Question: How many universes of equal or greater complexity than our own is it possible to simulate?  For instance, the film “The Matrix” deals with a simulated universe in which all humans are trapped.  This would be a fictional example of one simulated universe.

How many universes of greater complexity than our own is it possible to simulate using computer technology?

 

Your answer is a number that I’ll call X (for example, if you think that it is possible to simulate two universes, at a maximum, your value for X equals 2).  X must be a nonnegative integer (I invite criticism on this topic, as well as any other – I am perfectly willing and able to discuss my assumptions in greater detail).

The likelihood that we are living in an unsimulated universe is Y.

Y = 1/(X+1)

The plus one represents our own universe.  If no one anywhere will ever be able to simulate a universe, then the likelihood that we are living in an unsimulated, original, “real” universe is 1.000.  We would then be 100% certain that we are the original (and final) universe.

If there is the potential for only one simulated universe per universe, then the likelihood that we’re living in an unsimulated universe is 50%, or 0.5.  It’s a coin flip as to whether we’re the parent universe and we haven’t yet created the child universe, or that we’re the child universe ourselves.

Why stop at one?  If it’s possible to simulate one universe in a supercomputer, wouldn’t it be possible to simulate another universe just as easily?  Why stop at two?  Applying Moore’s Law to geologic time, it’s extremely reasonable to argue that there are an infinite number of potentially simulated universes.

Plug infinity into X, and you get 0 = Y.  That is to say, the probability that we aren’t living in a simulated universe is zero.  Zed.  Nothing.  Removing the negative implied by the way the equation is written, and we are forced to conclude that the probability that we live in a simulated universe is 100%.  A mathematical certainty.  As certain as the sunrise.  This is not a theory, it’s not a suggestion.  It’s a fact.  It’s a law.  A law of physics.  Or more accurately, a law of computer science.  Our universe is a computer simulation.

Who runs our simulation?  Who runs their simulation?  It’s a quick jump to recursivity, and I’m reluctant to conclude that it’s an infinite string of simulations, though this possibility does not currently seem out of the question.

I wrote this consulting no other texts, and thus, I have nothing to cite.  I suspect that others have said the same, though my level of certainty in my conclusion makes research into this topic a redundancy.  I encourage anyone to research this if they are less certain than me.

This does not mean that our reality is less real – on the contrary – it means that simulations are more real than the general public has previously suspected.  A twin has a full soul.  A simulated reality is no less legitimate.  All realities are simulations, though logically, all simulations are not necessarily realities (an interesting topic, currently a target for my later discussion).  This fact does not detract from the legitimacy of our reality, it adds to the legitimacy of simulated realities.