What if I told you that you are a character living in a simulation? What if you were a character being controlled by someone or a person living your life as the simulator intended- like a doll living in a dollhouse, whose every action is determined or controlled by the person playing it? Maybe we've all been playing a game since we were born and when we die, someone removes our mask and says, "Game over. Do you want to play again?"
This is a real question puzzling some scientists. Let's be honest, some of us have also had this question after watching movies like ‘The Matrix’. There have even been theories about this, such as the "Simulation theory", which states: 'we live in a base reality, but there are simulations too’. Scientists have been constantly trying to prove whether this is true or false.
Other theories float around as well. One of them claims that there exists a multiverse and each and every version is a simulation; there is a simulated version of us in each galaxy and the reason we can't find them is because we would have to travel faster than the speed of light to do so, which is impossible! This is the impediment that the simulator has imposed, so we never find out the truth.
Some say that our simulations aren't similar to the simulations we know and see, like games. These simulations are fully created and finished before we play. So, nothing unexpected or out of context happens. Our simulations, on the other hand, have unexpected bumps and turns because they are created as we go on; or so says a theory!
There has been research to prove it based on philosophical theories combined with science and statistics. However, they couldn't reach a conclusion as the inputs are all hypotheses. Different inputs can give different answers, and the process itself could be manipulated to give a specific answer.
Not only scientists and professors, even commoners like us also have these shower thoughts once in a while - I know I do. I wonder sometimes, if you prove you are in fact living in reality and not a simulation, how can you be so sure? How can you prove you are not just simulated to find this answer to keep you from finding out the truth? You can never be sure. This is why I think this question will be an ever dwelling dilemma.
Whether or not we are truly us or just a character, we must live life as though there is no tomorrow and roll with the punches that life throws at us. I put forth the conclusory question to the reader: do you think we are real and in control of our own destiny and actions, or we are all just a simulation?
