RE: Are we all just part of a computer simulation? Scientists are trying to find that out.
December 16, 2012 at 4:39 pm
This is mostly a philosophical issue (see "digital philosophy"), but I don't think that we can actually ever find out whether or not we are living inside a simulation. The whole universe itself could be a giant simulation, but then there won't be any way of distinguishing between the "simulation" and "reality."
The simulation idea is also a convergence of physics and information theory. From this perspective, everything that we do in our lives is a part of the universal computation because we are storing and processing information (or bits of information), like computers.
I read a book titled "Programming the Universe," by Seth Lloyd, in which the author argues that the universe itself is a quantum computer.
"The universe is made of bits. Every molecule, atom, and elementary particle registers bits of information. Every interaction between those pieces of the universe processes that information by altering those bits. That is, the universe computes, and because the universe is governed by the laws of quantum mechanics, it computes in an intrinsically quantum-mechanical fashion; its bits are quantum bits. The history of the universe is, in effect, a huge and ongoing quantum computation. The universe is a quantum computer." (Lloyd, 3)
Here's one good article on the "computational" view of the universe, and it explains the connections between black holes, information theory, and the holographic principle.
http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/Black...puters.pdf
The simulation idea is also a convergence of physics and information theory. From this perspective, everything that we do in our lives is a part of the universal computation because we are storing and processing information (or bits of information), like computers.
I read a book titled "Programming the Universe," by Seth Lloyd, in which the author argues that the universe itself is a quantum computer.
"The universe is made of bits. Every molecule, atom, and elementary particle registers bits of information. Every interaction between those pieces of the universe processes that information by altering those bits. That is, the universe computes, and because the universe is governed by the laws of quantum mechanics, it computes in an intrinsically quantum-mechanical fashion; its bits are quantum bits. The history of the universe is, in effect, a huge and ongoing quantum computation. The universe is a quantum computer." (Lloyd, 3)
Here's one good article on the "computational" view of the universe, and it explains the connections between black holes, information theory, and the holographic principle.
http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/Black...puters.pdf
