What if all our knowledge, including time, space, and consciousness, was simply a computer code on a cosmic server? This question has intrigued philosophers and scientists for years, influencing creations like The Matrix.
The University of British Columbia (UBCO) team asserts that the universe’s complexity is too great for it to be simulated on a computer system.
The boundary separating physics and philosophy
The study, featured in the Journal of Holography Applications in Physics, was carried out by Mir Faizal, a physicist from UBC Okanagan, along with Lawrence Krauss, Arshid Shabir, and Francesco Marino. They merged principles of theoretical physics with mathematical reasoning to explore the extent to which algorithms can depict reality.
If the universe were a simulation, it would adhere to specific computational principles, starting from a fundamentally straightforward assumption.
Nature operates at a level of understanding beyond any algorithm, making it impossible for any computer to completely replicate physical reality, as per the team’s findings.
Algorithms’ boundaries
The main point of the research relies on the incompleteness theorems created by Kurt Gödel in 1931.
Within any sufficiently powerful logical system, there will always exist truths that cannot be proven by the system’s rules, indicating the existence of true facts beyond formal logic.
Sentences like “This statement is true, but cannot be proved” present a situation where no algorithm can determine its truth value without encountering a contradiction.
For Faizal and his coworkers, the same restriction holds true for physics as well: similar to how math is not perfect, the natural world cannot be entirely simplified into computations.
If reality’s most basic level is non-algorithmic, then the universe cannot be a simulation because simulations are inherently algorithmic and rely on programmed instructions.
From the concept of space-time to data
The research is in line with contemporary physics concepts that view space and time as arising from a more fundamental source: information.
Quantum gravity theories propose that the fabric of the universe consists of information bits structured in a “platonic reality” rather than particles.
The researchers suggest that while this informational layer resembles a data system, it possesses characteristics that go beyond computational boundaries. Consequently, even if it seems like a data system, it cannot be entirely explained using logical regulations. Therefore, running the “source code” of the universe on a computer would be unfeasible.
Challenge to the concept of a unified theory
The findings also directly impact the quest for a unified model that combines all physical laws, known as the “theory of everything.”
If there are noncomputable elements in reality, no equation or algorithm would be able to capture everything.
Lawrence Krauss, who collaborated on the research, explains that the basic principles of physics do not exist within space and time but instead create them.
A comprehensive theory was thought to be able to explain all occurrences using computation, but we demonstrated that this is not achievable.
A complete comprehension of reality goes beyond mere computation, necessitating a type of understanding that is not based on algorithms.
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When physics becomes indescribable
The team’s efforts not only debunk the simulation theory but also redefine the boundaries of knowledge attainable through math and physics.
Understanding the universe may rely on cognitive forms beyond calculation, which even the most advanced computers cannot replicate if reality has dimensions unattainable by algorithms.
The research ultimately serves as a thought-provoking prompt: reality, as suggested by all evidence, is stranger and more profound than any simulation we can imagine.
The information is from the University of British Columbia (UBCO).
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