How to determine if this "reality" is in fact a computer simulation

Originally posted by Acharya

Originally posted by reef75
but wouldnt this fact be true even for a/the real reality?
2 mirrors reflecting one source would surpass to infinity if bounced straight at each others

In a true reality you would have an infinite number of reflections, while in a computer generated reality the number of reflections would have to be finite because an infinite number of reflections would entail infinite computer resources and computing time.

That's funny because in my opinion it's exactly the opposite.

In the "true reality" there are many factors which would after a while diminish the reflections eg. no mirror can be "perfect" and throw back 100% of all the light. If the mirror only throws 95% of light, well do the math...after some reflections it's the end, you wont see anything anymore.

In a computer simulation i could simply ignore those factors, and, YES, "infinity" is in fact possible in a computer simulation...just look at fractals.

Originally posted by flexy123
"infinity" is in fact possible in a computer simulation...just look at fractals.

edit on 29-1-2012 by flexy123 because: (no reason given)

Infinity with computers is only possible without an infinity in computing time and resources. The higher level of details you want in a fractal the more time the computer takes to calculate the image.

Fractals are also interesting in another way that may very well relate to this theory; the more you zoom into an fractal the more decimal expansion you have. In the end your float or double can't decimal expand anymore without loosing detail and you start to get erroneous fractal math results.

Floating point accuracy problems

Originally posted by flexy123
In the "true reality" there are many factors which would after a while diminish the reflections eg. no mirror can be "perfect" and throw back 100% of all the light. If the mirror only throws 95% of light, well do the math...after some reflections it's the end, you wont see anything anymore.

Its true that you have refractions and absorption of light, they are described in Snell's laws, but still I wonder if anyone has tried to calculate the number of reflections to see if it ever get so far that you only have one photon left. Perhaps the computer simulation of reality, if there is such a thing, stops way before you only have a single photon. It would be an interesting experiment for sure.

1) The limited reflections could be programmed in using a rule manifesting, in that instance, limited photons (information carriers) and/or a given reflecting medium's imperfect reflectance.

2) The above could be the basis for a non-simulated reality, merely acting as what we know to be the laws of physics.

Unfortunately, any experiment along these lines, would not indicate one way or another.

the accuracy of the mirrors is staggering.
it can be done by NASA.
then you have to align them and keep an even temp.

BUT how do you see them?
sounds easy. but the object is in the way!
to see around it you end up bending the mirrors.
and no infinity.

there must be a way.
but YOU are a part of the program!
do you still wont to Crash it?

I believe lasers prove that reflections are only limited by the opacity of the mirror(s).

If you had an object between two mirrors, and were seeing how many reflections you can count....

When you flick off the light switch the mirrors continue to reflect photons back and forth AFTER the light is switched off.

Use a slow speed camera and measure the milliseconds photons continue to bounce between the mirrors after the light is switched off. Why did they stop? Either we're in a black hole and photons need to keep getting fed to stay out front in our realm....or the computer program has a dead time for a photon after it ceases getting fed.

Measure the time for a photon to cease existing. Lets say it's 0.0000002 milliseconds. If I pulsed a light emitter every 0.00000002 milliseconds so only 1 photon appeared, constantly in the same spot.......it wouldn't reflect ANYTHING in the mirror. There would be no spare photons to bounce back and forth between the mirrors.

1 photon would be 'phased' into existence between the mirrors.....and we would see it as light....but would get no reflection.If this happened, you would have cracked the simulation software, and you could begin creating your own reality.

Ahhhh I'm just ranting on a possibility via other means to crack the simulation...based upon nothing but my inept madness......

reply to post by Pervius


No continue! It's intriguing. Holographic universe/simulation theory is as valid as any and there is, indeed, quirky(pun intended) behavior!

Originally posted by Atlantican
reply to post by Pervius

 

No continue! It's intriguing. Holographic universe/simulation theory is as valid as any and there is, indeed, quirky(pun intended) behavior!

True. When trying to understand black holes in mainstream physics the holographic universe theory seems to be the most popular. They discovered this when they tried to understand how a black hole would not break the laws of physics by losing "information".

reply to post by Acharya


nah. once we create another one of these realities (what where living in) for "research" the technological advances will be ones we cant comprehend at this point in time, where too silly.

computer technologies will mirror the "universe" so it will be exact same "laws" that will be governed by.

edit- super universe computer that will be aware of existence and consciousness will not make mistakes, the reality it creates in "programs" (if you'd call them that) would be indistinguishable to our current reality, the one where im typing this.

if we was part of a simulation the computer(s) required to generate this world and sustain the billions of users within it would require such immense processing power that generating an infinite amount of reflections for it would be the equivalent of loading Notepad for us... it is likely the system would also preset certain laws and boundaries for us to follow which would limit our technological advancements making our detection of the simulation impossible.

i would also exercise caution of consumption of unidentifiable medication by total strangers under the impression it will release you from the simulation, in my experience this has only resulted in releasing me of valuables