[ST Ref: PT-B1-C15_240930: ‘Planetoid Trilogy’, ‘Star Island’, Chapter Fifteen: “Water Test” – Is the Universe a Simulation?]
Simulation or Reality?
Following on from our post, ‘What is Reality?‘, of the 22nd August 2024, [ST Ref: PT-B1-C12_240819: ‘Planetoid Trilogy’, ‘Star Island’, Chapter Twelve: “The Port”.], this present blog post addresses the question: ‘Is the Universe a Simulation?’.
Do we live in a computer simulation of the Universe?
Is the world we live in just a computer simulation of the Universe? This is a question in the minds of some people today. There have even been recent articles on this subject in reputable scientific magazines and journals. For example, the Scientific American published an article dated 1st April 2021 entitled: “Confirmed! We Live in a Simulation”. Of course, this article was published on April Fools Day and may not be intended to be completely serious. Nonetheless there are people who are asking this question.
One of the references in the Scientific American article is an article, “Are We Living in a Computer Simulation?”, on the Philosophical Quarterly page of the Oxford University Press’s website. This article is dated 28th April 2021, so presumably it is not intended as an April Fools joke.
Human Experience as a Simulated reality
A search on this topic leads to a Wikipedia entry entitled: Simulation Hypothesis that examines the concept of human experience as a simulated reality. The hypothesis is an interesting one and it is this concept along with her special circumstances in Chapter Fifteen that causes Rebecca in Barrie Cameron‘s book, “Star Island” to suspect that she has been transported somehow into a simulation. This problem is not quite the same as considering our Universe as a simulation but to Rebecca her new world seems as real as the real world. So in that respect the problem does seem the same with respect to her new situation.
Rebecca’s internal debate echos this world simulation argument. She becomes determined to test her new reality. But how to test whether it is a simulation or not?
To discover how Rebecca attempts to test her dilemma and the consequences of her test you will have to read the book (Star Island, Book One of Planetoid Trilogy). We don’t intend to release any spoilers here.
Happy reading!
If you have any comments about any of the above, please leave them in the comment box below.