If you feel like you’re living in a compelling, Matrix-like virtual reality, one scientist thinks you may be right.
Melvin Vopson, associate professor of physics at the University of Portsmouth, says our entire universe may be an advanced computer simulation.
And the proof that this so-called simulation hypothesis is correct may be hiding in plain sight in the Bible.
Professor Vopson told MailOnline: ‘The Bible itself tells us we are in a simulation and it also tells us who is doing it.
“This is done by an AI, an artificial intelligence.”
Professor Vopson points to the Gospel of John, one of the first four books of the New Testament, the second part of the Christian Bible.
Professor Vopson points to the Gospel of John, one of the first four books of the New Testament, the second part of the Christian Bible.
John’s gospel begins with the powerful statement: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
The professor says this verse has “deep theological significance in Christian doctrine,” but also carries “intriguing implications” when considered in the context of the universe as a simulation.
He argues that “the Word” in this famous phrase refers to the underlying computer code that governs and controls the simulation.
As anyone who has seen The Matrix will know, any computer simulation, big or small, consists of letters and numbers that write the rules for all of creation.
The scholar further argues that “the Word was God” could mean that God is part of the simulation, rather than separate from it.
In other words, the entity that controls everything – God – is also written in the code.
Professor Vopson explains: “The code that runs the simulation is not separate from the divine, but rather an integral part of it, perhaps an AI.”
In the hit movie The Matrix, the protagonist Neo, played by Keanu Reeves, discovers that we live in a simulated reality. At the end of the movie, Neo is able to see the simulated world for what it is: computer code (pictured)
The simulated universe hypothesis proposes that what humans experience is actually an artificial reality, much like a computer simulation, in which they themselves are constructs. It formed the basis for the 1999 film The Matrix starring Keanu Reeves (pictured as his character wakes up in the real world).
The Gospel of John goes on to say: ‘All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made…’
Once again, this statement supports the simulated universe theory, the professor suggests.
“It implies a Creator who created the simulated universe through the Word (i.e., code),” he says.
“It suggests that the act of creation, as described in the Bible, could be analogous to a divine act of programming and simulation.”
The theory arguably offers an answer to a question many Christians struggle with: How did God create the universe in six days?
If the theory is to be believed, he did so by creating a simulated reality encapsulated in a computer program, something we know is possible.
Professor Vopson has outlined his hypothesis in his new book, ‘Reality Reloaded: The Scientific Case for a Simulated Universe’.
He says it’s not even something he necessarily believes, but rather an “extraordinary observation that deserves attention.”
“What is truly remarkable is that the interpretation given is completely aligned with the events of our time – the rise of AI – and is exactly what ‘The Matrix’ was projecting,” he told MailOnline.
While the professor’s thoughts may seem sacrilegious to some, he says they could have “profound implications for Christian theology.”
He believes there is an overlap in which belief in simulated universe theory and the religious need for an all-powerful creator “can coexist harmoniously.”
“This perspective aligns with religious beliefs that consider human life to have meaning and purpose, even within the context of broader design,” he says.
“Rather than viewing the simulated universe hypothesis as antagonistic to religious beliefs, it can be seen as offering a complementary perspective.”
The teacher has already said orOur lives contain several clues that suggest We are simply characters in an advanced virtual world.
Melvin Vopson, associate professor of physics at the University of Portsmouth, has outlined clues that suggest we live in a simulated reality.
Professor Vopson believes that the prevalence of symmetry in the universe (pictured) suggests that we are in a simulated reality because it is a way to save computational power.
For example, the fact that there are limits to the speed at which light and sound can travel suggests that they may be governed by the speed of a computer processor.
The laws of physics that govern the universe are also similar to computer code, he says, while the elementary particles that make up matter are like pixels.
He also believes that the abundance of symmetry in the world (from flowers to butterflies to snowflakes) is an energy-saving technique that machines use to represent the digitally constructed world.
Simulation theory is not unique to Professor Vopson; In fact, it is popular with several well-known figures, including Tesla founder Elon Musk and American astrophysicist Neil Degrasse Tyson.
At a 2016 conference, Musk said the chances of us living in a “base reality” (the real universe rather than a simulated one) are “one in billions.”
The term “base reality” is part of an expansion of the theory that there are layers and layers of false realities that we need to wake up from somehow, similar to the movie “Inception.”
But as French philosopher René Descartes noted in 1637, “Cogito, ergo sum,” translated from Latin as “I think, therefore I am.”
In other words, the ability to doubt the nature of our reality is essentially proof that we exist, in some form.