In recent times, the virtual simulation theory has become increasingly popular. Scientists, philosophers, and prominent figures in our society, such as Elon Musk, often discuss it. However, from a philosophical and metaphysical standpoint, the virtual simulation theory is useless. It merely pushes the quintessential philosophical question to a lower level: What is Being? What is the Being of the hypothetical supercomputer that supposedly processes our reality?
The Virtual Simulation Theory and The Matrix
The virtual simulation theory gained fame thanks to The Matrix, one of the most successful movies of the last thirty years. Neo, the protagonist of The Matrix, after awakening from the virtual simulation he was in, commits a glaring philosophical error: he takes for granted that the reality he finds himself in is Reality.
What is the reality in which the computer that supposedly simulates our universe exists? Upon waking from the Matrix, Neo should have asked himself, “How can I be sure this isn’t just another simulation?” The main goal of philosophical and spiritual inquiry is to directly know Being.
Virtual Simulation Theory and Materialism
The virtual simulation theory is nothing but materialism 2.0. It explains Being mechanistically through virtual simulation, which occurs within the hypothetical supercomputer composed of matter.
According to the virtual simulation theory, you are conscious because somewhere in the universe, a supercomputer is processing your consciousness. The virtual simulation theory explains consciousness through matter that constitutes the supercomputer; materialism explains consciousness as the interaction of certain material particles within the brain that give rise to consciousness.
The virtual simulation theory explains away the miracle of consciousness by claiming that consciousness arises from a supercomputer; materialism explains away the miracle of consciousness by asserting that consciousness arises from the brain. Both the virtual simulation theory and materialism start from erroneous assumptions, and if you begin philosophical inquiries with incorrect presuppositions, you arrive at incorrect conclusions.
The Main Error of the Virtual Simulation Theory
The main error of both the virtual simulation theory and materialism is assuming that Being must have a cause. In reality, Being is acausal; it has no mechanistic cause. In other words, the present moment is a true miracle. Extremely rational people don’t want to understand the mystical aspect of life: doing so would mean deconstructing their own minds and identities.
Virtual Simulation Theory and Idealism
There’s an abysmal difference between the virtual simulation theory and the mental model of the universe. In the virtual simulation theory, consciousness requires a cause: the hardware of the computer simulating virtual reality. In the mental model of the universe, consciousness has no cause: reality is pure software, pure imagination.
Your theory is crazy, but it’s not crazy enough to be true.
Niels Bohr
Don’t think of the Mind of the universe as if it were a brain, or you’ll fall into the trap of believing that being has a cause. Everything you interact with is your own Mind; everything you’re perceiving at this moment is your own Consciousness, your own Self.
Unlike what you’ve been taught, you can know Truth. To understand the mental nature of reality, you only need to stop believing everything you take for granted. If you could only deprogram your mind, reality would be revealed as your own Self. Rather than entertaining bizarre philosophical theories, if you truly want to know what Consciousness is, I suggest spending more time observing your perceptions: your perceptions are Consciousness, exactly as in a dream. We don’t live in a virtual simulation; reality is a dream.