Even before films like The Matrix and The Truman Show came out in the late 90s, scientists have probably been pondering whether or not everything is as real as it seems.
As our own technology advances, particularly with the images and videos that can now be generated by artificial intelligence, the idea of us creating a realistic world for someone else doesn’t seem quite as far-fetched.
American astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson has previously argued that since we don’t yet have the technology to generate a universe simulation, it’s more likely that we are living in a simulation generated by a more advanced civilisation.
And now a University of Portsmouth scientist has claimed that he has evidence to suggest that, much like Neo and Truman, we might actually be living in a simulation.
Melvin Vopson, who studies the possibility that the world might be a digital rather than divine or scientific creation, leans on the Keanu Reeves classic when staking his claims.
Back in 2022, he wrote: “In physics, there are laws that govern everything that happens in the universe, for example how objects move, how energy flows, and so on. Everything is based on the laws of physics.
“One of the most powerful laws is the second law of thermodynamics, which establishes that entropy—a measure of disorder in an isolated system – can only increase or stay the same, but it will never decrease.”
Hopefully we don’t see any sights like this (Warner Bros)
However, Vopson argues that information systems directly contrast this law, as it sometimes remains constant but also sometimes decreases to a minimum value at equilibrium.
He suggests that this shows there needs to be another entropy, or thermodynamic quantity, which allows the universe to be constant and not descend into total chaos, even if it feels like we’re on the brink right now.
In The Conversation, Vopson wrote: “We know the universe is expanding without the loss or gain of heat, which requires the total entropy of the universe to be constant.
“However we also know from thermodynamics that entropy is always rising. I argue this shows that there must be another entropy—information entropy—to balance the increase.
“A super complex universe like ours, if it were a simulation, would require a built-in data optimisation and compression in order to reduce the computational power and the data storage requirements to run the simulation.
“This is exactly what we are observing all around us, including in digital data, biological systems, mathematical symmetries and the entire universe.”
Which one would you take? (Getty Stock)
However, while Vopson might reckon he has some decent evidence for us all living inside a simulation, other scientists have argued that it simply wouldn’t be possible.
Dr Mir Faizal wrote last year: “Drawing on mathematical theorems related to incompleteness and indefinability, we demonstrate that a fully consistent and complete description of reality cannot be achieved through computation alone.
“It requires non-algorithmic understanding, which by definition is beyond algorithmic computation and therefore cannot be simulated. Hence, this universe cannot be a simulation.”
But then again, maybe that’s just what the people running the simulation want to believe, and perhaps we are all just a bunch of ones and zeros.