Stunning new research could prove that our entire reality is a simulation

What if everything we know to be true is a lie? What if our thoughts and decisions are not in our control, much less the things happening around us? This fascinating possibility, known as "simulation theory," states that we are living in a powerful computer program created and run by something outside of this realm of reality, per BuiltIn. Recently, simulation theory has gotten even more credence. In a recently published study, physicist Melvin Vopson, from the University of Portsmouth, UK, offered proof of how the theory could be real.

As per Vopson, a new law of physics might support the fact that the world is a physical simulation. "Any normal person will think, could it be that maybe we already are in some digital virtual reality world?" Vopson explains in a YouTube video posted about the theory on the university's channel, "It's not farfetched to assume that an advanced civilization or maybe ourselves in the future, we reach the technological level where we can simulate our world or the whole universe and it's indistinguishable from the reality."

Vopson’s previous study suggests that information has mass, and each building block of the universe stores information about itself just like humans have DNA, per the university's official website. It furthers the idea that the reality we experience is not actually real. In 2022, Dr. Vopson discovered a new law of physics that could predict genetic mutations in organisms and viruses. It is based on the second law of thermodynamics that predicts entropy, the amount of chaos or disorder in an isolated atom or system. 

Simulation theory is popular among many public figures, including Elon Musk, per USA Today. He talked about it at a conference in 2016. According to Musk, the odds that people living in what he called "base reality”, also known as the real universe, are "one in billions."

Vopson had expected that the entropy or randomness of information systems would increase over time. But as he observed it, it remained constant or even decreased. It helped him write down the second law of information dynamics or info dynamics. It could significantly impact the research on genetics and evolution theory. He says that he understands that his new theory will have a lot of impact on different spheres of scientific study. He writes, "What I wanted to do next is put the law to the test and see if it could further support the simulation hypothesis by moving it on from the philosophical realm to mainstream science," per the university's article.

"The paper also provides an explanation for the prevalence of symmetry in the universe," Vopson explains. Now, the researcher plans on putting his study to empirical testing to find further evidence for his findings. He writes, "One possible route would be my experiment devised last year to confirm the fifth state of matter in the universe - and change physics as we know it – using particle-antiparticle collisions." The study can possibly help us understand our world and future better.

Editor's note: This article was originally published on April 22, 2024. It has since been updated.