Bill Nye: Are We Living in a Computer Simulation? | Big Think

Bill Nye: Are We Living in a Computer Simulation?

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Are we living in a holographic simulation created by a supercomputer beyond our comprehension? That question occurs again and again in science fiction, perhaps most notably in The Matrix, a film in which unreality is so pristine that no one notices the truth. That we are all actually, truly living in such a matrix seems laughable until you consider the advances made by video games in the last few decades.
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BILL NYE:

Bill Nye, scientist, engineer, comedian, author, and inventor, is a man with a mission: to help foster a scientifically literate society, to help people everywhere understand and appreciate the science that makes our world work. Making science entertaining and accessible is something Bill has been doing most of his life.

In Seattle Nye began to combine his love of science with his flair for comedy, when he won the Steve Martin look-alike contest and developed dual careers as an engineer by day and a stand-up comic by night. Nye then quit his day engineering day job and made the transition to a night job as a comedy writer and performer on Seattle’s home-grown ensemble comedy show “Almost Live.” This is where “Bill Nye the Science Guy®” was born. The show appeared before Saturday Night Live and later on Comedy Central, originating at KING-TV, Seattle’s NBC affiliate.

While working on the Science Guy show, Nye won seven national Emmy Awards for writing, performing, and producing. The show won 18 Emmys in five years. In between creating the shows, he wrote five children’s books about science, including his latest title, “Bill Nye’s Great Big Book of Tiny Germs.”

Nye is the host of three currently-running television series. “The 100 Greatest Discoveries” airs on the Science Channel. “The Eyes of Nye” airs on PBS stations across the country.

Bill’s latest project is hosting a show on Planet Green called “Stuff Happens.” It’s about environmentally responsible choices that consumers can make as they go about their day and their shopping. Also, you’ll see Nye in his good-natured rivalry with his neighbor Ed Begley. They compete to see who can save the most energy and produce the smallest carbon footprint. Nye has 4,000 watts of solar power and a solar-boosted hot water system. There’s also the low water use garden and underground watering system. It’s fun for him; he’s an engineer with an energy conservation hobby.

Nye is currently the Executive Director of The Planetary Society, the world’s largest space interest organization.
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TRANSCRIPT:

Bill Nye:  So are we living in a videogame? Are we actually part of a giant simulation? I don’t think you can know. I think you can argue that whoever has written the simulation, whatever super entity has written the simulation could make it so sophisticated that even your memories are a result of this being programmed by the simulator or simulatrix. So the question is at some level irrelevant but another level I think we would have to agree it’s unknowable. You can just presume any level of sophistication that makes it undetectable to us. With that said there have been a lot of science fiction stories where people discover that they’re living in a dome or inside a hollow world or underground and the metaphors for this are from our everyday experience. You hear about kids who have been kidnapped and kept in a room until they’re 14 and they know nothing of the world outside. And the human mind apparently at some level is uncapable of detecting that outside world unless something goes wrong. For me as a philosopher to prove that we’re living in a videogame is an extraordinary level of effort. But if you can do it bring it on. But it seems to me it’s a hard question to resolve because it’s easy to imagine a game designer, a simulation designer making it so sophisticated that you can’t tell. Good luck out there.

[BLADESTER]

If we are it has got some kickass graphics

[altergo]

It's a very boring simulation. I even have to work 40 hour weeks.. shit..

[TheZealo]

Does this mean people that need glasses just have old graphics cards?

[shipwreck]

Imagine this, when you dream, there are usually other people (or characters) in your dream. This means that you're devoting parts of your brain, just to simulate other people. The neurons that you're using to simulate a person are just a small part of your brain, but because you're devoting those neurons to simulating a person, it's like you're giving a portion of your brain to a person in your dream. This means that people in your dreams have a brain of their own, even though it's only a small portion of your mind. Dreams are mostly subconscious, and most people can't control their dreams. So you could say that people that you see in your dreams, are people that have the ability to think freely. We could all be living inside of the mind of a being that we would think is super-intelligent. And that would explain the parallel between the galactic web, and our brain's neurons.

[antoinepageau]

I want to know who has the "high score".

[zdenek]

There is a huge difference between living in a simulation and being a part of a simulation. If we live in a simulation and we are not a part then if something goes wrong we could get outside (like matrix). If we are created as a part of the simulation then there's no escape for us.

[tristyntech]

Me: "Bill Nye, are we living in a simulation?"
Bill Nye: "I dunno. U tell me."
Me "-_-"

[StopChangingMyNameYoutube]

"Yo bruh, I'm playing this new character in the MMORPG called Earh, I'm racking up this sick kill streak."
"What's your character called bruh?"
"Adolf Hitler bruh, Got this stupid ass mustache on him and got the clan goosestepping around like a bunch of dumbasses, its hilarious!'

[WaterTheBoy]

If we found out that we were in a simulation, how would we get out?
Should we get out?
Maybe we were put in for our own protection, possibly by other humans.
Maybe it was our idea to go into a simulation, and start a new.

[MrTrenttness]

I like Bill but this is such a deeply philosophical question that I a little disappointed he really barely scratched the surface on this incredible, and highly likely possibility. I recently listened to Sam Harris discusses this on his podcast and it is truly a mind blowing subject.

[blackmage-]

I think that the very fact that we thought it possible, might be a clue that it is true.
Then even if we are, such an immensely powerful simulation could never be preprogrammed from the start, so it is basically like reality.

[TOSUnbound]

The thing is... They didn’t have to simulate an entire universe. They just had to develop an Artificial Intelligence that processes an “external” world that doesn’t actually exist outside of their “heads”. I feel sometimes people tackle this subject and think it seems really unbelievable. It’s not. One of the most common theories for consciousness is that it’s present in any system of reactions. However, from an external point of view, we can’t give insight to the level of consciousness within Life/AI to prove the validity of it’s inputs. We may never find the full truth but I can shed some light in the right direction. All these “entities” had to do was program a breed of AI interconnected from stimuli through the program. Not an entire plane of existence. No masterful amount of computing power necessary. As for the rest of the universe? A simple procedural generation algorithm with the “real-ness” invoked through filtered inputs of the artificial intelligence.

[stevensiferd]

If it's a simulation, it's more likely some huge experiment for philosophers to study psychology, sociology, anthropology, etc. And if it is, I hope the programmers are open to our suggestions for the next reboot.

[CostaCostaCosta]

I like to think that the Fibonacci sequence seen in nature is just a procedural generation code.

[TheFlightSimDeck]

'We are one of the ways that the universe knows it's self" That was my favorite Bill Nye quote. It's really mind blowing. WE ARE the universe. We are this microsocpic organism living within this vast group of particles and we understand that. I always think about how large the universe is to us and then think about how large the universe is to an ant or bacteria!

[sapphyrus]

I'd say the biggest challenges for such a simulation would be when we began to observe both the cosmos and the micro scales. Simulating everything at such a vast scale would be so computationally intense that it'd have to work on even smaller scale computers to pull it all off. Otherwise there's nothing preventing us from cross-checking our findings to find discrepancies if all we're shown is a basic random simulation when we observe the stars or molecules.

[jacklee]

Yes, we are living in something. It seems that a computer simulation could only partially answer questions, but there is something out there exercising some control over events. There are so many weird things that happens somewhere everyday, out of the normal, and also in the past. However, perhaps it is something else, besides, or only partially a computer simulation.

[timf]

Amazing how young Bill looks. I'm 31 and watched his science videos in 5th grade and he still looks the same!

[luan]

Ok answer me this random stranger on the internet. If we do live in a computer simulation then how did the "programmer" create Pi and how is an infinite, non repeating cycle able to exist inside a simulation ? (not hating on the theory, i actually enjoy it but just seen this question somwehere on a forum a long time ago)

[DanielRenardAnimation]

I often feel like that. Or at least like *"The Truman Show".* When ever I encounter problems in my life. Not just problems, but physical obstacles and hardships that I never even knew existed. All of a sudden, science-themed video channels starts talking about that exact problem, even the media or some documentary on TV is shown about it.
I had an abrupt end put to my life, as the person, most important to me, vanished from it, because of an illness of sorts, I had never even heard about. Suddenly, everyone starts talking about it. Explaining it. I see videos where the authors states they have it, etc. etc. Maybe it's just a type of availability heuristic; it was never a problem before, so just in one ear and out the other, but now that it changed my life and how I feel about it, it hits my cerebral cortex like an atomic bomb. Every single time. Whoever said all wounds heal with time... is a fictional simulated character.