Could we humans, at this very moment, be living in a simulation? This is a question that brings with it a whole series of reactions, as many take it as a joke and think that only conspiracy theorists could come up with something so far-fetched. However, others like this MIT scientist claims that this is something to be taken very seriously, because most likely none of this is real, absolutely none!
Why believe that we live in a simulation?
Rizwan Virk, is the computer scientist and video game developer at MIT who published a book called, “The Simulation Hypothesis” and, his main theme is precisely this: humans live in a simulation. There he shares several arguments to try to prove this theory.
In an interview with Digital Trends, Virk said it was an experience that helped him write the book. And it all started when he decided to play ping pong in virtual reality, but that the game felt so real to him that he completely forgot he was in a room with VR goggles.
When the game was over, the scientist tried to lean on a virtual table, but of course he almost fell, because for obvious reasons the table did not exist. This experience made him think that video games can be so real that we might not even be able to distinguish them from reality.
So, Virk has a hypothesis in which he claims that everything around us is part of a very sophisticated MMORPG. This means, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game where, according to him, every human being is a player, however, the hypothesis is divided into two modes.
The first hypothesis of the simulation is that we are all AI, run from the computer of another person belonging to an advanced civilization. And the second, in which we are “player characters”, that is, conscious people who exist outside this simulation, but who use a character to play. Just as we do in certain games when we choose a dwarf or an elf.
To see how we behave?
Virk believes that, we live in a simulation that was created to see how we behave. That is, to see if we will destroy ourselves or create our own simulation. From the character theory, he thinks it could serve as a way for our creators to do things that in real life they can’t, as happens in the WestWorld series.
Finally, Virk thinks that:
“We are more likely to live in a simulation than not.”
If you liked this article, you may also be interested in reading: The Montauk Project, the conspiracy theory behind Stranger Things
