Playing God

 

Richard John Terrile is a NASA scientist who believes our existence is simply a simulation... that our consciousness is not magical... that at some point it can be simulated by a computer, or in other words, replicated. In simple words: “We can create a God”! The Matrix might have been Hollywood science fiction, but some scientists and philosophers take the so-called “simulation hypothesis” — the idea that everything we see might be an artificial creation — seriously.

Richard John Terrile is a Voyager scientist who discovered several moons of Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. He works for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Also, he took the first pictures of another solar system around the nearby star Beta Pictoris. According to Rich, the principles of quantum mechanics support this simulation hypothesis.

Particles do not have a specific state if they are not visible. In other words, we see what we expect to see, and this happens when we look at it. The essence of Rich's theory is that a “programmer” from the future designed our reality to simulate the course of what the programmer considers to be ancient history - for whatever reason... maybe because he’s bored.

Rich says our universe is pixelated in units (broken up into pieces like subatomic particles). There is much evidence that indicates that our reality is not as real as it seems to some of us. This may be the result of computer simulations that we are all in.

Of course, the main question to be asked in such a situation is “who created this simulation?” Among the possible solutions is God or some advanced alien civilization.

Rich defines science as the discovery of the mathematical framework that explains our observations of the physical world. He emphasizes that the universe is astonishingly mathematical, meaning that it can be described and understood through mathematical laws and principles. This is not a necessary condition, but it is a fundamental aspect of our universe.

He quotes Einstein, who found it incomprehensible that the world is comprehensible. He also references Eugene Wigner's treatise on the "unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics in the natural world," which describes this phenomenon as a "miracle" or "gift." He says the entire universe, including physical constants, can be described on a few sheets of paper. This allows for simulating the universe on a computer smaller than the universe itself. The universe is "pixelated," meaning it has a finite number of elements (Planck length) and cannot be divided further. - All aspects of the universe (length, mass, energy, time, volume) are finite and discrete. - The universe has a finite number of states, making it computable. Rich Terrile says, ‘Even things that we think of as continuous – time, energy, space, volume – all have a finite limit to their size. If that’s the case, then our universe is both computable and finite. Those properties allow the universe to be simulated.’

Rich says he can build a GOD! He notes that most scientists aren't faith-based, as the mathematical framework of the universe leaves no room for magic, faith, or miracles. Instead, science offers a more amazing reality.

Rich discusses what it takes to be an atheist, starting with an origin theory independent of a creator. Science offers the Big Bang theory, although it has some unlikely probabilities and epicycles. He mentions the concept of Boltzmann brains, which could form more frequently than an entire universe. Despite some problems with the theory, science has a good origin story.

To be an atheist, one also needs to believe there's no God. Rich can't prove a negative, but he flips the perspective: can he prove that God can exist within the laws of science, without miracles or magic? The answer is yes, due to the universe's mathematical nature.

Rich can simulate a universe, creating a scenario where he meets the requirements of God as described in the Baltimore Catechism. As a programmer, he can create a simulation with artificial self-awareness, essentially becoming the creator of a universe. Rich believe these three key areas: advanced computation, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality, can come together to give humans godlike power over mind and matter, allowing us to create and engineer our own universes. "Right now the fastest NASA supercomputers are cranking away at about double the speed of the human brain. If you make a simple calculation using Moore’s Law, you’ll find that these supercomputers, inside of a decade, will have the ability to compute an entire human lifetime of 80 years—including every thought ever conceived during that lifetime—in the span of a month," said Rich.

How can we determine if our reality might be a computer simulation? Terrile, who was coincidentally a technical adviser on "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" and spends his days trying to develop artificial intelligence, thinks that AI could eventually fix everything from ending world hunger to curing cancer. "I believe it can," he says. "These very, very advanced information systems, which go way beyond the capabilities of a human, I think are the way to go in actually solving these [problems]."

Unless you believe there’s something magical about consciousness—and I don’t, I believe it’s the product of a very sophisticated architecture within the human brain—then you have to assume that at some point it can be simulated by a computer, or in other words, replicated.

There are two ways one might accomplish an artificial human brain in the future. One of them is to reverse-engineer it, but I think it would be far easier to evolve a circuit or architecture that could become conscious. Perhaps in the next 10 to 30 years we’ll be able to incorporate artificial consciousness into our machines.

Now brace yourself: In 30 years we expect that a PlayStation—they come out with a new PlayStation every six to eight years, so this would be a PlayStation 7—will be able to compute about 10,000 human lifetimes simultaneously in real time, or about a human lifetime in an hour. There’s how many PlayStations worldwide? More than 100 million, certainly. So think of 100 million consoles, each one containing 10,000 humans. That means, by that time, conceptually, you could have more humans living in PlayStations than you have humans living on Earth today. So there’s a possibility we’re living in a super advanced game in some bloodshot-eyed goober’s PlayStation right now? Rich said "Yes."

Terrile continues to explore the nature of consciousness and whether it’s something spiritual or magical. As a scientist, he bases his ideas on science rather than faith. He suggests that consciousness likely comes from the complex connections in our brains rather than any mystical source.

Currently, there are two main approaches to understanding and replicating consciousness. One approach is to reverse-engineer the brain, trying to map out and understand its intricate workings. Another approach, which Rich's lab uses, involves evolving artificial neural networks through random variations and selections to see if they can mimic the brain's self-awareness.

In 2015, Rich estimated that it might take 10 to 30 years to achieve artificial consciousness. He then shifts to discussing virtual reality and its mathematical aspects. If two things are mathematically indistinguishable, they are considered the same. This leads him to question whether a perfectly simulated environment is the same as the real one. If a simulated world can replicate the real world’s sensory experiences perfectly, then, in theory, the real and simulated worlds could be identical.

Rich proposed a thought experiment where if our entire body was enclosed and its sensory inputs replaced with a perfectly realistic simulation, we would have to question if the real world and the simulated world would be indistinguishable. If the simulation could recreate all sensory experiences exactly, it might be as real as the actual world. He speculated about the possibility of uploading our consciousness into computers. In such a scenario, we might not need physical bodies or brains, only minds interacting with a machine capable of simulating reality. This simulated reality could theoretically manipulate time and probabilities, creating any kind of universe or scenario imaginable.

What are the requirements of to become a creator? Rich considers different ideas about the universe’s origin. For people who don’t believe in a divine creator, the Big Bang theory explains how the universe started. But Rich thinks about what it would take for a creator to exist within our universe and how such a creator might be able to control and change the universe, much like how you can control a game world in "The Sims." He believes that with future technology, it might be possible to create simulations with conscious beings, similar to how a creator might work with a simulated universe.

After thinking about it, I realized that a creator of a universe is capable of changing the laws of physics and sculpting whatever this universe is, which I can do in a computer simulation. In fact, I’ll maybe be able to do that soon with conscious beings. Maybe, or maybe I’d just let them go. They’d be living out their lives in an incredibly short amount of time. Maybe I could change the physical laws. I could make them live in places both hospitable and inhospitable. I could make it so that they’re completely alone—perhaps that’s a boundary condition for us, and explains why there are no aliens.

by Vicky Verma on X@Unexplained2020 on September 6, 2024