The Physical World as a Virtual Reality

[rayofreason]

The idea that the universe is a giant virtual reality simulation is a well explored theme in science fiction. Films such as The Matrix have used this premise to great effect.

Now a New Zealand scientist is saying that physicists should seriously explore the idea. Brian Whitworth at Massey University says that it is perfectly reasonable to conjecture that "the world is an information simulation running on a three-dimensional space-time screen". Deciding whether or not this is true is a matter for science to resolve.

http://www.newscientist.com/blog/technology/2008/01/vr-hypothesis.html

Get the original paper here-

http://arxiv.org/abs/0801.0337

[patrice]

1. Our sensory apparati process part of reality.

Our brains allow us to extrapolate other dimensions for which we do not have the appropriate sensory apparatuses. I will bet there is more to "It" than we "know", but there simply is no way to say anything about it.

[Richard D]

2. Proof positive . . .

. . . scientists inhale.

[bonito]

3. A good read at the comments section at the link

This one was amusing
I really don't like the idea of dying one day, to approach a light in a tunnel, only to find out that it's the exit door of some arcade in an amusement park a billion light years away in some ridiculously distant future. (no pun intended)

[Phoonzang]

7. Funny, I've always thought about that

Whether this whole life is just a simulation. A play back of someone's life who's long dead, or some sort of The Sims-like video game. I've wondered if my entire life will play out and when I die, the "real" me will come to and say "Sweet....load up another one".

Not healthy thoughts, but I can't stop them.

[dweller]

4. proof Positive?

it's always positive.

http://freespace.virgin.net/sarah.peter.nelson/lazyman/lazyman.html

and peace,
dp

[bonito]

5. Thanks for that link! n/t

[dweller]

6. my pleasure,

enjoy!

:)
dp

[soothsayer]

8. Well, duh, who doesn't know that? Even row row row your boat says

that, lol

on edit: eventually physics and metaphysics will merge, and their child will be called reverent science

[silverweb]

10. Or...

... "experimental theology" ... as is the case in one universe in His Dark Materials (I forget which book of the trilogy it's first mentioned in).

But I like yours better. :)

[CGowen]

9. Life is just a computer game with insane graphics, but the plot sucks n/t

[caraher]

11. Mere logical possibility is scarcely the basis for productive research

This proposal goes back at least as far as Descartes. We simply have a new language ("virtual reality") for expressing skeptical hypotheses regarding "the real world."

Though it has a very different ancestry and is untainted by hidden political motives, this idea strikes ma as no more scientifically fertile than intelligent design creationism. Is something hard to understand? Let's posit the existence of some (designer/programmer) whose efforts create the mystery we'd like to solve.

This might be a nice starting point for philosophical discussions, but the scientific impact strikes me as negligible. I think some computer scientists have exaggerated notions of how their field can inform physics. There's an "everything is just information" reductionist program that is no more plausible than more traditional materialist reductionism. The appeal seems to lie more in its comparative novelty than its persuasive power.

[bonito]

12. Kick

For no reason