Do we live in a Simulated Reality?

I think this is where our thirst for knowledge comes from. We are just a simulation building and storing information. Maybe traded as experience sticks in some alien market. The recent episode of smallville is similar, alien being try's to download the earths info

I will offer great candor and wisdom.

If all life and all matter, on this planet and in the universe, is interconnected in a matrix structure then we can agree about an intelligence behind the universe.

What if, this intelligence is a grand architectural AI?

This decadent vessel, our human body, could be a device that delivers us from the simulated world. Maybe "fate" and her coincidences are, in fact, evidence and correspondences that point to this simulated world.

everything happens for a reason...

Could we be programs and our brains the source code? To cease to exist, death, might be the liberation from the program. If this is the case then surely we have the power to influence the simulation?

[edit on 17-1-2009 by infinite]

Originally posted by Lasheic
reply to post by Shar_Chi

 

I don't recall either article mentioning what you're describing.

I mentioned one article, and it's blatantly titled "Our world may be a giant hologram". In fact, this top-rate mag often has such themed articles, more than I could count.






[edit on 17-1-2009 by Shar_Chi]

reply to post by infinite

Could we be programs and our brains the source code? To cease to exist, death, might be the liberation from the program. If this is the case then surely we have the power to influence the simulation?

If it were possible to influence the simulation surely would have done it by now ? If so how would we know who and would he/she tell us ?

Could this be what , "What the bleep do we know?" is alluding to ?

Are we programmed to die when we start to look out of the monitor from within the game so as to move to the next level or new game ?

Hell of a lot of big questions here, time for an aspirin me thinks.

I don't have the time or desire to spend the time researching what has been determined by others but in my opinion:

Since I was a young adult I have always wondered if everyone and everything was just part of my reality. I sometimes wonder if life as we know it is just a gift from God that allows us to experience physical sensations and the existence however short that accompanies it. Our biological minds as advanced as we like to think that they are are not capable of receiving or processing the knowledge that we know as beings of energy that I believe we truly are. This is all good but I worry that when the life I know now ends I will lose my individuality and become a part of everything.

People that is about as deep as I go and my ideas are my own; I do believe in God but as the creator of all things. I also believe that God does not step in for much of anything considering that no one is truly being hurt here in our existence, it is a blink of the eye in the relevance of time and we will all return to what we were before this life. This doesn't mean that what we do is meaningless, far from it. I think if you are evil or good your soul will reflect it.

As far as us living in a generated reality like a program or such I am not on board as I know better. I am not slamming the thread generator because we all think differently I mean my ideas are a little on the edge but I am always open to ideas that make sense to me especially after I give them a while to receive scrutiny from my thinking over time.

Back to the pisces thing for the poster who mentioned it.

Yeah Ive had an idea about horoscopes, ive never put much stock in them but they are so friggin close to the truth that its hard to put a nail on it.

P.S. Music is another one of the things I enjoy more than anything, when I listen to it, it gives me power beyond imagination (not super powers but I can feel the vibrations througout and I feel like I could do anyhthing)

A theory I have come up with but not determined to be what I believe is that this world we live in is a reality that we have been put in here to learn from. Psychologists call our life "Earth-School" That made me think that we were inserted into this life to learn everything we could from our experiences here on earth... but then i thought more about it...

When we die... do we come back to earth until we learn the things that are determined neccessary to learn or do we go on to another life? Is the "Creator, God, or Architecht" going to punish us for our wrong choices... or teach us and help to further give us knowledge?

I believe in Love and I know that one of the things as the fellow pisces poster posted ... i love to learn, i love knowledge, but i want to use it for the good if mankind where as others love to hurt others due to the way they were raised on taught... so anyways

Back to this theory...

Horoscopes, there is something powerful about the 12 month cycle, it seperates us somehow... but perhaps... there is more to it than that... maybe it is a spinning balance of depositing our souls accordingly but not overpopulating the earth with violent scum or... whatever have you... i dont know i just enjoy thinking about that with my active imagination. BUT ONE CANNOT GO AROUND JUST WAITING FOR THE ANWSERS TO BE REVEALED... ONE MUST EMBRACE HIMSELF. Do what you can on this earth that you beleive in, and do it to the best of your ability, Sing, Work, Engineer, Build, Create, Destroy whatever it may be... do what you love and embrace it... there is some power to that I feel.

reply to post by Skyfloating


I just wanted to say great post, starred and flagged. I think on Star Trek they expolre this on the hollow deck as well.

At first the idea seems rediculous, but you get more and more hints of this in many other movies and media. The movie with Jackie Chan and Jet Li that came out last summer, has a line when the kid says he's going to go back to the real world, they tell him that where he is now with them is the real world, and the world he is going back to earth is the dream world.

It's interesting that the theme keeps popping up here and there. How would you ever know for sure?

Good thread.

Originally posted by SpeakerofTruth
Well, if one looks at how the human body is designed and how our "minds" work,it's fairly obvious that we have more in commo with a computer than we'd like to admit. Of course, most of this is philosophical, but I do believe there is some truth to it.

Honestly, I view life as being much like "God's dream." Death is nothing more than our "mission" being completed. Once God's dream acheives what he chooses for us, we "die."



[edit on 17-1-2009 by SpeakerofTruth]

Actually there is a thread around here somewhere talking about the holographic universe, and it was talking about how we are able to see things and the role the mind plays, and that this might be one big holograph. It's interesting that all these theories are coming out at this specfic time.

Originally posted by TH3ON3
If this is virtual reality it is on a changeable molecular basis and we are trapped inside it until our passing. So even so, it is still as real as well reality. We can manipulate the elements within our reality, and also our own body composed of these same elements will at some point cease to function as a living machine, and return to the original elements it was composed of.

So the big question is, if this is true, then why are we subject to this so very real/unreal reality?

And as you said Skyfloating, who were we before this embodiment.

And what did we do for the Creator to encase our consciousness inside these bodies that breakdown over time.

I don't know if too many people who are not Christians know this, but God says He knew us even before we were born.

If you think of it this way, we are all part of this big giant conciousness, then we can choose to take form if we wish. Or to be created in the spirit for people who believe in that, then we choose to come to this plain of reality (birth) to experience and learn things that we can not on the other plain of existance.

reply to post by Skyfloating


Interesting. It's strange to think about but it also can't be ruled out as a possibility...
The one constant I've noticed in our universe is change/expansion.
As a 'source code' of some kind, this one law might be all that's initially required - that everything seeks to progress. From something which appears to our limited perspective to be nothing to something elecant beyond our imagination (given time). In such a sense, no creator of any kind is needed.
As far as us being computer programs, I believe we are in a sense. What makes artificial intelligence artificial? Because it bases its actions on a number of variables which can be seen and predicted.
But don't we also run on variables? Every choice we make is the result of numerous variables which can be predicted - as no thought is void of a source. Just because the variables seem complex and random to us does not make them random - they are tied to a system. This system could be seen as the domino effect of our universe - the whole thing in one singularity - or perhaps a programed reality. Who knows...

Originally posted by Solomons
Yes we do,light is the information and our brain the decoder.Much like a programmng language is decoded by the cpu and gpu for computers.As for insane people,yes they are not sane,the voices images they hear imo are not reality,just a numbers game.Stick 300 million what we call sane people in a room,and one insane man who hears voices,he will be the only one who hears it,you could repeat that and it would be consistent which imo seals the deal and shows it is not a process of analyzing information from outside but all inside his head.

Not to disregard insanity, but what if there are other realities, and some of these people are just tuned into those realities and are hearing and seeing things from those existances that the rest of us can't see, because we are not vibrating on those realities?

Eg. It's been reported that when many people are near death, they are able to see and hear their dead relatives, spirit guides etc.

It's reported that small children have higher ESP abilities and as they age, those close themselves off, but not for everyone.

Also it's been reported that some small children up to the age of five, recall past life experiences, and then forget them after they get older, this again is not true for every child.

Many of those can recall other places in between while waiting to come into this life.

Also some parents report having visitations or experiences with their children before they come here to earth. They report hearing and seeing them in dreams, or lucid states and knowing all about them months, years before they come here.

The more you read, the more you realise that the world is a fascinating place, with many mystries and unanswered questions, that science as we know it does not cover at all.

Originally posted by DrumsRfun
reply to post by Skyfloating

 

I just got home from work and its funny that I came home to this thread.
I was thinking today that I could be a ghost and not even know it.
I could be dead but living as a ghost without realizing that I am dead and thinking I am living my life.
Quite the mindf***.
I think with the tech we have today that it could be a possibilty.
We could all be in a testube with electrodes attached to us.
Whos really to say?

That's why we are having these discussions. How many times can you talk about this sort of stuff with your offline counterparts? Never would be my answer. If we were in a tube with wires, wouldn't you want to know and be freed like Neo was?

Originally posted by The 5th
Good thread, star and flag.

How does this fit in with your spiritual views and occult teachings skyfloating?

Im 100% certain that if everyone knew this reality was simulated, working to pay for the house etc would not seem as important. Would like to think people would live in the now, and for the moment than thinking about what work will be like next week.

Another point for people to ponder is, would is put everything out of balance?

Peace

I didn't want to add this in before and ruin the flow of the thread, but I think I read somewhere were one school shooter, thought this was not real, and so his actions did not matter. There is a thread somewhere here with a link to what he said. Sorry I can't find it right now.

Would this cause some of us to be lawless? Do whatever we want cause we know it's just simulated? It would change some behaviours, I am sure of this.

People would have affairs, abondon kids, well they do that now, but they would do more of that, rob banks, etc.

It also has the potential to make you more powerful, cause if it's just a simulation, then you can learn to circumvent the rules and laws of the simulation and walk on water or other neat things.

reply to post by Harassment101



I think that would just be proof that they didnt learn what they needed to learn in this life... Maybe thats why it is forbidden knowledge to know this truth? did you ever think of that? (Assuming that its true)

Originally posted by Skyfloating
reply to post by aleon1018

 

This reminds me of how we wake up in the morning realizing that the dream we had was not actually "real", but something taking place within our mind.

I imagine we have a similar feeling when "waking up" from our everyday reality.

__________________________

I forgot about Truman Show

Well actually when you dream it's said that this reality for the most part is gone or recalled as a dream and the dream world is the real world, then when you awaken that world is for the most part forgotten and then you think that one was the dream world. Who is to say which is the real world. If you spend as much time dreaming as you do awake, then which reality is the real one? Also time as we think we know it, might be very different, so 8 hours dreaming could be what we think of as 3 months worth of living. It's all very interestig stuff to think about.

Originally posted by rjmelter
What is this method of telepathy, there are some who do possess this gift... but what does it mean, how does one connect to another and i conclude it means we are already all connected, via biological processes, cells? Atoms? Electrons? Something deeper, something now yet known?

I hope you find the anwsers.

Think about what this says about our science. Some people can think and connect to others miles away, yet nothing travels faster than the speed of light? Telepathy could not really work if this was true. What if this is a gift that we all have, but some can tune into it better than others? The same with remote viewing and going to other places? These things are not often discussed in Western culture, but they are very common in other cultures.

I think quantum physics is creating some very good questions, based on what they are seeing in the experiments that are being conducted. How thigs behave when they are observed, and that by being observed, it can change the very nature of how things behave. Very interesting stuff.

Originally posted by Harassment101
If we were in a tube with wires, wouldn't you want to know and be freed like Neo was?

Well, that stuff was symbolic, and the "real" world turned out to be what the Matrix was based on. The transition for Neo was a shock at first, then he became a superhero.

But what if the world behind the curtain is so beyond our understanding that merely glimpsing into it would turn you into a twitchy hobo that wanders the streets talking to himself? An all-knowing twitchy hobo, but one that can no longer function in this world? Ok, there is no spoon. Now please put down the gun...

It has been suggested to me by one of my teachers that this sense of caution is due to the programming put in place by those who don't want me to understand the matrix. Fortunately he says I can deprogram myself.

I invited him to check out this thread. I hope he decides to join the discussion.

This is a fantastic thread, Skyfloating! S&F.

What I find particularly interesting is the fact that what we create in virtual reality, is precisely similar to what we experience.
That being said, in a way, we are "playing god". Of course this isn't new knowledge either. We "play god" all of the time. In fact, I think it is the very concept of God that probably drives a lot of these advancements.

Once man gains the idea that it is possible to create life, he sets out to do it.

The simulation idea can be used to explain anything and everything. So, once again, by creating computers, we are "playing god". As above, so below.

A good book on this sort of idea from a more religious standpoint, was written in 1975 by Fritjof Capra called "The Tao of Physics". I recommended it on the other thread, but I think this thread topic warrants it also.

"The general notions about human understanding... which are illustrated by discoveries in atmoic physics are not in nature of things wholly unfamiliar, wholly unheard of, or new. Even in our own culture they have a history, and in Buddhist and Hindu thought a more considerable and central place. What we shall find is an exemplification, an encouragement, and a refinement of old wisdom." - Julius Robert Oppenheimer

"For a parallel to the lesson of atomic theory... [we must turn] to those kinds of epistemological problems with which already thinkers like the Buddha and Lao Tzu have been confronted, when trying to harmonize our position as spectators and actors in the great drama of existence." - Niels Bohr

"The great scientific contribution in theoretical physics that has come from Japan since the last war may be an indication of a certain relationship between philosophical ideas in the tradition of the Far East and the philosophical substance of quantum theory." - Werner Heisenberg

(Above quotes taken from abovementioned book)

For me, the issue has been becoming quite clear now for a little while. I mean, if the Universe is Eternal, so am I. Consciousness, I suspect, is simply a must to beget consciousness. (How can nonsentience create the conditions necessary for sentience?)
Now, if I am, in fact, eternal, what does that say about the "reality" of "reality?" Quite a lot, imo. To me, it seems that at least one very logical explaination that jumps off the page at me is that we created the illusion of time simply so we could pass it.
It IS just a game, as Bill Hicks would say.

Originally posted by rjmelter
reply to post by Harassment101

 

I think that would just be proof that they didnt learn what they needed to learn in this life... Maybe thats why it is forbidden knowledge to know this truth? did you ever think of that? (Assuming that its true)

Well if this is just a place to come for experience and to learn specific things, or have specific encounters, then it would make sense for us to forget, because then you could not do what you came to do, or have the full experience that you were meant to have.

It's like having a virtual vacation. To fully enjoy it, you would have to forget that you were on a virtual vacation and your mind would have to believe the whole thing to be real.

I agree that is why knowing might be forbidden, think how bored you would be if you thought this was just a virtual reality, you would do things but then you might be like, what's the point, it's not real anyways. Lot's of good reasons for not knowing the truth.

reply to post by harrytuttle


Unfortunately this all comes down to evolutionary game theory. If you, as an individual, do not act in such a way that will benefit the replication of the "good society" (which the rulers happen to decide upon the definition) then you are outcast, and labeled "insane". What really upsets me though is when people call you insane for talking about things such as "artificial realities" or "simulated realities" as being realistic plausibilities. Of course, telling people that you plainly believe in simulation theory might be perceived as a threat by the majority, as your kind of reasoning leads them to think you don't really care about "this" reality that we normally experience in our everyday lives. Sometimes society acts as such a tremendous force, which prevents you from thinking about things that in all probability might be true. It really gets me angry.

It's sad how in most cases we can't talk about this, and the many other totally engrossing and tantalizing theories that we all share on ATS, with people other than members of this forum, and without being called insane or strange. Anyone else feel this? I guess critical thinking causes marginalization. The intellectuals were always the first to go during the proletariat uprisings of this past twentieth century. The rationale was that "if everyone thought like them, there would be no food on the table." That such mob-like thinking is even valid in this modern age totally perplexes me. Why is intellectualism perceived as such a massive threat to the majority? It seems that if one does not fully utilize their intellect for purposes of feeding the common people, or by providing them a new means to consume everything in sight, then that one is either outcast or marginalized for his gifted, albeit idiosyncratic thinkings.

[edit on 17-1-2009 by cognoscente]