Saturday, December 22, 2012

University of Washington Scientists Explore the Theory That We're Living in a Simulated Reality


From Ray Villard's 12-16-12 Discovery.com article entitled "Are We Living Inside a Computer Simulation?":

In 2003, British philosopher Nick Bostrom published a paper that proposed the universe we live in might in fact really be a numerical computer simulation. To give this a bizarre Twilight Zone twist, he suggested that our far-evolved distant descendants might construct such a program to simulate the past and recreate how their remote ancestors lived.

He felt that such an experiment was inevitable for a supercivilization. If it didn't happen by now, then in meant that humanity never evolved that far and we're doomed to a short lifespan as a species, he argued.

To extrapolate further, I'd suggest that artificial intelligent entities descended from us would be curious about looking back in time by simulating the universe of their biological ancestors.

As off-the-wall as this sounds, a team of physicists at the University of Washington (UW) recently announced that there is a potential test to seen if we actually live in The Lattice. Ironically, it would be the first such observation for scientifically hypothesized evidence of intelligent design behind the cosmos.

Villard's article can be seen in its entirety HERE.

Katherine Long's 12-15-12 Seattle Times article, "Living in a Simulated World," reports on the very same study in a somewhat more concise manner and can be read HERE

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