Is Anything Really Real? | Unveiled

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Do We Live in the Real World?</h4>

It was the rock band Queen who famously opened probably their most iconic record with “Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?”. Music fans have debated the meaning behind those words for decades and, actually, they could well have nothing to do with the universal nature of reality. But, in conceiving them, the singer and songwriter Freddie Mercury was at least tapping into a universal truth; channeling a philosophical conundrum that has flittered through the minds of humankind since we first became self-aware enough to consider it.

This is Unveiled, and today we’re answering the extraordinary question; is anything really real?

On the timeline of humanity, the question of reality has always been all around us. That’s kinda the point. It’s the fundamental question of our existence. Are we living in a tangible, objective world, or is our experience a complex illusion? Can we trust our senses, or are they hardwired to deceive?

In ancient times, we looked mostly to God (or to gods, multiple) to try to explain what we couldn’t understand. We developed stories and traditions, legend and myth, all in some way seeking to get a grip on our lives. In ancient Greece and Rome especially, records show that many of the most influential philosophers - such as Socrates and Plato - were also endlessly interested in truly understanding what life was. What’s the point of living, and how is reality intrinsically formed? By the time of the renaissance and the enlightenment, there were multiple theories erupting all over the world map. Human beings have always been naturally inquisitive, but in just the last few hundred years we’ve really outdone ourselves… all leading up to now; a moment in time when almost everyone alive has likely at one stage asked themselves questions like; “why am I here?” and “how do I know that what’s happening really is what’s happening?”.

In the modern era, the pursuit of science has added new dimensions to this age-old debate. And today, we can explore it via things like simulation theory, and through other matrix-like scenarios. We can also consider the implications of a multiverse, the potential influence of artificial intelligence, and even the possible existence of an extraterrestrial edge. All have a role to play as we continually try to prove what’s real. So, let’s get into it.

First up, simulation theory, which proposes that reality is, in fact, a computer-generated sim. It’s an intriguing concept that actually has roots in ancient ideas, but it gained prominence in modern times largely through the work of the Swedish philosopher and Oxford professor, Nick Bostrom. Bostrom's seminal 2003 paper, "Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?" suggests that if a technologically advanced civilization can create realistic sims of their ancestors - a prediction that many models do make - then the odds of us existing in a base reality are extremely slim. Instead, we’re much more likely to be populating one such ancestor sim, no matter how intelligent and capable of free will we believe ourselves to be. All of that would, in fact, be false, or an illusion. 

Elon Musk is a vocal advocate of simulation theory. He argues, for instance, that given the exponential growth of video game technology, it's now certainly plausible that advanced enough civilizations would create simmed worlds indistinguishable from reality. The renowned astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, has also gone on record emphasizing the potential for all of this to be a simulated construct. The chances for which Tyson has before claimed could be as much as fifty-fifty. Fifty percent likely we’re living authentic lives; fifty percent likely that everything we’ve ever known is artificially dreamt up and rendered by some higher power.

So, if our reality were a sim, then what would that mean for us? It’s the first chance of many that we have to properly question the true nature of what we know. On the one hand, would it matter if we were simulated? Some argue not really. But, on the other, could our lives ever hold the same significance if we knew that we were mere lines of code? Importantly, sim theory is a speculative hypothesis lacking concrete evidence. It isn’t a proven fact. But it sure does make you think.

In a broader sense, “the matrix” has come to be something of a catch-all term for any proposed social structure that takes us out of this dimension and into another. Of course, the idea is most closely associated with the 1999 cyberpunk sci-fi classic, “The Matrix”, which depicts a once-unsuspecting Neo as he has the veil of reality removed to learn the truth. Across all manner of blockbusting scenes and bullet-dodging special effects, Neo goes from being essentially an extra in what he used to think was real life… to very much the main character in a higher dimension.

But could Neo’s story ever actually happen? Recent advancements in artificial intelligence certainly have fueled speculation about the potential emergence of a matrix-like reality. As AI becomes more sophisticated, the prospect of an intricate, all-encompassing digital realm somehow managed by intelligent machines seemingly becomes less and less like science fiction. And perhaps it wouldn’t need to be a straight up ancestor sim, either. With growing talk around digital immortality, could it actually be that we’re all actually housed just on a server somewhere? 

In this version of reality, it’s like we’ve already died, it’s just that we don’t know it. But, before our deaths, we all lived in a civilization advanced enough to know how to convert our essence into something that could be digitally saved. And, if that were the case, then it would of course make sense to remove the parts of our former selves that knew about digital immortality… because that knowledge could easily trigger madness in the here and now. Again, it’s not something that’s commonly said to be true, there is no proof of the matrix… but versions of it do form the basis for a growing number of hypothetical ideas. And, occasionally, notions of a higher version of ourselves have bled into testimonies given by those who suffer a near death (or out of body) experience. In general, the matrix is a concept that explores the boundaries between human and machine consciousness, blurring the lines of what we perceive as real. And it could be becoming more and more relevant with every passing year and AI tech innovation.

But finally, and as with many an alt model for how the universe works, some believe that we have to consider the potential for alien intelligence guiding the way. It adds another layer to the mystery but could also solve many of the seeming problems. The Zoo Hypothesis famously suggests that life on Earth is constantly watched by an unknown alien group, pitching us like caged animals on show at the zoo. The Lab Hypothesis builds on that by suggesting that those aliens are also actively experimenting on us, turning the zoo into something more like a planet-sized petri dish. 

Crucially, though, both would serve to solve some of the mysteries of the universe. With the fine tuning problem, it’s now the case that reality works so well for us because it’s custom built by a higher hand. With the Fermi Paradox, we now know why we haven’t discovered any aliens yet, because our extraterrestrial overseers would never enter our enclosure, for fear of scuppering the experiment or just because it would be dangerous for them. Even the apparent unknowableness of the Oort Cloud could even make some sense if it were actually placed there by a superior force, to double up as something like the viewing windows in a reptile house.

Clearly all of the above (and especially the alien option) are highly speculative. Simulation theory, the matrix, AI potential and ET possibilities… none are supported by empirical evidence. However, all do form the basis for contemporary answers to the question of what’s real. On top of that, all could in some way be grouped together under the broader concept of the multiverse. If ancestor sims exist on a massive server somewhere, then all of those individual programs essentially form a multiverse. If digital immortality is viable, then the universe has far more layers than we typically give it credit for. If there’s alien life that’s sophisticated enough to create an entire star system for us, then is it so difficult to imagine the wider bubble universes that are key to the inflationary multiverse model? 

For now, the scene is set for us to at least reconsider everything we know. And the search is on to find the proof that would turn these hypothetical ideas into genuinely valid scientific breakthroughs.