Simulation Theory Debunked?

Sorry, Matrix fans. You can thank math.

STARTER STATS

• MIT physicist Max Tegmark estimated a ~17% chance that we're in a simulation

• Philosopher David Chalmers posed a ~42% chance

• According to Bayesian/statistical analysis, the odds of being in a simulation may be far lower than some popular portrayals suggest, perhaps far under 50%

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Researchers at UBC Okanagan took one of the world's favourite thought experiments — the idea that our universe all comes down to ones and zeros — and have mathematically ruled it out. Using tools from physics and logic, the researchers showed that our reality has features no computer could reproduce, even in theory.

The team demonstrated that the deepest layer of the universe is composed of information, not particles or even space-time, and that this information couldn't be fully expressed by computation. So it can't be simulated like software.

Using mathematical results inspired by Gödel’s incompleteness theorems, the study shows that a complete description of the universe requires non-algorithmic understanding, and can't be programmed as a result.

“This idea was once thought to lie beyond the reach of scientific inquiry. However, our recent research has demonstrated that it can, in fact, be scientifically addressed.”

— Dr. Mir Faizal, UBC Okanagan

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