Our universe is not real — so what?

The mathematical probability that we are living in a real universe is close to zero — details later. So are we just simulated or real beings? You know what: It doesn’t make a difference and here is why.

Ok, let’s start with the obvious stuff like, for example, why our universe is not real. Its actually not that complicated:

Simulating a universe 101

1. The universe is based on 4 basic physical principles that underly everything: Strong interaction, electromagnetic force, weak force and gravitational force.
2. These forces are the basic laws that govern every interaction of each particle in our, known, universe. The combination & equilibrium makes up all that there is.
3. Calculating these forces is actually fairly easy. It gets complicated once you add humongous amounts of particles that interact with eachother.
4. Simulating a universe is a question of computational power.
5. Sooner or later (rather sooner) we will have the power to simulate the basic physical forces and thus create a virtual universe. (My guess: maximum 50 years, but don’t nail me on this one).

Now that we got this out of the way, it still does not answer the question why our universe is not real. Let’s dive into maths for a moment:

Maths is a party pooper

1. Every society that reaches a certain technological level is capable of simulating a universe because simulating a universe is not that hard of a thing to do.
2. Once achieved, this society will create many different simulations thus resulting in uncountable numbers of simulations.
3. Once a simulation reaches a certain level, it will create simulations of its own.
4. Sum it up and the probability of living in a real universe gets very close to zero.

The odds of living in a real universe are nearly infinity to one. If you didn’t know that yet — let it sink in for a while.

Simulating a universe is not the topic of this article though. I rather care about the implications of living in a virtual universe.

Welcome to the matrix everybody! The thing that I’ve been trying to get my head around is: If you are a product of a virtual universe — are you actually a real being?

Guess what: You are!

I’ll tell you why:

Computer science to the rescue

1. If you are a product of a virtual universe, you are basicly a set of bits & bytes — information.
2. If you are data — your body doesn’t matter. Its just a different subset of information (an avatar).
3. The great thing about data is, that you can transfer & transcode it in any way you like.
4. If you give up the concept of the non duality of mind & body you can, in theory, transfer yourself to any universe of your choice, as long as you use the proper encoding techniques.

There you go: You have been asking the wrong question all along. It doesn’t matter if you are real or not, because in the end it all boils down to the same thing: Information. As long as information exists, which is the basic foundation for any intelligence that is capable of simulating a universe, you are a real being. Being real is not about living in a real universe — its a different kind of topic. Huge spoiler for those who still discuss the possibility of having a soul: You are not your body. Take a look at the black hole information paradox, if you are curious.

Any society that is capable of simulating a universe is capable of building a vessel for your information that you can roam around in (like a body or avatar).

Now that we got this out of the way, my next topic shall be about different ways to escape a virtual universe. Stay tuned.

Sidenotes for those interested in playing god:

In order to simulate a universe you would need huge computational powers. You could take a shortcut though, by sticking to the following points:

1. Render only the things that someone looks at. If no one looks, don’t render it. (uncertainty principle & quantum indeterminacy — cough, cough)
2. Make the universe seem much bigger than it really is by creating vast amounts of nothing and huge distances by adding basic physical laws that prohibit anyone of leaving his planet for good.
3. If anyone still manages to leave his planet, expand the crap out of the universe, so no matter how fast that person will travel, he won’t reach any other galaxy because it will be gone.
4. Add big chunks of pre rendered objects & reduce the details on objects that are too far or too close to see.
5. Add a basic pattern level for everything & introduce an inheritance model for patterns, so you can reuse everything (fractal geometry — cough, cough)