Engineer Jim Elvidge believes that our world is like a matrix. Of course, we are not talking about a computer program created by parasitic robots, as in the science fiction film of the same name. However, the world bears a striking resemblance to a computer program or digital simulation.
Elvidge has been working in digital technology for decades. He holds an MS in Electronic Engineering from Cornell University and holds numerous patents in electronic signal processing and is an author of articles on remote data collection.
His knowledge of computer systems and quantum mechanics gave rise to the idea that we can live like a computer program.
Matter, "things" that we touch and feel, in fact, for the most part - empty space. Our senses deceive us.
The early physicists pictured atoms as balls, which, when combined together, form molecules. Later, scientists discovered that there are large spaces between atoms. And there is also a lot of free space inside the atoms. The deeper we delve into the subatomic world, the more space we discover, and the less material it looks. Tangible and whole things become an ephemeral reality.
There are different theories about what space is. From Elwidge's point of view, space is data. Elvidge believes that with the development of particle physics we will eventually come to understand that "things" do not exist; all matter is just data.
And behind this data is something like a binary code of a computer program. In addition, human consciousness may live on a kind of cosmic Internet, which we access through the interface of our "computer" - the brain.
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World of data
Elvidge's views are based on the ideas of the influential theoretical physicist John Archibald Wheeler (1911-2008), author of Geons, Black Holes and Quantum Foam: Life in Physics. He believed that information is the basis of physics, just as it is the basis of a computer.
Wheeler called his theory 'It from bit'. Everything is made up of bits; the word "bit" means "elementary unit of information", in computer terminology is also called a binary symbol.
In his report "Information, Physics, Quantum: Search for Connections" Wheeler writes: " Everything from a bit "symbolizes the idea that every object and event of the physical world is based - in most cases, in a very deep basis - an intangible source and explanation something that we call reality ultimately grows out of the "yes-or-no" formulation of questions and the recording of answers to them with the help of equipment; in short, all physical entities are basically information-theoretical, and the Universe requires our participation."
With a binary choice, human consciousness can exercise its free will. Wheeler described this as a "universe of complicity." Elvidge calls this "mind-driven digital reality."
Quantum physicists have discovered that matter can exist in an indefinite or unstable form, when observed, it acquires a specific state. For example, photons can exist in the form of particles or waves, but the act of observation can determine what form they take; human consciousness brings about a similar change.
Below is a thought experiment in which Elvidge applied these observations from quantum physics to our everyday reality.
Thought experiment
Imagine that all the things around you are digital virtual reality. A pen on a table or a flower in a garden exists in an indefinite form.
All that is required are information or bits that determine the appearance of the object. Only when you disassemble this pen or look at the petals of a flower under a microscope does the program receive additional data.
A thing only becomes “real” when someone is watching it. Otherwise, the contents of the pen or the molecular structure of the flower will simply have undefined potential. Elvidge compares this to subatomic particles, which, during observation, take on a stable state from an indefinite or variable form.
Is your brain like a computer?
Elvidge believes that consciousness does not originate in the brain. The brain only acts as a tool with which we gain access to consciousness. Consciousness exists in a form similar to the Internet. He says that you can call it a web, a place of origin, God or a divine entity if you like, but he himself does not use such words.
“The brain is like a cache,” he says. "Our browsers store a cache of recently visited sites … Cache is an efficient way of processing information, and our brains perform a similar function."
In addition, if consciousness exists in such a network, it can access information outside the brain, outside of a person's personal experience. He encourages people to rely more on their intuition.
“We no longer have the ability to analyze everything,” he says. - If you think too long about solving a problem, by the time you find a solution, the situation in our fast-paced world has already changed. You have to rely on intuition,”he says.
“Some of the answers to your problem may be lurking in your brain, but it may not,” Elvidge says. "If you reflect calmly and ask for help, it is very likely that help can come." It could be inspiration from other people, or even other beings on this cosmic Internet where consciousness is.
His idea that the universe is like a digital system does not mean that it is solid, cold, and mechanical. “There is a lot of beauty in this digital lab we call life on earth,” says Elvidge. In this digital reality theory, there is room for the spiritual and the divine.
Digital or Spiritual World?
Elvidge mentions reincarnation, citing a 1975 publication in the Journal of the American Medical Association about the work of Dr. Ian Stevenson, a researcher on reincarnation: "He collected and carefully detailed a number of cases … that are difficult to explain otherwise."
“There really is no such thing as death, there is only the end of this simulation,” Elvidge says. He explains that "simulation" is not a good word, but he uses it to simplify the concept. The word “spiritual” also has different meanings, he says. But his digital theory includes many of the phenomena that people usually attribute to the spiritual realm.
Niels Bohr, one of the founders of quantum physics, was interested in Chinese philosophy of Taoism, where he discovered the principle of dualism and interconnectedness. It doesn't matter what you call it - yin and yang or binary code, both are attempts to describe the deep and root essence of nature.
Speaking about the wisdom of ancient spiritual practices, Elvidge says: "These things did not come out of nowhere, they were born as a result of human experience." There is definitely some truth in them, so there is no need to dismiss them as outdated.
An elusive theory of everything?
Elvidge believes his theory of mind-controlled digital reality could be the key to a long-standing quest for a universal theory of everything. Physicists have been looking for a theory for a long time that would resolve the apparent contradictions between classical and quantum physics. Elvidge says his digital theory allows the observation of both quantum and classical physics.
Looking at the history of science and predicting its potential future, Elvidge believes that significant changes may soon occur. In the distant past, people believed that the world was limited by the boundaries of the residence of their tribes. Then they realized that there are different continents, planet Earth, other planets, the solar system and other galaxies.
Now scientists are putting forward theories about other universes. If you plot this process on logarithmic paper, you get a straight line, Elvidge says. He concludes: "We are constantly pushing the boundaries of our thinking." (epochtimes.ru)
Notes: Elwidge believes there are two different kinds of data. Data describing our body or tree, for example, can be compared to the JPEG image format or the MP3 audio format. Such data is never called a code. “However, the word 'code' can be used in the sense of 'what is encoded', therefore, in this sense, one can say 'digital code' of a tree,” he said.
Binary code in a computer means data that is implemented by a computer. In this sense, our consciousness can come from a database in a larger system, and “things” in our world are defined and processed by this binary code.