Living In A Base Reality — Are We In A Simulation?Amelia Settembre
Are we like Neo in The Matrix, living in a simulation that’s beyond our control? That’s the question scientist have started to ask, a few decades after the creation of The Matrix. Right now, it’s still a question, and at the moment a philosophical one as well as a scientific one.
The biggest first question to ask is what exactly a base reality, a simulation, and an objective reality are.A base reality is the idea that there are multiple layers of reality, that progressively go deeper, until you get what reality actually is. Instead, what you experience is a very watered down version of real reality. The reason the base reality theory is so deceptively complex is due to the fact that it encompasses every sort of reality that could occur. This ranges from hypothetical to actual to perceived… etc. The reason we know that our version of reality is likely highly processed (almost like the difference between grapes and grape preservatives) is because it’s filtered through our organs and brain. Even colors, which are just detections of wavelengths, could theoretically appear different for everyone based on which photoreceptors they have.
A simulated reality is the theory that the world is created by a quantum simulator, and thus is (to some degree) indistinguishable from actual reality. In a simulated reality (especially one designed by a quantum simulator), people would find it difficult to tell the difference, and thus wouldn’t bring into question the validity of the world in which they live. The fact that we have achieved a point in civilization where we’re able to recreate simulated realities suggests that we are, in fact, within a simulated reality ourselves. However, other arguments are made, like the “answer” as to why we haven’t been able to find alien life just yet is because the simulated reality can’t take more than one civilization at a time.
An objective reality is the world which everyone physically experiences, and thus exists. If I have a blue cup, and everyone in the world can touch, see, or at the very least interact with my cup, then it does exist and is in the objective reality. If everyone can interact with my cup except for Timothy, then my cup isn’t part of the objective reality. If only I can interact with my cup, then it isn’t part of objective reality. Objective reality only applies for things which are indisputably in the universe, and thus definitely exist.
These definitions are a basic layout to the question of whether or not we’re living right now in a objective reality, or if the reality is simulated. Another question people sometimes ask is if they’re the only person in the universe, and if everyone is merely a simulation, along with the rest of the world.
So Am I The Only Person Who Exists?Probably not. Right now, there isn’t really any proof for any of us that anyone else really exists. However, taking this sentiment to heart is known as metaphysical solipsism, a philosophical theory which dictates that only the self exists, and that everything beyond that — including other people and the outside world — are simply reflections of that self and don’t hold any individual existence.
There are multiple varieties of solipsism, including epistemological solipsism (where the main idea is that the only thing the philosopher can be sure of is their mind, and the rest of the world is a question mark instead of simply fake) and methodological solipsism (in which only the existence of thoughts is known as true, and even the mind is a part of the outer world which would potentially be fake, but again, they don’t know).
In a simple breakdown, the belief that you’re the only person existent in the universe would be categorized as more of a philosophy rather than an actual statement, since there’s still no evidence that any one of us is a single player within a simulation.
https://medium.com/@amesett/living-in-a-base-reality-are-we-in-a-simulation-1b819e46aaed#:~:text=The%20biggest%20first%20question%20to,get%20what%20reality%20actually%20is.
