14 DAY TRIAL // When “The Matrix” first hit cinema screens, it made movie history. Should science prove that this particular cinematic production “spoke” the truth about how our entire universe is nothing but a computer simulation, then this piece of news is bound to cause even more stir than “The Matrix” did.
A team of physicists working with the Cornell University now claim that they have managed to coin and perfect a method that will allow them to settle this matter at hand once and for all.
Were it not for the fact that, after investigating the method developed by Cornell University scientists, researchers from the University of Washington agreed that it is indeed now possible to check whether or not the universe is a computer simulation, some might say that it is all a hoax.
Still, it seems that, in the not so distant future, we will know for sure if we exist, US News says.
The science talk surrounding this experiment is as follows: a technique referred to as “lattice quantum chromodynamics” (quite a mouthful, so perhaps specifics are better left aside) will allow scientists to develop simulated models whose energy signatures will then be closely analyzed.
As long as these energy signatures resemble those identifiable in the universe as we know it, then odds are the latter is also nothing more and nothing less than a simulation.
“No one is simulating complete human beings today, but we're simulating clusters of atoms or molecules. (…) If humans get to the point where they ever have enough resources to simulate ourselves, it is completely plausible that we're simulations,” explains Martin Savage, a nuclear physicist presently working with the University of Washington.
“Even if we find out we're living in a simulation, it's not going to impact anyone's day to day life. But it's going to disturb a whole lot of people,” he went on to add.
Should these experiments prove that our universe is in fact a computer simulation, two major questions emerge: who is behind this simulation, and must this “it” be held accountable for creating other simulations besides this one?