Reality vs Simulation

Since ancient times, man wondered what if the reality we believe in were only a dream, an imagination or a fantasy of someone more powerful than us?

https://notiziescientifiche.it/realta-simulata-in-stile-matrix-ecco-cose-ipotesi-della-simulazione/

A new theory is spreading in the 21-century society: we can live in a simulated reality, different from and incredibly similar to real life: we can be players of a videogame, like “The Sims”. If this idea is real, it might be that we are playing on a computer that charges only what players see, ignoring the rest of the world.

Some philosophers, scientists, fortune-tellers or ordinary people gave us a possible response:

– George Barkeley, an Irish philosopher, says that reality was only the way we perceive God’s immaterial ideas.

– Cartesio, a French philosopher, answers with a Latin quote: “cogito ergo sum”, if I think, therefore I am; this was his only certainty. He believed in the existence of an evil genius that continually deceives us about everything, giving us the false impression of reality. Its will governs us and makes fun of us. Hence his only conviction: if man can be deceived, then he exists. If he thinks about the possible existence of reality, then he is real. Cartesio doubts about everything but the existence of humans.

– Beau Lotto, an English neurologist, said that illusion is our reality: we use our eyes to look at what surrounds us and then we add what our brain wants to see. The result is a reality not at all real.

Modern scientists say that the evil genius of Cartesio could get scared because of the advanced technology that today creates alternative worlds, cyborgs with human characteristics, virtual societies and virtual realities.

The VIRTUAL REALITY (V.R) is a dimension created with three-dimensional technology by a software; in this place a person can interact and explore. The person can enter, for example through special glasses, and becomes an integral part of it, being able to perform a series of actions.

https://www.arealitymarket.com/educazione-e-formazione-in-realta-virtuale/

https://www.lumi4innovation.it/realta-virtuale-applicazioni-medicina/

Astrophysicist Neil Degrasse Tyson thinks there may be a possibility that the entire universe is a simulation. The scientist’s thesis highlights how the Universe is governed by strict physical and mathematical laws in the same way as a video game or software.

A study of Oxford University, published in the journal Science Advances, has calculated that for a simulation of this immensity it would be necessary to use a computer with infinite RAM. Therefore, the simulation of the universe would seem improbable.

Some recent films have contributed to increasing our doubts on this issue such as “The Matrix”, “Dark city” or “Inception”. Also Elon Musk during his interviews spoke about reality and simulation.

The economist Robin Hanson states that if the theory previously stated is true, our superiors could do a quick rewind to erase the truth discovered by our minds, so that we never get to the real knowledge of things.

In conclusion, my colleague and I, teenagers of the Z generation, suppose several ideas consistent with the theses mentioned above:

– In reality, humans could be laboratory animals: we could be studied by higher beings, who would analyse our behaviour for their own purposes.

https://www.google.it/amp/s/tech.fanpage.it/viviamo-in-un-mondo-simulato/amp/

– In reality, humans could be part of a dimension parallel to some other dimension that, perhaps, is light years ahead of us.

– In reality, humans could be born of a single individual in some laboratory and then he could generate many equal beings destined for different fates to allow the progression of mankind.

Nothing is certain, but of course in many years, we could arrive at the answer that everyone is waiting for.

For now it is all a “maybe”, an idea, a hypothesis, that has some bases, but we are not in the position to close the circle.

ROBERTA GIGLIO e CARLOTTA PALERMO

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