Is everything just virtual? In science fiction works like “The Matrix” or “Simulacron” we all live in simulations. Researchers have now investigated whether this is technically feasible and likely. The result is that the effort to emulate the multitude of intelligent beings and their intellectual performance and environment would be gigantic even for a highly advanced civilization – and the result would be impeccable.
How realistic is our world, the universe and everything in it? Is our universe just a hologram – a projection of 2D fields and parameters? Or perhaps we are living in a computer simulation of a cognitive and technically superior civilization? People have been debating this question for centuries, and there are countless variations on this scenario in science fiction as well.
Philosopher Nick Bostrom considers it almost inevitable that an advanced civilization will create simulated worlds – unless it self-destructs before it reaches the necessary technological capabilities. At an annual conference, SpaceX founder Elon Musk put the chance that we are real at only one billion.
Alexander Pippo-Delisle and Jill Brasard of the University of Montreal took a new probability estimate. Unlike previous methods, in their mathematical model, they also investigated the possibility of simulating thinking processes and interactions with the environment using quantum computers and quantum processes.
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