If we are truly living in a simulation, how can we escape from it?

Are we living in a simulation or not? It seems impossible to answer with certainty and in particular to provide proof that the answer is no. This is why some scientists strive to work on the hypothesis according to which our existences are purely artificial. Among them, we find Roman Yampolskiy, computer scientist at the University of Louisville (United States), who asks himself a crucial question relayed by Popular Mechanics.

In a detailed article, the latter wonders if, assuming that we all live in a gigantic simulation, there could be a way to escape from it. The idea is already addressed by the Wachowski sisters in Matrix and its consequences: it is about trying to “see how deep the rabbit hole goes” – assuming this is possible.

Create a bug in the Matrix

To fuel his argument, Roman Yampolskiy uses real examples of hacking, cites video games and multiplies philosophical ramblings on how we could try to communicate with the beings who supervise the simulation in which we find ourselves. He embellishes his thoughts with escape plans theorized by other thinkers, which we already want to tattoo on our chest in order to play Michael Scofield when the opportunity arises.

These intellectuals propose in particular to try to generate an “incalculable paradox”, which consists of trying to influence the memory of the simulation en masse. More practically, this could mean asking millions of people to meditate simultaneously, then suddenly becoming very active. The idea is to literally create a bug in the Matrix and see where it might take us.

Relatively realistic, the computer scientist admits in his article that there are elements tending to prove that it is impossible to escape a simulation of which we are an element. He notes, for example, that being aware of the simulation itself does not seem to have any impact on one's existence – just as religions, all of which rely on an external simulator, have no measurable effect. Even the use of incredibly complex machines capable of producing stunning results, such as the Large Hadron Collider, appears to have no impact on any type of simulation.

Basically, we can also wonder if there is necessarily an interest in getting out of the simulation. This is the whole question of the choice between the red pill and the blue pill submitted to Neo (Keanu Reeves) by Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) at the Wachowskis. But Roman Yampolskiy argues that access to basic reality could increase our computational capacity and give us access to “real” knowledge rather than the simulated physics of our known universe. Which still makes us a little curious.