Message #265072

[Harley Quinn]

How can we tell?

Humanity might never be able to prove with certainty whether the universe is simulated, Chalmers said.

"There's certainly not going to be conclusive experimental proof that we're not in a simulation," he said near the start of the debate. "Any evidence we could ever get would be simulated!"

But other panelists said that, if the simulated universe has similar physical limitations to our perceived real universe — in which something infinitely complicated cannot be modeled without infinite resources — signs of shortcuts and approximations may lurk in our own world, the way an image breaks up into its constituent pixels when you get close enough to a screen.
Some scientists theorize that our universe is fake, and actually a simulation. Do you think we're trapped in an epic computer simulation?

    Yes, we are trapped in the Matrix, Neo.
    No, our universe is clearly a real, physical realm.
    Not sure, and I don't think I want to find out.

- See more at: http://www.space.com/32543-universe-a-simulation-asimov-debate.html#sthash.iirItpz7.dpuf