciousness to evolve is by breaking up the holistic consciousness into separated individual part (us humans) which then have free will to interact.



Related Posts:
Tom Campbell: Why Reality is a Computed Simulation
Are Humans Advanced Simulations? Is the Universe a virtual reality?
Is the Universe a Simulation? Do we live in a virtual reality?


Humans are most likely virtual creations

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Monday, May 28, 2012

Tom Campbell: Why Reality is a Computed Simulation

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Is the Universe a Virtual Reality?


Why Reality is a Computed Simulation Tom Campbell, the author of My Big TOE (Theory of Everything) takes you on a fast ride in the short video below. Campbell explains why our so-called objective reality is actually a virtual reality. The graphic shown in the video is a table from Brian Whitworth. A similar and more concise table from his 2007 paper, The Physical World as a Virtual Reality, is below the video. One of Whitworth's conclusions was, "if the Universe is virtual then so are we". As Campbell notes, Whitworth concluded that only a virtual reality fits all the physical data and therefore is the only logical conclusion as to the nature of our reality. Ultimately, reality is information and what our consciousness interprets to be our reality is digital data. I'll go one further and say life, including humans, are software installed on a biological platform.

Why Reality is a Computed Simulation Words from NASA/DoD physicist Thomas Campbell, author of "My Big TOE"



The Physical World as a Virtual Reality: Brian Whitworth

Table 1. Virtual properties and physical outcomes

Virtual Property, Physical Outcome

Virtual Reality Creation Virtual worlds must begin with an information influx from “nothing”, that also begins VR time/ space.
The Big Bang The universe was created out of nothing by a “big bang” in a single event that also created time and space.

Digital Processing All events/objects that arise from digital processing must have a minimum quantity or quanta.
Quantum Minima Light is quantized as photons. Matter, energy, time, and space may be the same, i.e. have a minimum amount.

Maximum Processing Rate Events in a VR world must have a maximum rate, limited by a finite processor.
Light Speed The speed of light is a fixed maximum for our universe, and nothing in our space-time can move faster.

Non-local Effects A computer processor is equidistance to all screen “pixels”, so its effects can be “non-local” with respect to its screen.
Wave Function Collapse The quantum wave function collapse is non-local - entangled photons on opposite sides of the universe may instantly conform to its requirements.

Processing Load Effects If a virtual processing network is overloaded, its processing outputs must be reduced.
Matter and Speed Effects Space curves near a massive body and time dilates at high speeds.

Information Conservation If a stable VR is not to gain or lose information it must conserve it.
Physical Conservation Physical existence properties like matter, energy, charge, spin etc are either conserved or equivalently transform.

Algorithmic Simplicity Calculations repeated at every point of a huge VR universe must be simple and easily calculated.
Physical Law Simplicity Core physical processes are describable by relatively simple mathematical formulae, e.g. gravity.

Choice Creation A random number function in the VR processor could provide the choices needed to create information.
Quantum Randomness The quantum “dice throw” is to the best of our knowledge truly random, and unpredictable by any world event.

Complementary Uncertainty Calculating one property of a self-registering interface may displace complementary data.
Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle One cannot know both a quantum object’s position and momentum, as knowing either makes the other unknown.

Digital Equivalence Every digital object created by the same code is identical.
Quantum Equivalence All quantum objects, like photons or electrons, are identical to each other.

Digital Transitions Digital processes simulate event continuity as a series of state transitions, like the frames of a film.
Quantum Transitions Quantum mechanics suggests that reality is a series of state transitions at the quantum level.

About Tom Campbell



Tom Campbell began researching altered states of consciousness with Bob Monroe Journeys Out Of The Body, Far Journeys, and The Ultimate Journey) at Monroe Laboratories in the early 1970s where he and a few others were instrumental in getting Monroe's laboratory for the study of consciousness up and running. These early drug-free consciousness pioneers helped design experiments, developed the technology for creating specific altered states, and were the main subjects of study (guinea pigs) all at the same time. Campbell has been experimenting with, and exploring the subjective and objective mind ever since. For the past thirty years, Campbell has been focused on scientifically exploring the properties, boundaries, and abilities of consciousness.

During that same time period, he has excelled as a working scientist, a professional physicist dedicated to pushing back the frontiers of cutting edge technology, large-system simulation, technology development and integration, and complex system vulnerability and risk analysis. Presently, and for the past 20 years, he has been at the heart of developing US missile defense systems.




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Saturday, October 29, 2011

Are Humans Advanced Simulations? (Video) *Is the Universe a virtual reality?*

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If the Universe is a simulation, are humans artificially intelligent beings?


Objective Reality Vs. Virtual Reality The exponential increase in computing power has created more and more realistic games and virtual realities. This technological advancement in the level of realism will blur the lines between objective reality and virtual reality, between real experiences and virtual experiences. What if we are there already? That is, what if the Universe is a virtual reality, a simulation, and objective reality is outside of the Universe?

Who or What Is The Creator? Is God a cosmic computer coder and we humans nothing more than a simulation? Is God real and are humans virtual? Rich Terrell, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, believes this is so: "What are the requirements for God? He's an inter-dimensional being, connected with everything in the Universe, a creator, responsible for everything in the Universe, and in some way can change the law of physics, if he wanted to." This is the same as programmers creating simulations.

Computer Generated Simulations Rich Terrell goes through his argument using Moore's Law and the Turing Test. Terrell wondered, how much computing power would a simulation of the Earth require? Humans are doubling the computing power every 13 months per Terrell and computers already match the human brain in computational speed. At this rate, in 10 years, Terrell believes computers will be able to create a "photo real simulation of all that we see around us" - the Earth. But can a computer populate such a simulation with thinking beings, artificially intelligent simulated beings, like humans? Terrell thinks so and that humans are on the verge of creating worlds inside computers populated by sentient beings.

The Universe As A Simulation Rich Terrell, following that humans will eventually create a virtual reality populated with artificially intelligent (sentient) beings, goes to the next step: that the Universe is a simulation and that humans are artificially intelligent (sentient) beings. God is a programmer and Terrell has found evidence of the simulation in nature. Zoom in and every simulation breaks down into pixels. In our Universe, quantum mechanics is the study of pixels. "Look at the way the Universe behaves, it's quantized, it's made of pixels. Space is quantitized, matter is quantitized, energy is quantitized, everything is made of individual pixels. Which means the Universe has a finite number of components. Which means a finite number of states. Which means it's computer." That infers the Universe could be created by lines of code in a computer.

Is The Universe Being Computed? Is there evidence of computer processing of our "objective reality"? One clue is an experiment in the physics laboratory at the California Institute of Technology. A 1928 experiment (the Thomson experiment plus the Davisson-Germer experiment) provide evidence. Using an electron beam transmitted through a piece of graphite with a screen behind is set up. The background screen records how the electrons ricochet off the graphite. At this subatomic level, the pattern is not random, as might be expected, but is a diffraction pattern. Terrell notes, "The experiment shows something really rather extraordinary, that matter, even though it behaves when you are looking at it, measuring it, as individual particles, when you are not looking at it, matter is diffuse. It spreads out, it doesn't have a finite form in the Universe." When observed they are "dots", when we look away, they lose their physical form. Is this behavior of matter similar, or parallel, to the behavior in a simulation? Terrell says yes. As in a simulation, "The Universe gives you what you are looking at when you look at it." Further, "When you are not looking at it, it's not necessarily there". This results in a Universe that is pixelated and only assumes definite form when observed. This is how computer simulations operate.

What Are The Odds The Universe Is A Simulation? What is the probability the Universe is a simulation, that we live in a simulation, and therefore there is a God? Terrell says, "The question is, how likely is something like that to happen? And how likely is it that this has already happened in our Universe? The Universe is 13.7 billion years old and we are 50 years from being able to manufacture God. What is the probability that I would be so close to that threshold and not be able to cross to the other side? It's one chance in 300 million that I would be that close. It is an extraordinary coincidence and perhaps, more likely than not, maybe we are a simulation on the other side of that threshold and the deities that exist are our future selves."

Ramifications "Our world bears all the hallmarks of one that is simulated. Who would be more likely to simulate humans than humans from the future, our descendants? They would be god-like beings able to create their own universes." Terrell actually finds a spirituality in this scenario. "I take great solace in this. It shows that along the line we have evolved from nothing into self-awareness and that self-awareness has reached the stage now where our future selves have become gods. To me that's a very, very spiritual thing and that's where my spirituality comes from in seeing things like that. To me, that's a religion." Garrett Lisi, a theoretical physicist, disagrees, "We see this constantly in physics, we start out with something that looks complex and as we look at its parts, the parts are simpler. Now if you imagine some sort of creator, that assumes there is something more complicated than the thing that got created. So to me, that's a step backwards in explaining a philosophically satisfying model." Will we, as finite beings, ever understand God?

You Are Simply A Very Advanced Simulation Morgan Freeman takes us Through The Wormhole


Related Story
Is the Universe a Simulation? (Video) *Do we live in a virtual reality?*

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Sunday, August 7, 2011

Is the Universe a Simulation? (Video) *Do we live in a virtual reality?*

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If our existence is inside a simulation, are we real at all?


Are We Living in a Computer Simulation? "We are currently living in a computer simulation", says Nick Bostrom who originated the Simulation Hypothesis. He means literally, "we are living in a computer simulation created by some advanced civilization in a computer they have built in their Universe". This implies, "that everything we see and our brains themselves would just be part of this simulation". Bostrom argues this isn't just speculation, but based on empirical considerations, including the computing power available to advanced civilizations. The Simulation Hypothesis, "couldn't be conceptualized before we had the concept of the computer, so it's really in the last several decades that the Hypothesis could even be entertained".

The Game of Life John Conway's Game of Life is a simulation, a cellular automaton, that provides support for the Simulation Hypothesis. Conway says that although the rules in the Game of Life are "tiny, trivial laws" compared to the laws of the Universe, they do exhibit interesting behavior. "It proved an important point, which is that a system like this, the Game of Life, could have some of the properties of the real Universe. So, in a way, its design was copied, but in a very trivial way, from real-life biology and correspondingly it became a kind of artificial biology ". Bostrom says, "We can't be certain to what extent the actual laws governing the natural world are similar to those in the Game of Life. We do know the laws governing the natural world are simple. We can write them down in simple equations. We can program computers to simulate them and from great simplicity we derive great complexity".

Existence Inside a Simulation If our existence is inside a simulation, are we real at all? Nick Bostrom states, "Speculations about the nature of reality and whether it might be an illusion or a dream goes back for thousands of years - philosophers have been pondering these questions. If we are in a simulation does that mean that nothing is real? I think a better way of viewing it that it would mean that reality is something slightly different than we thought. For most practical intents and purposes, you would still behave as you do anyway. We have no reason to get depressed by the philosophical implications of these things because the everyday aspect of life is always going to feel the same, regardless if we actually have free will or not, regardless if the Universe is going to end in a Big Crunch. I think for all the thinking humans like to do on the big things, what really, really gets to us emotionally are the everyday little things. They are what they are. Max Tegmark, a cosmologist, says, "Ultimately, if we are a simulation, then in the ways that matter to us, we are real enough. Whatever force has guided our creation, mathematical or intelligent, it is constructed from simple atoms. Humans are a creature capable of thinking beyond the limits of physical investigation.

What is the Purpose of the Simulation? A simulation implies a creator, design, and purpose. If we are simulated, might we have been simulated for a purpose? Might there be a creator with a grand design, just as our ancestors believed? Nick Bostrom notes, "These kinds of arguments show at the same time the limitations to the reach of the human intellect. We're discovering how our little corner of the world might indeed just be a small, small, small, small, small corner of a vastly bigger world than we ever imagined. We might never, even in principle, be able to look out at other parts. At the same time, these arguments also emphasize the astounding reach of the human intellect that we can begin to formulate theories and hypotheses that extend way beyond the world around us that we are evolved to cope with, i.e., how many lions entered the cave?, will it rain later this afternoon?, what does that person think of me? - these kind of very down-to-earth issues since our brain evolved. But it turns out it can be used to grapple with these fundamental questions of existence and the nature of the world."

Alternative Creation Theory An alternative explanation to the religious accounts of our creation results in a possibility, via the Simulation Hypothesis, that is incredibly similar: an all-powerful, all-knowing, super-intelligent being, an entity whose motives are unfathomable and whose existence is unprovable. Max Tegmark adds, "It is very important for us physicists to not dismiss ideas just because they are weird. Because if we did, we would have already dismissed atoms, black holes, and all sorts of other marvelous things. When you ask the basic question about the nature of reality, don't you expect an answer which is a little bit weird? I think anything but weird would be a big letdown. Let's just accept that the Universe is weird and view that as part of its charm." Nick Bostrom says, "There's no reason that the human brain should have evolved just far enough to simulate the deepest nodes of reality, what is amazing that we have been able to make so much sense as we have of the external world. I believe when the history of science is written then what's been discovered about our Universe in the last decade or two will be one of the most exciting chapters.But the key question, of course, is what we still don't know and that is the challenge for the coming century."

Big Think Summary Big Think reported, "Imagine a super-advanced version of The Sims, running on a machine with more processing power than all the minds on Earth. Intelligent design? Not necessarily. The Creator in this scenario could be a future fourth-grader working on a science project. Oxford University philosopher Nick Bostrom argues that we may very well all be Sims. This possibility rests on three developments: (1) the aforementioned megacomputer. (2) The survival and evolution of the human race to a “posthuman” stage. (3) A decision by these posthumans to research their own evolutionary history, or simply amuse themselves, by creating us – virtual simulacra of their ancestors, with independent consciousnesses."

Simulation Hypothesis The Simulation Hypothesis by Nick Bostrom argues that at least one of the following propositions is true:
(1) the human species is very likely to go extinct before reaching a “posthuman” stage
(2) any posthuman civilization is extremely unlikely to run a significant number of simulations of their evolutionary history (or variations thereof)
(3) we are almost certainly living in a computer simulation.
It follows that the belief that there is a significant chance that we will one day become posthumans who run ancestor-simulations is false, unless we are currently living in a simulation.

Mountain Vision Conclusion The only theory that explains all the scientific facts and human experiences, in the totality of reality as perceived by humans, and in the entire known Universe, is Simulation Hypothesis Argument #3: we are almost certainly living in a computer simulation. Further, the purpose of the simulation is probably either experimentation or entertainment. Any other purpose cannot be determined and proven from human experiences and scientific facts discovered to-date. Further, the creator of the simulation, from a human's perception within the simulation, is all-powerful and all-knowing. However, there is no proof the operator of the simulation is the creator of the simulation. Every human experience, scientific fact discovered, and human philosophical belief is within and explained by these propositions. What do you think? Can you prove me wrong?

Computer Simulation A video about the possibility that we are actually living in a computer simulation, Matrix like.. Narrated by David Malone.




About Nick Bostrom (Professor, Faculty of Philosophy and Oxford Martin School; Director, Future of Humanity Institute; Director, Programme on the Impacts of Future Technology; University of Oxford) Nick BostromPrior to taking up my current post as the founding director of the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University, I was a British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Faculty of Philosophy. Before that, I was a lecturer at Yale University, in the Department of Philosophy and in the Institute for Social and Policy Studies. Beside philosophy, I have a background in physics, computational neuroscience, mathematical logic, and artificial intelligence. I studied several subjects in parallel as an undergraduate---my performance set a national record in my native Sweden. Before degenerating into a tweedy academic, I also dabbled in painting, poetry, and drama, and for a while did stand-up comedy in London.
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