Physicist says we're characters in an advanced virtual world

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Are we living in a simulation? Physicist claims he has new evidence we're simply characters in an advanced virtual world

New law of physics supports the concept we're living in a computer simulation
It's put forward by the man who said we're facing an 'information catastrophe'

In the blockbuster movie The Matrix, protagonist Neo, played by Keanu Reeves, discovers we're living in a simulated reality hundreds of years from now.

While many of us take comfort in the fact this concept is consigned to science fiction, a researcher claims it may actually be true.

Melvin Vopson, an associate professor in physics at the University of Portsmouth, claims we may be characters in an advanced virtual world.

He claims that the physical behaviour of information in our universe resembles the process of a computer deleting or compressing code – a clue that perhaps the machines hope we don't notice.

Professor Vopson has already warned of an impending 'information catastrophe', when we run out of energy to sustain huge amounts of digital information.

'My studies point to a bizarre and interesting possibility that we don't live in an objective reality and that the entire universe might be just a super advanced virtual reality simulation,' Professor Vopson said.

Last year, the academic – from Romania – established a new law of physics, called the 'second law of information dynamics' to explain how information behaves.

His law establishes that the 'entropy', or disorder, in a system of information decreases rather than increases.

This new law came as somewhat of a surprise, because it's the opposite of the second law of thermodynamics established in the 1850s, which explains why we cannot unscramble an egg or why a glass cannot unbreak itself.

As it turns out, the second law of infodynamics explains the behaviour of information in a way that the old law cannot.

'The second law of infodynamics requires the minimisation of the information content associated with any event or process in the universe,' he told MailOnline.

'To put it simply, everything appears to evolve to an equilibrium state where the information content is minimal.

'Such behaviour is fully reminiscent of the rules deployed in programming languages and computer coding.

'Simulating a super complex universe like ours would require a built-in data optimisation and compression mechanism in order to reduce the computational power and the data storage requirements to run the simulation.

'This is exactly what we are observing via empirical evidence all around us, including in digital data, biological systems, atomistic systems, mathematical symmetries, and the entire universe.

'This is what the second law of infodynamics reveals, so one logical conclusion is that, while not giving a definite proof, it surely underpins the simulated universe theory.'

According to Professor Vopson, symmetry that we observe in the everyday world, such as butterflies or flowers or starfish, supports the simulation theory.

His findings demonstrate that high symmetry corresponds to the lowest information entropy state, potentially explaining nature's inclination towards it.

'All biological life presents some form of symmetry, all solids and crystals have symmetries, the laws of physics, etc,' he told MailOnline.

'The universe has this built-in mechanism to optimize the computation of everything.

'Symmetry is the best way of optimising or rendering the digitally constructed world and this is why we have symmetries everywhere rather than asymmetries.'

The simulation theory is not unique to Professor Vopson; in fact, it's popular among a number of well-known figures including Tesla founder Elon Musk.

It comes within a branch of science known as information physics, which suggests physical reality is fundamentally made up of bits of information.

Bits are the basic unit of information that power computing and digital communications, including streaming services such as Netflix.

Professor Vopson has already gained attention for his stunning proclamations in the field of physics.

He's already said that information should be considered the fifth state of matter, following solid, liquid, gas and plasma.

This principle has 'attracted a fair share of skepticism', the academic admits, as most scientists consider the fifth state of matter instead to be Bose–Einstein condensate.

He even claims that information has mass and so could be the elusive dark matter that makes up almost a third of the universe.

And he warned that the number of digital bits will overtake the number of atoms on Earth within 150 years, leading to 'information catastrophe'.

This will mark the point at which the maximum possible digital information has been created, as well as the maximum power at which to sustain it.

His study has been published in AIP Advances.

The only problem I have with Simulation Theory is that I cannot find the "Ctrl-Break" keys.

I should at least have access to a pop-up menu for skills, treasure, et cetera.

Astral projection?

Trade one lie for another?  No thank you!

No, he's telling you astral projection is how one accesses the pop-up menu you're looking to access.  I haven't figured it out either.

Oh.  In that case, how many experience points to unlock the "Astral Projection" skill?