The simulation hypothesis and the ultimate religion
By: Mario Chamorro
Tags: Simulation Hypothesis, Philosophy, Elon Musk, Religion, Simulation

But, are we living in a simulation?

It is very probable. In fact, it is very unlikely that we are NOT living in a simulation. Unfortunately, there is no possible way to confirm or deny that we are -or not- in a simulation, unless the creators of the simulation had left evidence about it or decide to make it noticeable sometime in the future.

There are mainly two arguments that support the belief that we are living in a simulation.

Technological evolution

Pong, considered the first video game, was launched at the end of 1972. In these ~50 years, the technological evolution has been enormous. We have gone from monochrome games with limited features, to ultra-detailed 3d scenarios, massive persistent online worlds with thousands of simultaneous players, ultra-realistic driving simulators and, in recent years, the first steps of virtual reality commercial development, that, in many cases, is objectively difficult to distinguish from reality.

Evolution of Video Game Graphics 1958–2018

50 years is nothing for the cosmic evolution scale. Homo sapiens has been around for ~100,000 years, so the last 50 years represent less than 0.05% of the time that our species has existed.

The strongest argument for us probably being in a simulation is … that 40 years ago we had Pong — two rectangles and a dot. That’s what games were. Now, 40 years later, we have photo-realistic, 3-D simulations with millions of people playing simultaneously. And it’s getting better every year … If you assume any rate of improvement at all, then the games will become indistinguishable from reality Elon Musk

Given the technological evolution (exponential or not, another interesting discussion), it is to be expected that, in a few years, virtual simulated worlds will be practically indistinguishable from reality. Even if we consider a massive setback in the degree of technological evolution, we would simply delay several hundred / thousands / tens of thousands of years the inevitable evolution. They are, still, insignificant values on a cosmic scale.

Therefore, given the unstoppable technological evolution we are witnessing, except in case of catastrophic events, great filters or other theoretical disasters, it seems very likely that there will be a point when humans will be able to create virtual worlds or simulations totally indistinguishable from reality.

The limits of reality and resources optimization

Performing a simulation as detailed as the one we could apparently be living, requires an inconceivable amount of resources (hardware) for our current level of development. However, we should keep in mind that there are different types / degrees of simulation and, more important, it would not be necessary to simulate all the detail of the simulation in all its extension.

Starting from the basis that you could be in a simulation while you are reading this article, to maintain these simulation, it may not be necessary to perform a detailed simulation of the rest of 7.5 billion inhabitants of the planet, with each and every one of its atoms, quarks or any minimum particle that is considered. To keep the simulation sufficiently detailed and credible, it would be sufficient to simulate, for example, ~10 meters around the reference point, in the same way that when you examine an external scenario in a video game, it is not necessary that the interior of the buildings exists at all, since you will never be inside them.

If we consider that our entire planet were the object of a simulation, we could assume that everything that happens on the earth’s surface and near the planet is part of the detailed simulation in which we inhabit. Given the limitations that current physics seems to impose, it is unlikely that, in the medium term, we will be able to travel to the nearest star (Proxima Centauri, at 4.22 light years), so the simulation could simply represent the far space as pixels in the outer layer of the simulation. This means that it would not be necessary to simulate each and every one of the billions of stars, planets and other objects that apparently exist in our universe.

In a way, the limits imposed by the laws of physics can be interpreted as limits imposed by the creators of the simulation. There is no need to simulate the outer universe because we will never be able to travel to that outer layer. The creators of the simulation are imposing limits such as the speed of light or placing those objects at absurdly distant and unreachable distances and, thus, saving precious resources for the simulation.

Rick and Morty S01E04: M. Night Shaym-Aliens!

There is also evidence that indicates that the simulation of the “lower limit” (subatomic world) is not as complete as it should be. The double-slit experiment seems to indicate that subatomic reality only exists when it is observed, which is a further indication that we are in a simulation where only the small portion of reality that is observed exists.

Therefore, the amount of resources necessary to perform the simulation, despite being equally immense, expensive and not affordable for our current degree of development, is not as absurd as it could be for a complete simulation of the universe.

We must not forget that, for our limited zero-degree civilization on the Kardashev scale (a scale that measures the degree of civilization technological evolution based on the amount of energy it is able to use), structures such as a Dyson sphere that would give access to practically unlimited energy and resources, are pure science fiction. However, type II or type III civilizations may not face any resource or hardware constraints to create any type of simulation.

In any case, if the simulation hypothesis is true, our current mindset focused on the necessary resources / hardware to initiate and maintain the simulation, may lack meaning outside of our simulation, where laws of reality (the authentic one, outside of our simulation, which in turn could be a byproduct of another superior simulation) may have nothing to do with those we observe in our limited reality.