Nov 2, 2025 07:04 AM
Physicists just ruled out the universe being a simulation
https://www.sciencealert.com/physicists-...simulation
INTRO: A question that has vexed physicists for the past century may finally have a solution – but perhaps not the one everyone was hoping for.
In a new, detailed breakdown of current theory, a team of physicists led by Mir Faizal of the University of British Columbia has shown that there is no universal "Theory of Everything" that neatly reconciles general relativity with quantum mechanics – at least, not an algorithmic one.
A natural consequence of this is that the Universe can't be a simulation, since any such simulations would have to operate algorithmically. "We have demonstrated that it is impossible to describe all aspects of physical reality using a computational theory of quantum gravity," Faizal says.
"Therefore, no physically complete and consistent theory of everything can be derived from computation alone. Rather, it requires a non-algorithmic understanding, which is more fundamental than the computational laws of quantum gravity and therefore more fundamental than spacetime itself."
One of the most pernicious thorns in our understanding of how everything works is the insoluble relationship between the seamless fabric of spacetime and the fuzzy duality of quantum mechanics. We know that the Universe does function, but the mathematics used to describe each realm collapses when applied to the other... (MORE - details)
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Arthur C. Clarke (1956): Of all the thousands of forms of recreation in the city, these were the most popular. When you entered a saga, you were not merely a passive observer, as in the crude entertainments or primitive times which Alvin had sometimes sampled. You were an active participant and possessed -- or seemed to possess -- free will. The events and scenes which were the raw material of your adventures might have been prepared beforehand by forgotten artists, but there was enough flexibility to allow for wide variation. You could go into these phantom worlds with your friends, seeking the excitement that did not exist in Diaspar -- and as long as the dream lasted there was no way in which it could be distinguished from reality. Indeed, who could be certain that Diaspar itself was not the dream?
[...] For adventure and the exercise of the imagination, the sagas provided all that anyone could desire. They were the inevitable end product of that striving for realism which began when men started to reproduce moving images and to record sounds, and then to use these techniques to enact scenes from real or imaginary life. In the sagas, the illusion was perfect because all the sense impressions involved were fed directly into the mind and any conflicting sensations were diverted. The entranced spectator was cut off from reality as long as the adventure lasted; it was as if he lived a dream yet believed he was awake. --The City and the Stars
https://www.sciencealert.com/physicists-...simulation
INTRO: A question that has vexed physicists for the past century may finally have a solution – but perhaps not the one everyone was hoping for.
In a new, detailed breakdown of current theory, a team of physicists led by Mir Faizal of the University of British Columbia has shown that there is no universal "Theory of Everything" that neatly reconciles general relativity with quantum mechanics – at least, not an algorithmic one.
A natural consequence of this is that the Universe can't be a simulation, since any such simulations would have to operate algorithmically. "We have demonstrated that it is impossible to describe all aspects of physical reality using a computational theory of quantum gravity," Faizal says.
"Therefore, no physically complete and consistent theory of everything can be derived from computation alone. Rather, it requires a non-algorithmic understanding, which is more fundamental than the computational laws of quantum gravity and therefore more fundamental than spacetime itself."
One of the most pernicious thorns in our understanding of how everything works is the insoluble relationship between the seamless fabric of spacetime and the fuzzy duality of quantum mechanics. We know that the Universe does function, but the mathematics used to describe each realm collapses when applied to the other... (MORE - details)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Arthur C. Clarke (1956): Of all the thousands of forms of recreation in the city, these were the most popular. When you entered a saga, you were not merely a passive observer, as in the crude entertainments or primitive times which Alvin had sometimes sampled. You were an active participant and possessed -- or seemed to possess -- free will. The events and scenes which were the raw material of your adventures might have been prepared beforehand by forgotten artists, but there was enough flexibility to allow for wide variation. You could go into these phantom worlds with your friends, seeking the excitement that did not exist in Diaspar -- and as long as the dream lasted there was no way in which it could be distinguished from reality. Indeed, who could be certain that Diaspar itself was not the dream?
[...] For adventure and the exercise of the imagination, the sagas provided all that anyone could desire. They were the inevitable end product of that striving for realism which began when men started to reproduce moving images and to record sounds, and then to use these techniques to enact scenes from real or imaginary life. In the sagas, the illusion was perfect because all the sense impressions involved were fed directly into the mind and any conflicting sensations were diverted. The entranced spectator was cut off from reality as long as the adventure lasted; it was as if he lived a dream yet believed he was awake. --The City and the Stars
