'The Matrix has You'

While speculative theories surrounding the curious idea of living within a simulation have abounded for decades, theoretical physicist S. James Gates believes to have stumbled upon news shreds of evidence that posit the universe as just a couple of lines of code. Gates’ focus on the superstring theory, one that views the universe’s particles and its forces to be modelled akin to vibrating super-symmetric springs, seems to have yielded more questions, than answers. His research has led him to have come across error-correcting codes embedded within these equations, which are “extremely unlikely”, in his view to be present naturally.

Where does that leave us?

Although physicist Randall holds a contrasting viewpoint that the universe requires such error-correcting feedback to ensure the slip-ups aren’t delocalised and to maintain a resting equilibrium, Gates’ discovery has stirred the conversational pot for years since his discovery.

A crucial turning point according to him is the interplay of faith and science. According to this information which he now views in a newer light, finding this sort of feedback, holding software in place amidst some of the defining equations for the universe has him leaning towards whether upon reboot, the simulation can trigger an avalanche of reincarnations. Here he believes “the funny barrier” between religion and scientific beliefs is slowly broken.

Although a majority of this remains high-order physics bombarded and constantly plagued by uncertainty, let’s take a minute to reflect on what these statements truly mean in our daily lives.

While we cannot determine at this exact moment whether the life we live is a predetermined set of choices, what we can do is ensure that every moment henceforth remains meaningful. Paraphrasing Swedish physicist Max Tegmark, a leading supporter of the simulation theory - continue to live your life in interesting shades, regardless of what you may believe. Twist and retell your tale as many times as you desire, and climb the mountains of uncertainty. Do whatever it is that you need to do but just make sure that at the end of the day, the simulation doesn’t get bored of you.