If Reality Were A Simulation, Which Pill Would You Take?
The questions about existence are some of the biggest questions that we have. We’ve always been an inquisitive species and therefore the need to know is inherent within us and hence, the pursuit of the answers to these questions.
Scientists and researchers apart, even the common human thinks about the nature of reality and what it all means and there is, in my opinion, nothing bigger and more sophisticated to think about.
There have been many scientific theories and even philosophies that try to answer some of the most burning questions we have and to an extent we have some knowledge about it. But then, we hear about radical new theories that challenge these theories or that add to the explanations we have but in a way that changes everything!
One of those radical theories is that the whole reality is nothing but a simulation. The idea is not new and there have been many movies made about this before. Even some really smart people in the world (Elon Musk, Neil deGrasse Tyson) believe in it. But what exactly does it mean?
A Simulated Reality
When we say reality, we mean literally everything that exists. This includes the entire existence. The existence of us, the universe, your cat, your grandma, every single thing! So, when someone comes along and says reality is not real, you would definitely scratch your head.
The Simulation Hypothesis does just that. It states that our reality is a computer simulation built by a highly intelligent species. That effectively makes the universe and everything in it, lines of code!
If you think about it, this idea is not too far fetched. In fact, just take a look at our own abilities of creating simulations, which has come a long way in just a few decades. Today, millions of people play online games simultaneously that look very realistic.
With time, and technologies like Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, these virtual worlds will be almost impossible to tell apart from reality. So, if we can achieve this, a higher intelligent species that is thousands of years more advanced than us, surely can!
This idea became really popular after the Matrix movies, where the main character, Neo, was given two choices (red pill and blue pill). He could remain in the virtual world or could wake up in the real one. IF our reality was a simulation too, and you were given the same choices, which one would you take?
The Blue Pill
In the Matrix movies, taking the blue pill means simply continuing to live like before, in the simulation, which they call Matrix. This would mean that the person would never know the truth.
I wonder how many people would take the blue pill if presented with the options. Continuing to live life as it was, even though it isn’t real, definitely has some comfort in it. That familiarity might feel just too good to abandon.
There might be many who could simply remain in denial because their whole idea of reality, their beliefs, the life as they know it would be challenged and this might be too difficult for them to accept and therefore they might automatically go into denial mode and opt for the blue pill.
As they say, ignorance is bliss and I wonder how many would choose the comfortable ignorance and a system they are familiar to over a harsh and radically different reality, where they might even be in danger.
The Red Pill
In the Matrix movies, taking the red pill wakes you up in the real world, so you are no longer living in the fake virtual world created by the machines. So, you then exist in the world that the machines have taken over.
If our own reality was a simulation, we have no idea who the programmers of it might be and if they would be good or evil. Taking the red pill would literally transfer you to their world and out of this fake one.
If I had the choice, I would take the red pill and I think a lot of you would too. I would rather get slapped by a harsh truth than live a comfortable lie. Also, our curious nature would definitely make us want to ‘know’ what real really is and in the moment, the decision would be pretty clear.
There would be no meaning to life if we declined the red pill because as Morpheus says to Neo, “It’s the question that drives us” and if we choose to ignore the existence of the question itself, I see no meaning to such a life. In fact, that would make us perfect suitors of ‘their’ virtual world.
I believe that we live in a simulated reality, and that the world is kind of a holographic reality. Yes, I take my red pills, daily!
Yeah, it is very plausible!
Do you have any faintest idea of how to 'prove' it?
I think I have heard of some ways that it can be proven. None come to mind right now though. Some searching on the internet might get you the answers.
The overwhelming evidence points to Oxycontin.
Red pill. I am too curious 😁
Me too :D
Very interesting subject @sauravrungta and very stimulating.
I would tend to think that many people would choose the blue pill preferring to live in the comfort zone of their "reality" rather than shake their reality or destroy it completely.
I say this because many of us humans are living in a specific comfort zone, even if this comfort zone is actually like hell and not comfortable at all, just because they are afraid to explore the unknown.
Of course not all people are like that, thats why we were able to explore the universe as well as the internet world. Through the individuals who do not fear the unknown, radical changes and further stimulated realities are born
I personally would like to have both pills at hand (not just one), take the red pill first and go to the real world to understand what happened and what makes it, then go back to the stimulated world to figure out solutions for the real world. I guess that is my scientist side of loving to find solutions speaking. In this case, I will probably need a pack or 2 of both types of pills to keep doing my experiments, LOL
However, there are a couple of questions that come to mind,
1- What if the stimulated world IS the solution WE (not machines or God or whatever) invented to be able to live in the real world without suffering too much?
2- Since the input and output of information for each human is different, this makes the perspective of each individual vary from so slightly to so much from each other. Does that mean these pills actually exist in 50 (or more) different shades, not only 2?
Thanks for sharing :)
In response to your question 1; If we had total control over the parameters of this simulacra, why is there still some suffering? Would it not have been eradicated entirely?
I guess that can be answered by answering "Yes" to the second question. People has been taking different shades of pill depending on their differences in perspective and imaginative abilities.
As the old saying goes "You can bring the horse to the water but you can't make the horse drink"
So let me see i follow this; the 'real' (outer) reality is some sort of traumatic wasteland and we've all voluntarily plugged ourselves into this subset reality in order to live in a bliss state for a while and ignore the pain of being conscious in that other one. That's an interesting idea, that it wasnt some nefarious AI or corporate conspiracy - that we plugged in by choice to avoid the suffering there. And we're about to do the same thing again from within this reality; the development of our own Virtual Reality devices....It's like a nested set of sub-realities that keep getting better in terms of enjoyment, pleasure and avoiding suffering? It's alchemical: we're continually refining and distilling the best parts of consciousness perhaps? I wonder how many iterations there have been?
Dear @fishsauce, That is a beautiful way of summarizing it.
Honestly, I think the iterations are not what really matter. The depth of each iteration is what makes more of a difference.
For example, the depth of virtual reality nowadays is so great that people tend to "want to" live in it more than living in their real lives. Games, social media, "reality" made-up TV shows, TV series and social platforms. What's even more pronounced is that younger generations are especially more susceptible to these things than older generations.
Just listen to what old people say about the way they used to play outside with their friends, while kids of this era are mesmerized by video games of all sorts.
Yeah, you are quite right. Many people would rather continue living in the make believe than face the reality or even try to comprehend it.
I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and Non-violence are as old as the hills. All I have done is to try experiments in both on as vast a scale as I could.
- Mahatma Gandhi
I thought for a long time about this question. I looked up Descartes' Daemon Deceiver, The Allegory of the Cave, The Matrix.
But does it really matter if it is a simulation or not? We still have preferences (I love pizza), physical stimuli (I have a bruise from bumping a table), and there is a flow to this reality (nothing ever is exactly like I imagined). If this is a simulated reality, someone needs to change the settings.
We are also still are here on steemit making a different reality. In this regard we definitely took the blue pill, but yet there are things to be discovered here. Relationships to be made, in the world void web.
In conclusion, I always found this question interesting but less than fruitful. So what if it is real or not? Does knowing (or not knowing) this 'fact' change anything? Have you ever chosen a different path or action because you believed it was simulated?
'If you can't be, with the one you love, love the one you're with.'
Crosby, Stills, and Nash
The question here is not the what if.
The question here is would you take the red pill and go to the real world or take the blue one and stay here.
I'm just saying, it wouldn't matter to me. The connections that I have to the 'real world' and the 'simulated world' are just cognitive structures. Reality, like meaning, is something that I think we create for ourselves. You could be real, or not, I still am enjoying this dialog.
Also a 'simulated hypothesis' is a fancy 'what if'.
The Allegory of the Cave is just a much older version of this simulated reality.
Truth. It poses the same question. And therein lies my answer, I would take the red pill if it afforded me a way to return and help others find 'reality'. Much like a true philosopher after leaving, who returns to the cave to help those still inside.
What I am trying to get at, is the can of worms that this question proposes. Are somethings real (ex: my mind) and some false (ex: my simulated body)? Are there 'others' to show the light outside the cave?
Both are real in the sense that mind and body are subsets of the greater 'set of all realities'. However, it may be prudent to ask, which is more real? Goedel's set theory revealed that contradictions can coexist within nested sets, without being invalidated. So Plato's cave needs addendum here; the falsity of the reality inside the cave is not guaranteed by the perspective of being outside of the cave.
Well, the hypothesis that it is all a simulation might open up to possibilities that don't seem to be open in a totally material universe. For example it might be the case that we should interpret chance, and luck differently. There just might be a "meaning" to events for us to try to decipher, that would otherwise just be coincidence and chance.
This question really recurs on all levels of life. Not only is it possible that the physical universe as a whole is some sort of illusion, you can also (and you probably do) live within layers of illusion within this physical universe.
The blue pill. it doesn't matter which reality is true. Even in a simulation there are decisions and consequences. This would not change if you left the simulation. Just because one reality is true and the other is fabricated does not make the non simulated reality a better experience. Imagine this thought experiment: It is the far future. All stars have burned out and all that is left are embers of neutron stars and black holes. In this stage, the universe emits essentially no light. Hypothetically a civilization could harvest the rotational energy of black holes to provide energy. But since there is no available light, there is nothing to see or anything that is worth seeing. This civilization may decide that a simulated universe is more interesting to interact in than a dark universe.
Great post ! I would definitely take the red pill to bring about a change for the better even if it brings a setback in life at first
The red pill would shatter all our understandings and may wake us up into a reality that we wouldn't even be able to comprehend.
Nice post and i like post you...i. Resteem post you dear friend @sauravrungta
Thanks!!
I will choose the red pill every time
F.Dostoyevsky (the russian author ) says :"no one sees the reality as a reality except the pessimistics persons"
i rather be pessimistic and live the reality
Me too!!