Many in Silicon Valley have become obsessed with the idea that we all live in a "matrix", and some billionaires have secretly enlisted scientists to solve this problem in an attempt to find a way out of the simulation.
The philosophical position that reality is a simulation (most often it is assumed that it is a computer simulation), has received the name "simulation hypothesis". To make the simulation look realistic for the recipient, the program adapts to his perception, forming material objects, mind and consciousness of the recipient.
The main work in this area is considered to be an article by Nick Bostrom, "Proof of Simulation", published in 2003 (first revised in 2001) in the journal Philosophical Quaterly. The Swedish transhumanist philosopher builds on three main theses, “at least one of which is true”: it is highly likely that humanity will die out before reaching the “posthuman” phase; every posthuman civilization is extremely unlikely to run a significant number of simulations of its evolutionary history (or its variants); we are almost certainly living in a computer simulation.
In the course of the article, Bostrom considered the modern vector aimed at the active development of digital technologies, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology and many other industries to prove this thesis, despite the fact that they "will not contradict the laws of physics and engineering."
According to him, humanity will be able to develop them so that they have enormous computing power and simulate the work of many intelligent beings. Further Bostrom applies some provisions of the theory of probability to present the proof in essence. At the same time, it is not mentioned in what way the simulation will be carried out: it can be carried out both with the help of computers and, for example, by the accumulation and development of brain centers that are responsible for human behavior during sleep and, accordingly, the formation of reality in sleep. This technique is shown, for example, in the trilogy "The Matrix".
The theory that we all live in a simulation would have remained the subject of debate among transhumanists, if not for a number of famous personalities who supported the idea that the world in which we live is unreal. Most famous in recent times are the statements of Elon Musk, head of space company SpaceX and automaker Tesla.
A year ago, Elon Musk suggested that we all live in a computer simulation. Its main idea is that over the past 40 years, computer games have developed so rapidly that in a couple of years they will be completely indistinguishable from the physical world. In other words, we are on the verge of merging augmented reality (AR) with artificial intelligence. The end result is that the real and the virtual can become completely indistinguishable from one another.
“Forty years ago we had Pong. You know, two rectangles and a point in between. This is how the games looked at the time. Today, forty years later, we have photorealistic 3D simulations being played simultaneously by millions of people around the world. And everything only gets better every year. Very soon we will start playing in virtual and augmented reality,”Elon Musk told surprised journalists.
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“If we assume that video games continue to develop in the same vein, then sooner or later they will become indistinguishable from reality, even if the speed of their evolution slows down a thousand times. Just imagine that it will take ten thousand years to wait for the right moment - this is nothing on the scale of evolution. Assuming such a trajectory for video games, which are indistinguishable from reality and can be run on the right device, and assuming there are billions of suitable devices, the probability that we live in a basic reality is one in billion,”says Elon Musk.
According to physicist James Gates of the University of Maryland, there is a more compelling reason to believe that computer simulation is responsible for physical laws. Gates studies matter at the level of quarks, the subatomic particles that make up protons and neutrons in atomic nuclei. According to him, quarks obey rules that somewhat resemble computer codes that correct errors in data processing.
“In my research, I found a very strange thing, - says James Gates. - I got to the correction codes - they make browsers work. How did they end up in the equations I've been studying about quarks, electrons and supersymmetry? This led me to realize that I can no longer call people like Musk crazy."
After all this, it should come as no surprise that, according to media reports, at least two Silicon Valley billionaires are investing in projects that aim to allow human consciousness to move beyond the simulation that we all currently live in. Even Bank of America analysts said the likelihood of a simulation around us is 50%.
