We are now in the computer

Two years ago, a scientist named Terry Rich suddenly appeared in the popular science TV show "Through the Wormhole" to tell us all about the mysteries of the universe. He was invited on the program to discuss the theory that our whole life is something like a metaphysical, advanced and very sophisticated version of The Sims.

This idea occurred to every college student, armed Bong and dvd with the movie "The Matrix." But our hero - known and respected scientist and director of the Center of evolutionary computing and computer-aided design in the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (in both!), Decided to take the matter seriously. Rich is working on a yet unnamed book on this subject, and we believe that he is a serious man and watch its developments.
The essence of the theory of Rich boils down to is that there is an abstract "programmer" of the future, which simulates our reality here and now. For what? In order to simulate the course of ancient history, in the opinion of the "programmer", well, or it is too boring and he was just having fun.

According to Moore's Law, which states that computing power doubles approximately every two years, it will all be theoretically possible in the future. Sooner or later, we are faced with a reality in which simulate several billion people and make them believe that they are living beings with the ability to control their own destiny, will be as easy as send a photo of your penis, made on the phone to an unknown destination.

Just imagine: while you are having sex without restraint, on the other side of the screen for those watching fat thirteen Korean teenager. Everything else, it monitors your every move and mothers in the headset. Beware, this idea greatly affects the thrill.

Vice: When did you first suggested that our reality can be modeled machine?

Terry Rich: If you still think that when a human is some magic power, something I've been to do not believe it. I think that the reality - a product with a complex architecture which has appeared outside of human consciousness. So I suggested that at some point the reality simulated artificially, that is replicated. There are two ways to identify the artificial intelligence of the future: one of them is reverse engineering, but it is much easier, I think, it would be to develop chains of architecture that are conscious. It is likely that over the next 30 years we will implement artificial consciousness in our cars.

Can we get so fast?

Now NASA's fastest supercomputer is able to work twice as fast as the human brain. If you make a simple calculation of Moore's Law, you will find that these supercomputers will be able to calculate a person's life during the 80 years of the decade, including every thought ever created in this life, in the interval in a month.

Illustration: Julian Garis

This is depressing.

Now, get ready: The next 30 years of PlayStation, a new console comes out once in 6-8 years, so it will be a 7-generation PlayStation, and so this console will be able to simulate 10 000 lives simultaneously in real time, it's about one life per hour . How many game consoles are now scattered around the world? About 100 Millin likely. Think now about 100 million consoles, each of which simulates the life of 10 thousand people. This means that by the time the number of people living on earth today will be less than the number of people living in the PlayStation.

Actually, is there any chance that we all live in a super-advanced games for PlayStation, stuffed Krovyakov and guns?

Exactly. The assumption is, how do you know that you do not live those notorious 30 years from the future is now, and how can you prove that you are not a computer model? Let's go back a step. Like all scientists, we explain the physical processes mathematical equations. Because of this behavior of the mathematics of the universe is extremely diverse. Einstein said, "The eternal mystery of the world - it is knowable. ... The fact that knowability seems a miracle. " The universe does not have to operate under the laws and equations that can easily be reduced to a few pages, and, consequently, to model them. Another interesting feature of this world is that it behaves like reality Grand Theft Auto IV. While playing, you can indefinitely in phenomenal detail to explore Liberty City. I did a calculation of how much it is a huge city, it turned out that millions of times more than my PlayStation3. You see exactly what you need to see in the city at the moment, reducing the size of a metropolis to the console. The universe behaves the same way. In quantum mechanics, the particles have a certain state, if they are not observed at this point. Many theorists have spent a lot of time trying to explain it. One explanation is that we live in a simulation, seeing what we need to see someone at the right moment.

As explained by the reports of scientists who discovered the pixels on the smallest microscopic images?

The universe as zapikselena - in time, space, volume and energy. If there is a fundamental unit, which can not be decomposed into something smaller, it means that the universe is composed of a finite number of these units. It also means that there is a finite number of things, the universe can not be infinite, because it can be calculated. Ultimately, it all comes down to one question: instead of whether the universe is the result of these calculations? It employs mathematical parallels: if two things are mathematically equivalent - they are the same. Thus, our universe is mathematically equal to their simulation models.

Do you play video games?

Actually, yes, and I played in The Sims before. But developing a theory of modeling, I realized that the outcome of the game is just simply a combination of several things. I'm a scientist, so first of all I was thinking about future technologies, in short, where they can take us. I also work on evolutionary computation and artificial intelligence, where I deal with the nature of consciousness. In addition, I began to think about religion (or of the universe, if you're an atheist, which means that you believe in alternative ways of the universe, regardless of the Creator). We have a pretty good theory - the theory of the Big Bang. Anyway, you should assume that the creator of all reality is here and now, in our world with you. If it is, then what are the requirements to this character? After thinking about it, I realized that the creator of the universe - a creator can change the laws of physics and its structure. And I can do it all on the computer. In fact, I might be able to do it myself in the near future with conscious beings.