Are we living in a computer simulation? That's a question that has fascinated many scientists for some time now. You can thank the philosopher Nick Bostrom for that, by the way.
He's the one who proposed in the Philosophical Quarterly that the universe and everything in it might be a simulation, a claim that has challenged humanity's perception of reality.
Not everyone is convinced, of course. Those who've pushed back against the suggestion think the claim is little more than a fantastical thought experiment.
But suppose we were. There'd be bound to be proof all around us!
People shared their thoughts with us after one Redditor asked the online community,
"If it ever turns out we’re living inside a simulation, what would’ve been an obvious clue in hindsight?"
"When random objects..."
"When random objects go missing and you could've sworn you had it with you, and then you never find it ever again."
PolarParadise
Or they are sitting in plain sight three days later and you know you checked that area like a hundred times!
"Seeing people you know..."
"Seeing people you know pop up in really random places where you wouldn’t expect to see those people. Like the simulation started reusing assets."
[deleted]
It's just a coincidence!
Or is it?
Who can say?
"My phone..."
"My phone reading my thoughts and sending me ads for things I don't even talk about or search for online."
nebulaniac
Nahhh... it's just using all of your data.
"Not finding..."
"Not finding obvious signs of life in the observable universe."
OffMyMedsToday
I don’t see how this would be an obvious sign. The universe has been around for billions of years. We’ve existed for a small fraction of that time. The chance of us existing at the same exact time as other intelligent life seems incredibly rare.
"Our memories..."
"Our memories do not feel more real than our dreams."
MysticalJoy
Uhhh... this hit me hard.
"The lazy physics..."
"The lazy physics where one model has been applied everywhere without distinction - such as the gravitational model for the planets. Take one basic idea and copy and paste it everywhere."
GoodAndBluts
I mean that’s just the basic coding in the game engine. I think maybe you’re thinking of how different civilizations with no contact came up with the same stuff, like pyramids.
"That one time..."
"That one time when I got so wildly stressed in grad school and had a severe derealization situation and was convinced we were living in a simulation."
[deleted]
Sounds about right.
Pack it all up, everyone. We've figured it out.
"The fact that..."
"The fact that truth is stranger than fiction."
read-it-on-reddit
We expect fiction to make sense. Reality has no such constraint.
"When you learn..."
"When you learn something new and it starts appearing everywhere."
Chemical-somewhere-six
That's just frequency illusion, a cognitive bias in which, after noticing something for the first time, there is a tendency to notice it more often, leading someone to believe that it has a high frequency of occurrence.
"Inconsistent dreams. I've had dreams about the same fandoms that have completely different alterations, and the only dreams I have that have a consistent universe are completely identical."
[deleted]
Or maybe people experiencing the exact same flavours differently. It could be some kind of bug.
We haven't even covered the fact that time slows down near black holes or the uncertainty, the fact that certain phenomena behave differently depending on whether they are observed or not! Much to think about.
Have some thoughts of your own? Tell us more in the comments below!
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again.
