Twenty-five years after The Matrix, someone finally did the math. And the math says Morpheus was wrong: this is the "base" reality, not a simulated reality within another reality. Professor Mir Faizal and his colleagues have published a study that uses pure mathematics to demonstrate the impossibility that we are living in a simulation.
Their approach combines Gödel's theorem with quantum physics and reaches a stark conclusion: the universe operates according to principles that no algorithm can capture. The implications? Enormous. For some, definitive.
The theorem that closes the Matrix
I study, published in the Journal of Holography Applications in Physics, starts from a question that has haunted pop culture since 1999: could we be living in a computer simulation created by an advanced civilization?
Nick bostrom he built an academic career there. Elon Musk He even subverted the thesis, declaring that the chances of living in the "base reality" are "one in billions." But the team led by Faizal, which includes Lawrence M. Krauss, Arshid Shabir e Francis Marino, he demonstrated that the question is not probabilistic. It is logical.
Their reasoning is based on the incompleteness theorem of Godel, which states that in any logical system, there exist truths that cannot be proven within that system. Applied to physics, this means that not all aspects of reality can be described through computation.
“We have shown that it is impossible to describe all aspects of physical reality using a computational theory of quantum gravity,” explains Faizal. In other words: there are things that a computer, no matter how powerful, simply cannot, and will never be able to, calculate.
Modern quantum physics suggests that space and time are not fundamental, but they emerge from something deeper: pure information. This information exists in what physicists call the "Platonic realm," a mathematical foundation more real than the physical universe we experience.
Even this information base, however, cannot be completely described through algorithms.
Non-algorithmic understanding
The key concept of the study is the “non-algorithmic understanding”A computer follows recipes, however complex. But some truths can only be understood through a form of knowledge that doesn't derive from a sequence of logical steps. It's like a colleague who solves problems by intuition rather than procedure: it works, but you can't program it.
"The fundamental laws of physics cannot be contained within space and time, because they themselves generate them," Krauss emphasizes. "A complete and coherent description of reality requires something deeper: a form of understanding known as non-algorithmic understanding."
Translated: No simulation can replicate the universe because the universe itself operates according to principles that are beyond computation.
What if the Platonic kingdom was simulated?
There's a seemingly logical objection: if the rules of the "Platonic realm" could resemble those of a computer simulation, couldn't that realm itself be simulated as well? The researchers are clear: no. "A completely coherent and complete description of reality cannot be achieved through computation alone," explains Faizal. "It requires a non-algorithmic understanding that by definition goes beyond algorithmic calculation and therefore cannot be simulated."
Any simulation is inherently algorithmic: it must follow programmed rules. But since the fundamental level of reality is based on a non-algorithmic understanding, the universe cannot and will never be a simulationEnd of the story. Or rather: beginning of the real story. Are you convinced?
No Simulated Reality: What It Means for Us
The study by Faizal and colleagues shifts the question from philosophical speculation to verifiable science. It's no longer "Do we believe we're living in a simulation?" but "Is it mathematically possible?" And the answer is no.
This doesn't make the universe any less mysterious. On the contrary. If reality requires a form of understanding that goes beyond any algorithm, it means there's something fundamental about the nature of existence that eludes computation.
La research published in the Journal of Holography Applications in Physics This represents a significant scientific achievement: what was once considered a philosophical hypothesis, relegated to science fiction, has been brought into the realm of mathematics and physics, with a clear and definitive answer.
For those hoping for a system reset or a way out of the simulation, the news could disappoint. But there is a silver lining: every experience, every choice, every relationship is authentic. There's no code to hack, no programmers to convince. Just reality, with all its imperfections and possibilities.
The Matrix remains a cinematic masterpiece. But apparently we don't need that red pill Neo swallowed to wake up. We're already awake.
And we always have been. Right?
