A Scientist Thinks We Live in a Simulation—and That He's Found Proof of the Universe's Source Code
For more than two decades, some scientists have pondered the possibility that life as we know is actually an unfathomably complex simulation.
While some suggest looking for 'glitches' to find evidence of the simulation, University of Portsmouth's Michael Vopson argues that the universe's predilection for symmetry could be seen as a kind of a compression algorithm following his hypothesized 'Second Law of Thermodynamics.'
Such grand statements about the nature of reality are inherently controversial with some experts suggests that simulation theory borders on pseudoscience of even a kind a techno-religion.
In the early 4th century BCE, the legendary ancient Greek philosopher Plato put forth a simple thought experiment. Known as the Allegory of the Cave, the idea suggests that what we believe to be 'reality' could be little more than shadows dancing upon a cave wall. Fast forward to the 21st century, and scientists are pondering the same question albeit in a more technological context.
In 2003, University of Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrom put forward the idea that it was probably likely that what humans perceived as reality was actually a hyper-advanced simulation created by beings with almost infinite technological capability. In the decades since this famous formulation, scientists have pondered exactly how we could discover some evidence of this simulation—or even escaping the simulation altogether.
'The hypothesis that we live in a simulation seems provable: it could be the discovery of a flaw in the simulation, such as a distant region of the universe that cannot be zoomed in on, where a telescope would not be able to obtain a clear image,' Philosopher Paul Francheshi told Gizmodo in December. 'Of course, an even more advanced simulation could roll back time, erase the flaw, and then restart the simulation.'
While trying to a find a flaw, or glitch in the simulation would certain provide credible evidence, Michael Vopson, a physicist at the University of Portsmouth in the U.K. says that looking for a kind of 'source code' of the universe could provide a more compelling pathway for proving our artificial existence.
The code, known more specifically as the Second Law of Infodynamics, states that information entropy 'must remain constant or decrease over time – up to a minimum value at equilibrium,' Vospon writes in a 2023 article for The Conversation. He also states in that same article that this can apply to how genetic information behaves—not random as Charles Darwin suggests but instead always trying to minimize information entropy. Similarly, the universe also strives for symmetry rather than asymmetry thus acting as a kind of optimization program or a 'most effective data compression' program, according to Vopson.
Although an intriguing argument, Vopson argues that the Second Law of Infodynamics, as well as further study into the simulation hypothesis, requires more research to come to any definitive conclusions. Many scientists remain plenty skeptical with some arguing that the idea even approaches the level of pseudoscience or even a kind of religion. After all, what's the real difference between some hyper-advanced super species (perhaps even future humans) and some all-powerful god.
Just as it was in Plato's time, the idea of a reality that exists beyond our own remains forever an enticing idea. It's unlikely we'll ever learn for sure whether our reality is true to form or a clever collection of 1s and 0s, but it doesn't change the fact that it's the only life we get to live.
Best make it a good one.
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We're finally at that point we can start to figure out questions like: What are the proteins that are being changed? What are the genes that are being expressed? What is the parasite actually doing to its host? And one of the big questions is; is the parasite itself producing the compounds that are causing the change, or is it producing compounds that then get the insect to produce chemicals that affect its behavior? For example, there is a type of wasp that zombifies spiders. And what it does is it lays an egg on the spider, the egg hatches, and the wasp larvae essentially just piggybacks on the spider. It just sits there discretely sipping the spider's hemolymph [the invertebrate version of blood], almost like a juice box, until it's ready to pupate. And when that happens, there is a very dramatic behavioral change in the spider. The spider starts to build a web that is completely different from the normal web it makes. You can probably picture the Charlotte's web type of web, which is a series of concentric circles with spokes. And that's a typical prey catching web. But the zombified spider builds a web that's usually used to keep it safe and secure as it molts. Once the spider is done with this web, its job is done. The wasp larvae drains it dry, the spider corpse drops to the ground, the wasp builds itself a little cocoon and then it hangs out in the wasp web—the last web that the spider ever built. So what the wasp is doing is it's stimulating in the spiders a massive amount of hormones called ecdysteroids. And the big unanswered question right now is, is the wasp producing this itself or is it stimulating it in the spider? Because spiders naturally produce these hormones just before they molt; it's actually the trigger that starts the whole process of them building this web in preparation for them having this big physical change. So in this and in many, many other examples of zombification, there is still so much to be unpacked about what the specific pathways are between the parasite and its host, about the small nudges that it's doing to cause these dramatic changes in behavior. Gizmodo: So to close things out, what's your favorite zombie bug that you learned about in writing this book? Weisberger: I was originally a filmmaker before I was a science journalist, so I'm naturally attracted to things that are very visual. And one of the most dramatic examples that caught my attention are the discofied zombie snails. So these are land snails that are infected by worms in the genus Leucochloridium. What these worms do is they infect the snails using these broodsacs, which is like these little sausages full of worm larvae. And these broodsacs are very colorful, they're usually striped, patterned in shades of brown and green depending on the species. The sacs migrate into the snails' eye stalks, and once there, they pulse, making the stalks look very much like the undulation of a crawling caterpillar. Now, the definitive hosts of these worms are birds; they have to be in a bird to reproduce. So this display, which looks like a caterpillar, is something that is uniquely attractive to hungry birds. The worm also manipulates the snail's behavior so that it will wander out into exposed spaces, rather than hunkering down in the undergrowth where it normally stays. So they're now out in the open and they have these caterpillar-looking eye stalks, making the broodsacs an enticing meal. But the eyestalks split very easily, so the broodsacs will often just pop right out, and the snail will often heal its eyestalks and be fine afterward. That's my favorite species example, but I also have a favorite specific individual zombie bug. There was a zombie ladybug that became TikTok famous in 2021, which became known as Lady Berry. There's this content creator named Tiana Gayton, who's very enamored of insects and spiders. And one day, she was in a grocery store when she looked at a head of lettuce and saw a ladybug that looked like it was hugging something. It looked like it was hugging a small cocoon. And she was like, 'Oh, this is weird. I'm going to take this ladybug home with me and see what's happening.' She took it home and she tried to pry the ladybug's legs away from the silk around the cocoon, but the ladybug refused to let go. It turned out that the ladybug was parasitized by a species of wasp that manipulates its behavior. It will lay an egg inside the host's abdomen, the egg hatches out of the ladybug and forms into a pupa, and the host then becomes the pupa's bodyguard. So the ladybug was guarding the cocoon. But Tiana Gayton was determined to save it. She pried it off the cocoon, separated it from the cocoon, and put the ladybug in a little jar. She gave it water, gave it food, and nursed it back to health. And eventually she took Lady Berry to the park and returned it to the wild. And so there's an example of a zombie that got something most zombies don't: a second chance. Rise of the Zombie Bugs: The Surprising Science of Parasitic Mind-Control, published by Johns Hopkins University Press, is now available in hardcover and as a e-book.
