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Are You Living In A Computer Simulation Analysis

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Imagine discovering the world around you is actually a computer simulation. Your entire life and everything you know in nothing more than lines of code. This might actually be the case for humanity. In 2003, Oxford University Philosopher Nick Bostrom published the article “Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?” which describes the reasons he has to support such a claim. Since then, multiple physicists and philosophers have commented on the theory, and the debate is still ongoing today. Some of the strongest claims to support the theory that our reality is a simulated one comes from the fact that the universe can be described mathematically (Moskowitz). Massachusetts Institute of Technology cosmologist Max Tegmark insists that the reason our universe is highly mathematical could be a result of it being a simulation (Moskowitz). Additionally, James Gates, a theoretical physicist at the University of Maryland, found equations similar to those used for particles such as quarks and electrons in the code he was writing (Moskowitz). Such similarities between our world and computer code might indicate that the fabric of the universe is a virtual creation. While there are ardent supporters of this theory, other scientists are not so sure about …show more content…

A lit fire behind them casts shadows on the wall in front of them; this would be the only reality the men would ever know (Parrott 19). If one of the men were to be set free so he could see the “real world” outside the cave, the other men would never believe him (Parrott 20). From this, Plato concludes that we might in fact be experiencing the same situation as the men in the cave (Parrott 19). Our minds can conceive the real and perfect forms of objects, but the ones around us are not those perfect forms (Parrott 10, 19). The real forms might be in a higher level of existence somewhere beyond our own

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