Are we living in a Matrix? The Wochowski Brothers’ movie matrix presents an interesting concept of a world run by a computer algorithm. In the movie, people live in a simulated world run by machines, and the machines in turn, trick people into believing that their world is real. Is it possible that we actually might be living in a similar simulated reality created by someone from actual reality? Can we be tricked by a Descartesian “evil” God into believing that the universe is real while it might just be an illusion? Are our realities just a projection of the imagination of someone? These questions are hard to answer, but when we think about it, the possibility of us living in a surreal world of simulation might not be as impossible as it
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Who created the pseudo-reality that we live in? The most common answer would be a God. If we go by scriptures, an all-powerful creator created the universe that we live in. If indeed we live in such a reality created by an outsider who lives outside of that pseudo-reality (heaven?), why was such a pseudo-reality created in the first place? What was the creators’ motive? As Descartes suggested, it might just be an evil powerful being reveling in tricking us, and having a big laugh observing the characters he created and manipulated. Or the other possibility to ponder is that we might just be some kind of simulated video game created by someone who lives in actual reality. Today, we have games where a user starts the game, comes back later to continue the game, and even when he is not actively playing, the characters are programmed to play automatically. These strategic simulated games, like the Age of Empires, are becoming better each year in simulating the real world. These games were pure science fiction just a few decades ago. It is …show more content…
However, we might have been programmed to think and contemplate about our existence while there is nothing called existence. To continue with the analogy of the video game, if we are indeed an animated life-like character inside an ultra-advanced video game, then it is impossible for us, as a mere character, to know what lies outside the console and to be one with the real world of God-Children who play us all summer. Since as an element of a 3d game program our movement (both physical and mental) is limited within the 3d space created by the programmer within the virtual world of the game, it is impossible for us to ever get the knowledge about the real world outside. In the Matrix movie, the humans are not created by machine but are living in a virtual reality created by them. That is why the hero can come out of it and see the actual world. But for us, not just the reality but our own existence might be a virtual
Who created the pseudo-reality that we live in? The most common answer would be a God. If we go by scriptures, an all-powerful creator created the universe that we live in. If indeed we live in such a reality created by an outsider who lives outside of that pseudo-reality (heaven?), why was such a pseudo-reality created in the first place? What was the creators’ motive? As Descartes suggested, it might just be an evil powerful being reveling in tricking us, and having a big laugh observing the characters he created and manipulated. Or the other possibility to ponder is that we might just be some kind of simulated video game created by someone who lives in actual reality. Today, we have games where a user starts the game, comes back later to continue the game, and even when he is not actively playing, the characters are programmed to play automatically. These strategic simulated games, like the Age of Empires, are becoming better each year in simulating the real world. These games were pure science fiction just a few decades ago. It is …show more content…
However, we might have been programmed to think and contemplate about our existence while there is nothing called existence. To continue with the analogy of the video game, if we are indeed an animated life-like character inside an ultra-advanced video game, then it is impossible for us, as a mere character, to know what lies outside the console and to be one with the real world of God-Children who play us all summer. Since as an element of a 3d game program our movement (both physical and mental) is limited within the 3d space created by the programmer within the virtual world of the game, it is impossible for us to ever get the knowledge about the real world outside. In the Matrix movie, the humans are not created by machine but are living in a virtual reality created by them. That is why the hero can come out of it and see the actual world. But for us, not just the reality but our own existence might be a virtual