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The Simulation Hypothesis, page 1
Advance Praise for The Simulation Hypothesis:
“The Simulation Hypothesis by Riz Virk lays out both the technical aspects of computer simulation and the mystical reasons why we can take Philip K. Dick seriously when he proposed that we are living in a computer-generated reality. His vision that this world is not quite real informed much of his science fiction.”
Tessa B. Dick, author of Conversations with Philip K. Dick, wife of Philip K. Dick
“I have learned that we live, teach, learn and love in a virtual world. In this book, Riz Virk combines the mind of a scientist with the heart of a mystic, using video games to explain the virtual reality that we live in.”
Dannion Brinkley, bestselling author of Saved by the Light and At Peace in the Light
“The Simulation Hypothesis presents a radical alternative to current models of reality. Recent speculation in physics shows us that the world we perceive may be an emerging entity produced by an underlying pattern inaccessible to our senses. Many fields rejected or neglected by modern science, such as religious visions, near-death experiences, psychic phenomena and even UFOs, can be brought under the framework proposed by Riz Virk, relying on the latest insights of computer science and on his unique experience designing digital games. The result is a stunning reappraisal of what it means to be human in an infinite universe.”
Jacques Vallée, venture capitalist, author of Forbidden Science, former scientist at NASA and Stanford Research Institute
“Very few people could explain the history of video games, the mechanics of karma, and the implications of quantum physics in one book. Riz Virk is one of them, and his book is as adventurous as it is educational. You may never look at reality the same way again!"
Adam Curry, founder of Entangled, former researcher for Princeton's PEAR Lab
“The Simulation Hypothesis provides a deft and knowledgeable blend of video game history, hard science speculation, and science fiction references. Whether or not you believe we all exist in a simulation, I found it both fascinating and entertaining.”
Noah Falstein, former chair of the IGDA, former Chief Game Designer at Google
“In The Simulation Hypothesis, Riz Virk takes current trends of immersion in video games and personalized entertainment to their logical conclusion: how to build a simulation as real as what we experience in daily life. While no one can say for certain how many lives we have, my advice is to the assume it's a "one-life game" and make the best of it!"
Brent Bushnell, Founder and CEO of Two Bit Circus,
“The idea that we might be in a simulation is one of the most interesting and provocative around. The book that Riz Virk has written is important, because it engages, with seriousness and depth, the idea that everything around us is a simulation. Virk’s credentials make him the right person for the job. Whatever you think of the core idea, this book will make you think againand that is why Virk's book deserves our attention.”
Jimmy Soni, Author of A MIND AT PLAY: How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age
“In this brilliant integrative work, Riz Virk astutely tackles ideas ranging from Dream Yoga to computational irreducibility, weaving together modern disciplines and ancient traditions. Virk presents a model of a multiplayer game that can integrate philosophical notions from materialism to mysticism. As for the physics, he is refreshingly not afraid to be clear eyed about the mind-boggling implications. He also maps for us a road toward a future Simulation Point when we will be able to create, as an advanced civilization, our own Great Simulation. This trans-disciplinary overview of The Simulation Hypothesis is a valuable read.”
Thomas Brophy, PhD physics, Co-President, California Institute for Human Science, author of Black Genesis: The Prehistoric Origins of Ancient Egypt
“Those looking to expand their brains for a few hours should enjoy this cerebral work. A well-crafted discussion of simulation that is unexpectedly persuasive.”
Kirkus Reviews
“Rizwan Virk's book The Simulation Hypothesis is one of the few works that could convince me that I probably live in a simulated universe. Virk's breadth of knowledge encompasses the history of religions, philosophy, popular culture, modern physics and computer technology, drawing connections which show his theory is not only feasible but probably correct.
As a scholar of religion, I was intrigued by Virk’s compelling new answer to the age-old issue that all religions grapple with: the conundrum posed by materiality. If we understand that the universe is not material, but probably computational, then we can identify a bridge between mystical traditions and science.
If this sounds mind blowing, it is! This book is also really funny and engaging, with references to popular culture and video games to keep the philosophy and science enjoyable. I highly recommend this book—it expanded my mind's bandwidth!"
Diana Walsh Pasulka, Professor of Philosophy and Religion, University of North Carolina Wilmington, author of American Cosmic: UFOs, Religion, Technology
“Riz Virk's book gives both a history of video games and a roadmap on how to build the most sophisticated game of all: The Great Simulation, which would be our version of the Holodeck from Star Trek. Very few technologists can also dive into the philosophical questions that come from the development of AI and high-resolution imagery that would be needed. The Simulation Hypothesis is a fascinating read for any technologist who wonders what the future may hold.”
Rajeev Surati, MIT PhD, founder of Scalable Display Technologies
Praise for Zen Entrepreneurship and Treasure Hunt, also by Rizwan Virk:
“Treasure Hunt provides some well-worth-your-consideration guidance. Virk provides new maps of understanding, based on the latest thinking of quantum physics and the multiverse, that can guide you through today’s jungle of opportunities and dense misadventures.”
Fred Alan Wolf PhD, author of Parallel Universes and Dr. Quantum Presents:
Do-it-Yourself Time Travel
“So exciting that someone from the tech world is speaking up about synchronicities, signs, and spiritual guidance. Thanks, Riz for giving us case studies and a compelling guide for finding the map we all contain inside.”
Pam Grout, #1 New York Times bestselling author of E-squared
“The world around us is speaking to us every day in a language of signs and symbols, if only we pay attention. Virk invites us to look at the patterns of everyday life as a treasure map, offering clues we can follow to manifest our dreams.”
Robert Moss, author of Conscious Dreaming and Sidewalk Oracles
“Tales of Power meets the Peaceful Warrior... in Silicon Valley! Zen Entrepreneurship is entertaining, humble, insightful and valuable—not just to entrepreneurs, but to anyone looking to manifest their dreams and make a difference in the world.”
Foster Gamble, Creator and Host,
Thrive: What on Earth Will It Take
“In Zen Entrepreneurship, Riz Virk brings the wisdom of ancient Eastern traditions into a purely Western setting. The result is an often hilarious but always insightful book that will change how you view career success and help you discover and walk your own unique path.”
—Marc Allen, author of Visionary Business, CEO and co-founder of New World Library
The Simulation Hypothesis
Also by Rizwan Virk
Zen Entrepreneurship:
Walking the Path of the Career Warrior
Treasure Hunt:
Follow Your Inner Clues to Find True Success
Startup Myths & Models:
Secrets They Don't Teach You at Stanford Business School
(coming soon)
visit
www.zenentrepreneur.com
The Simulation Hypothesis
An MIT Computer Scientist Shows
Why AI, Quantum Physics and Eastern Mystics
Agree We Are in a Video Game
Rizwan Virk
V0.4.06
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Copyright © 2018-2019 Rizwan Virk
Cover Art by Jeff Brown
All images retrain their original copyrights and are reproduced either with permission, or per their license restrictions, per “fair use,” or because they are considered public domain.
Published by Bayview Books, LLC a division of Bayview Labs, LLC
No part of this publication may be used or reproduced in any manner (mechanical, photographic or electronic process or otherwise copied for public or private use) whatsoever without written permission, except in the “fair use” case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews, without prior written permission from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to Bayview Books at books@bayviewlabs.com
Version .4.06
First Edition: March 31, 2019
ISBN-13: 978-0-9830569-0-4
For my siblings,
both inside and outside
of the simulation:
Irfan
Samina
Robina
Furqan
and
Adnan
Table of Contents
Part 0:
Overview 1
The Simulation Hypothesis 2
Part I
How to Build the Matrix:
The Computer Science 23
Stages 0 to 3: From Pong to MMORPGs 24
Stages 4 to 8: From Virtual Reality to Mind Interfaces 53
Stages 9 to 10: AI & Downloadable Consciousness 81
Stage 11: Simulation Point, Ancestor Simulations & Beyond 106
Part II
How Simulation Explains Our World:
The Physics 121
Conditional Rendering & the Collapse of the Probability Wave 122
Parallel Universes, Future Selves, and Video Games 142
Pixels, Quanta, and the Structure of Space-Time 161
Part III
How Simulation Explains the Unexplainable:
The Mystics 183
Spirits in an Illusory, Video Game-Like Dream World 184
Multiple Lives & Karma as Quests in Video Games 200
Some Unexplained Areas: God, Angels, NDEs, and UFOs 218
Part IV
Putting it All Together 245
Skeptics and Believers: Evidence of Computation 246
The Great Simulation and Its Implications 269
Acknowledgements 292
Index 293
About the Author 308
Detailed Table of Contents
Part 0:
Overview 1
The Simulation Hypothesis 2
Do We All Live Inside a Video Game? Science Fiction—How the Simulation Hypothesis Went Mainstream Quantum Physics and the Idea of a “Subjective Reality” Eastern Mysticism and the Western Afterlife Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence, and Simulated Consciousness Simulations, Computation, and Chaos The Great Simulation—Our Shared Video Game The Simulation Hypothesis Uses Information to Explain the Unexplainable
Part I:
How to Build the Matrix:
The Computer Science 23
Stages 0 to 3: From Pong to MMORPGs 24
The Road to the Simulation Point The Modern Stages of Video Game Technology Stage 0: Text Adventures and the “Game World” (1970s to mid-1980s) Stage 1: Early Graphical Arcade and Console Games (1970s-1980s) Stage 2: Graphical Adventure/RPG Games (1980s-1990s) Stage 3: 3D Rendered MMORPGs and Virtual Worlds (1990s-Today) Where We Have Arrived on the Road
Stages 4 to 8: From Virtual Reality to Mind Interfaces 53
Stage 4: Immersion Using Virtual Reality Stage 5: Photorealistic Augmented and Mixed Reality (AR, MR) Stage 6: Real-World Rendering: Light-Field Display and 3D Printing Stage 7: Mind Interfaces Stage 8: Implanted Memories
Stages 9 to 10: Artificial Intelligence and Downloadable Consciousness 81
Stage 9: Artificial Intelligence and NPCs The History and Rise of AI Reaching Stage 9 From HAL to Data—Portrayals of Artificial Consciousness The Ethics of AI and Its Uses Stage 10: Downloadable Consciousness and Digital Immortality Altered Carbon and Downloading Consciousness The Upshot: Consciousness as Information
Stage 11: The Simulation Point, Ancestor Simulations and Beyond 106
Stage 11: Reaching the Simulation Point What are Ancestor Simulations? Bostrom’s Simulation Argument The Statistical Basis for Bostrom’s Argument Are We Simulated Characters in an Ancestor Simulation or Conscious Players in a Video Game? What is Consciousness? Digital Consciousness vs. Spiritual Consciousness Does Simulation Explain Our World?
Part II
How Simulation Explains Our World:
The Physics 121
Conditional Rendering and the Collapse of the Probability
Wave 122
Video Games and Quantum Indeterminacy The Old Physics The New Physics and the Wave/Particle Duality The Crux of the Problem: The Particle-Wave Duality Moving from Quantum Indeterminacy to Video Games Conditional Rendering in Video Games The Simulation Hypothesis and Quantum Indeterminacy Philosophical Questions Raised by QI
Parallel Universes, Future Selves, and Video Games 142
The Delayed-Choice Experiment Measurement in the Future vs. the Past Multiple Possible Futures? Parallel Worlds and the Multiverse Parallel Lives and Future Selves: The Great Game Fringe and a Parallel World Game Theory, Simulations, and the Directed Graph Campbell’s Fundamental Process and Profitability Function Parallel Worlds Must Be Computed Parallel Universes and the Simulation Hypothesis
Pixels, Quanta, and the Structure of Space-Time 161
Particles and Pixels in the Screen 3D Pixels and Particles Zeno’s Paradox and a Discrete World The Quanta in Quantum Physics Quanta of Space The Speed of Light and Its Effect on Time Clockspeed and Quantized Time in Computer Simulations Quantized Space and Time Are Interrelated Calculating Quantized Time and Space Traversing Space Time Instantly in a Simulation Pixels, Quanta, Space-Time, Wormholes, and the Simulation Hypothesis
Part III:
How Simulation Explains the Unexplainable:
The Mystics 183
Spirits in an Illusory, Video Game-Like Dream World 184
The World is an Illusion or a Dream The Dreaming God and the Collective Dream The Many Purposes of Dreaming Buddhist Dream Yoga Dreams as Mini-Simulations Downloadable Consciousness and the Secret Seventh Yoga
Multiple Lives & Karma as Quests in Video Games 200
Multiple Lives and The Doctrines of Reincarnation The Purpose of Karma and Reincarnation How Karma is Stored and Used to Create Situations in Life A Theoretical Model for Reincarnation Some Features of Modern Video Games The Simulation Hypothesis: A Video Game Model Based on Karma? Quests and the Simulation Hypothesis A Quest Engine for Karma Is Buddha’s Endless Wheel an Algorithm?
Some Unexplained Areas: God, Angels, NDEs, and UFOs 218
God and The Creation of the Physical World God and the Afterlife Angels AI: Gods and Angels and the Simulation Hypothesis Near-Death Experiences UFOs The Fermi Paradox Jung and Synchronicity OBEs, Remote Viewing, Telepathy and Other “Unexplained” Phenomenon
Part IV:
Putting it All Together 245
Skeptics and Believers: Evidence of Computation 246
The Categories of Arguments/Experiments A Quick Note About Metaphysical Experiments and Consciousness The Skeptics: The Resource Argument Evidence of Conditional Rendering Experiments for Evidence of Pixels Evidence of Computation: Error-Correcting Codes Quantum Computers, Error Codes, and Quantum Entanglement Quantum Entanglement and Simulation Fractals and Evidence of Computation in Nature Simple Programs and A New Kind of Science Conclusion—the Search for Evidence of Computation
The Great Simulation and Its Implications 269
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and the Simulation Hypothesis What is the Great Simulation and Who Runs It? What Are the Main Elements of the Great Simulation? Conscious Beings or Unconscious Simulations—PCs vs. NPCs The Big Picture: Computation Underlies the Other Sciences Parting Thoughts: Bridging the Great Divide
Acknowledgements 292
Index 293
About the Author 308
Part 0
Overview
Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.
—Albert Einstein
Know that all phenomena
Are like reflections appearing
In a very clear mirror;
Devoid of inherent existence
—Buddha
Introduction
The Simulation Hypothesis
We are living in a computer-programmed reality, and the only clue we have to it is when some variable is changed, and some alteration in our reality occurs.
—Philip K. Dick, Metz Sci-Fi Convention, 1977
As a kid growing up in the Midwest in the early 1980s, I loved video games. You could say I grew up with them. My friends and I would go to D&B Pizza to watch the older kids (who had more quarters than we did) playing the arcade games there. These games, now classics, included Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, and even Dragon’s Lair, which confounded and delighted us because we couldn’t decide if it was an animated cartoon or a video game!
