Our World Is Not Real But Is An Alien's Simulation: Cosmologist
The universe observed around us may just be a simulation, says well-known astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist and author Neil DeGresse Tyson. Even though the point has been widely debated for decades by astronomers and astrophysicists, it is probably the truth, says the host of the Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey.
Tyson declared what he felt at the Issac Asimov Memorial Debate at the Hayden Planetarium, a forum for discussing unusual ideas.
"What may have started as a science fiction speculation - that perhaps the universe as we know it is actually a computer simulation - has become a serious line of theoretical and experimental investigation among physicists, astrophysicists, and philosophers," the American Museum of Natural History reported.
Tyson said that if the Cosmos is really infinite, then everything that happens has already happened somewhere. If we can simulate the universe in a "Matrix-type simulation", then perhaps one or more alien civilizations have already achieved it. Hence, we are probably living in such a virtual reality, he said.
Perhaps members of "virtual civilizations" are also creating their own simulated Cosmos, he said. Hence, there might be an infinite number of virtual universes, but just one "real" one.
After all, the question that has been asked for centuries is---how do we know reality is reality? The 17th Century French philosopher Rene Descartes gave a Latin phrase for it: "Cogito ergo sum," or "I think, therefore I am." Hence, just the fact that the question is being asked is calling out for a thought existing in space and time.
If indeed there are aliens that have simulated the universe, they might consider humans as "primitive, slow-witted animals."
"And if that's the case, it is easy for me to imagine that everything in our lives is just the creation of some other entity for their entertainment. I'm saying, the day we learn that it is true, I will be the only one in the room saying, I'm not surprised," Tyson said.
