{"id":116198,"date":"2025-11-03T20:31:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T20:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/116198\/"},"modified":"2025-11-03T20:31:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T20:31:10","slug":"reality-is-too-complex-for-any-cosmic-computer-simulation-study-suggests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/116198\/","title":{"rendered":"Reality Is Too Complex For Any Cosmic Computer Simulation, Study Suggests"},"content":{"rendered":"

How do we know we\u2019re not living in a computer simulation<\/a>? Is it even possible to tell? For what it\u2019s worth, researchers have drawn<\/a> from various scientific frameworks to reject this hypothetical hypothetical reality\u2014and a team of mathematicians now says they\u2019ve taken the argument a step further.<\/p>\n

In a Journal of Holography Applications in Physics<\/a> study published earlier this year, researchers demonstrated that, assuming the universe runs purely on mathematics and physics, it would be impossible for any algorithm to simulate reality as we know it. This is because the universe exists \u201con a type of understanding that exists beyond the reach of any algorithm,\u201d the researchers explained in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cDrawing on mathematical theorems related to incompleteness and indefinability, we demonstrate that a fully consistent and complete description of reality cannot be achieved through computation alone,\u201d Mir Faizal, a physicist at the University of British Columbia in Canada, added in the statement.<\/p>\n

You might want to concentrate for this part <\/p>\n

The model builds on several mathematical theorems, including G\u00f6del\u2019s incompleteness theorem. This idea, announced by the eponymous scholar in 1931, very simply states that no set of axioms, or algorithm, can perfectly prove every true fact about numbers.<\/p>\n

For instance, an algorithm would have trouble parsing the statement \u201cThis true statement is not provable.\u201d If the statement were provable, it\u2019d be false and illogical. If it weren\u2019t provable, then it\u2019s true, but how would the algorithm compute an answer?<\/p>\n

This might sound like a pointless exercise, but it highlights a key aspect of mathematical endeavors\u2014or, in this case, computation\u2014that it\u2019s bound to whatever mathematicians set as their starting assumptions. This is evident in the history of physics, the researchers explained, as humanity has transitioned from Newtonian physics to Einstein\u2019s general relativity and now to quantum mechanics and beyond.<\/p>\n

In the context of the universe, this suggests that there will always be a deeper layer of reality, an \u201cinformation-based foundation\u201d that cannot be fully described by computation alone, according to the paper. An obvious example of this is that human mathematicians can easily grasp \u201cG\u00f6delian\u201d truths, like the statement \u201cThis true statement is not provable,\u201d whereas computers cannot.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny simulation is inherently algorithmic\u2014it must follow programmed rules,\u201d Faizal said. \u201cBut since the fundamental level of reality is based on non-algorithmic understanding, the universe cannot be, and could never be, a simulation.\u201d<\/p>\n

A theory of everything? <\/p>\n

On the other hand, the researchers\u2019 calculations suggest that we may never arrive at a \u201ctheory of everything\u201d\u2014at least not one that operates algorithmically. The so-called theory of everything\u2014a holy grail among physicists\u2014works beyond computation, according to the researchers. If a complete, consistent understanding of reality were to lie outside the realm of formal rules, it would be illogical to believe that they could even exist, the researchers noted.<\/p>\n

The paper offers fascinating food for thought while subtly expressing appreciation for the natural complexity of the universe. Then again, humans have a tendency to anthropomorphize most things<\/a>. While I have no qualms against G\u00f6del\u2019s theorem, can it definitively prove something to be impossible\u2014if that something potentially lies beyond the capacities of the human brain?<\/p>\n

I am not sure. But I might be nitpicking. I\u2019ll have to ask my simulation operator.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"How do we know we\u2019re not living in a computer simulation? Is it even possible to tell? For…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116199,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[111,139,69,393,147,12532,13760],"class_list":{"0":"post-116198","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-physics","8":"tag-new-zealand","9":"tag-newzealand","10":"tag-nz","11":"tag-physics","12":"tag-science","13":"tag-simulations","14":"tag-theoretical-physics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116198\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}