Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Do We Live in a Digital Simulation?

People once believed the world was infinitely divisible.

If you were to take a string and cut in half:


And cut those halves down again:


And again and again..


You would think you could do this indefinitely... but you can't!

At some point you will reach a length known as the Planck length:

1.61619926 × 10-35 meters

It's impossible to measure anything smaller than this length. Below this level objects stop becoming objects and lose their dimensions. Objects at this scale also behave in strange ways far beyond human intuition. 

There's also something known as Planck time:

5.39106(32) × 10−44 s

This is the time it takes for light to travel one Planck length, and it's the smallest unit of time.

The universe we live in, rather than being infinitely divisible is granular - or you could even say digital! Some scientists even suspect that the universe is a hologram.

Could it be that the world that we live in is a digital simulation? Could it be that there is another reality hiding behind the virtual reality we live in?


The bible actually alludes to this in many places! Here's one verse:
2 Corinthians 4:18
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
According to God's word the world we see is not real and passing away, but there is a reality underlying the world we live in that is *real* and eternal!


In the movie, The Matrix (1999), the inhabitants of earth are stuck in a virtual reality simulation but very few of them realize it. While the world they live in is fake, the humans behind the people living in the matrix are real. The real life people and their digital avatars are also connected in the sense that if you were to die in the 'matrix', you would die in real life.

Did you know that the bible describes something like this! Every human on this earth has a body. But connected to the flesh we inhabit is a living soul which lives in a spiritual dimension. This unseen spiritual dimension could include the second heavens, the dwelling place of fallen angels and demons as well as the third heavens where God is.

Jesus once said:
Matthew 16:26
What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?
According to God's value system, one soul is worth more than a whole world without souls! Did you know God cares more about preserving your one soul than the entire universe? Could it be because the things of this world are not actually real and are passing away?

Many people who have had near death experiences report that after they left their bodies the reality they experienced was more real than the life they previously lived in. One person even said that the life we live in is a dream compared to when you leave your body.


In Luke 12:15 Jesus warns his disciples
Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions."

Are any of us still holding on our digital goods and dreams at the expense of what is actually real and eternal-- our souls? In Matthew 16:25 Jesus says
For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.
If our worldview is not transformed then this is one of the hardest verses to take in the bible. However if we put on the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16) and take on God's view and value system of the world then it becomes much easier.

Jesus seems to set such a high standard for us as he does on the sermon on the mount, but he also says in Matthew 11:28 that his yoke is easy and his burden is light:
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Today many souls around us are enslaved by the matrix we live in which heaps a continuous avalanche of worries, anxieties and lusts at its people. Some are blinded to the reality that lies behind this world. Others know the reality exists but choose to ignore it and live their lives comfortably.


Are we willing to wake up like Neo did and take the red pill? Are we willing to give up our lives to Jesus so that he can give it back to us again in eternity?
2 Corinthians 4:17
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
The price of our own lives may seem high, but the reward will be immeasurably higher.
1 Corinthians 2:9
However, as it is written: "What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived" -- the things God has prepared for those who love him--

1 comment:

  1. Either that. Or we are sinful left behinds in a fallen preterraformed planet with billions nanobots that listen and answer our prayers on behalf of the Empire of God.

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