"It's a game from 40 years ago, and there are only a few small squares on the screen.
Now we look at this kind of game as very childish, but it was the highest technology of its time.
Nowadays, the game graphics are infinitely close to reality, and even some games can reach the point of being fake and real without looking closely.
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It can be said that the technological development of the virtual world is changing with each passing day, and it is very likely that one day in the future, we will be living in a program that has been simulated.
Oxford University philosopher Nick Bostrom has come to a shocking conclusion through what he calls a "simulation argument": if four conditions are met, we may be virtual beings simulated by humans in the future.
What are these four conditions?
Bostrom's Simulation Argument.
Nick Bostrom argues that humans live in a giant supercomputer and that the universe is the virtual world on which it runs.
He came to this conclusion through a series of arguments, mainly including the following:
First, humanity can continue to exist in the future.
Bostrom believes that if at some point in the future all civilizations are destroyed, then the whole discussion ends there.
Therefore, the first condition is very simple, as long as human beings can continue to exist in the future, all issues need to be discussed.
It also means that we must recognize the situation we find ourselves in and take action to ensure that humanity survives.
Second, the advent of supercomputers.
We all know that simulating a virtual world that is identical to the real world requires a lot of computing resources.
Bostrom argues that in order to achieve this, we need to create a "god-class" computer.
He estimates that the computer needs to process 10^42 operations per second, which is more than the amount of all the sand on Earth.
While this may seem like an impossible task, there is a good chance that we will achieve it one day in the future as science and technology continue to evolve and advance.
Third, the emergence of interstellar civilizations.
We are still in kindergarten, but as technology continues to advance and develop, there is a good chance that we will become a civilization with interstellar colonization capabilities.
This will allow us to harness stellar energy to simulate a virtual world identical to the real world.
Bostrom believes that if at some point in the future all civilizations are destroyed, then the whole discussion ends there.
Therefore, the fourth condition is very simple, as long as human beings can continue to exist in the future, all issues need to be discussed.
"BUGS" in the Virtual World.
You may ask, "If humans really want to create such a world in the future, or if AI defeats humans in the future, like the Matrix, they create an illusion space, and the previous 123 conditions have been fulfilled."
So we're now living in a virtual code in a simulator.
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The world follows a set of established physical rules, and the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago was the start of this program.
The speed of light is the maximum operating speed of the program.
Planck's constant is the minimum data precision of this program.
And the history of mankind is constantly evolving, advancing, and evolving under this set of procedures.
There are countless "bugs" in this virtual world we live in, and challenging these "bugs" has the potential to unmask the virtual world.
But the question is: how to challenge these "bugs"?
First, "time travel".
Scientists have been trying to find a way to achieve time travel.
If this goal can be achieved, then we have the opportunity to rewrite history and change the future.
But so far, time travel has remained an impossible dream.
Second, "quantum invisibility".
Albert Einstein once questioned quantum intangibility, arguing that there was no mysterious force that allowed instantaneous communication between two particles.
But recent research suggests that quantum invisibility can occur under certain conditions.
If scientists can prove that quantum invisibility does exist, then it will become a "bug" in the virtual world.
Third, "black holes".
Black holes are one of the most mysterious and controversial objects in the universe.
Scientists still know very little about the nature of black holes.
If we can unravel the secrets behind black holes, it will reveal the relationship between the truth of the universe and the virtual world to a great extent.
Of course, challenging these "bugs" is not an easy task.
Four conditions unveil the virtual world.
So do we meet the four conditions or are we in the real world?
Let's take a look at the four conditions:
First, "time travel".
Scientists have long dreamed of being able to travel through time and space.
But so far, this technology is still a dream and has not been realized.
Although there are some physical theories that support the possibility of time travel, these theories remain controversial.
For example, Hawking thought that black holes might become a time machine, and before he died, he proposed a thought experiment:
He imagines himself as an explorer who jumps into a black hole and lives again in another universe.
But other scientists have refuted his arguments and have not supported what he calls the black hole time machine theory.
So there is still a lot of controversy and uncharted territory about time travel at the moment.
Second, the "Planck constant".
Planck's constant is a constant that describes the fundamental unit of quantum mechanics in the microscopic world.
It is widely used to study the interaction processes between microscopic particles.
Planck's constant, which is usually expressed as h, has a value of about 6.63×10^-34 J·s^-1.
Planck's constant is of great significance for describing particle motion and interaction processes in the microscopic world.
It reveals the essential difference between the behavior of microscopic particles and the laws of classical physics.
Planck's constant plays a key role in the field of quantum mechanics and is essential for understanding the motion processes of microscopic particles in the virtual world.
Third, "black holes".
Black holes are an extremely special and mysterious form of matter in the universe, with extremely high density and gravitational attraction in their interior, and cannot escape even light after passing through the "event horizon".
Therefore, a black hole is called a gravitational maximum, and all the matter inside it is sucked into the center point to form a high-density sphere and release extremely high energy, which can be released by Hajin radiation and slowly disappear.
However, information about the internal structure of black holes is still not available, so scientists still do not have a clear explanation of its internal structure.
Fourth, "Superstring Theory".
Superstring theory attempts to unify the two basic theories of general relativity and quantum mechanics, and to solve problems such as the origin of the universe and the structure of elementary particles.
The theory assumes that the number of dimensions is extremely large and exceeds three-dimensional space and one-dimensional time, and that microscopic particles are regarded as superstring vibrational modes, and mathematical means are used to explain their behavior.
There are many versions of superstring theory, but it is not widely recognized and proven, and it needs to be verified by experiments with equipment such as large colliders.
I think
Maybe you've heard of "simulation theory", maybe you haven't!
In any case, it gives us another angle of conjecture!
Maybe you already have the answer in mind: "We live in the real world", or maybe you think: "We live in a virtual world running on a huge computer"!
No matter what!