Up until now I have given some rather intriguing circumstantial evidence that our universe could be a computer simulation. However all of this just makes it seem like it could be. Well now I have a somewhat more concrete bit of evidence to show you.
Within the last two years physicist James Gates Jr. has found binary computer code hidden deep within the equations of string-theory. He found a string of 1s and 0s that make up a simple piece of software. It's not just some random, never-before-seen set of code, it's a very specific type of code invented in the 40s by an engineer named Claude Shannon. It's called Doubly-even self-dual linear binary error-correcting block code. It is a small set of code used in internet protocol to check for and correct errors as data is transmitted across the net.
You can listen to an interview with Gates about it on youtube here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=q1LCVknKUJ4
So... if it turned out that we had good reason to think our universe might be a simulation, what should we do with that information? What's the impact on conduct and consciousness?
ReplyDeleteNow that is the million dollar question. I think either everyone would just go nuts, rioting in the streets and whatnot cuz "who cares? it's not real, right?" or we'd just be really weirded out by it for a while and then everything would just go back to normal. If that is what this is then, well, it is what is. Doesn't really change anything about what we can do with it.
ReplyDelete