|
Could someone or something switch us off?
Could it possibly be true that our world is just a
computer program, or a hologram, or a dream?
Although it's about the weirdest thing you could
think of, there are some tantalizing clues this
might indeed be the case. The stuff we call
'reality' simply isn’t very real after all.
Welcome to the outskirts of reality. Welcome to the
place where theoretical physics and philosophy meet,
and where religion and science loose their meaning.
Better fasten your mental seatbelts. What we’re
about to tell you is just too weird. Too
mind-boggling. And quite disturbing, really.
Here we go: the place we call reality may not be
real at all. It may look real, and feel real, and
smell real. But if you know where to look, and you
look real close, you can see the cracks.
First, there’s a very, VERY peculiar thing about the
place we live in – something so weird and profound
it sends shivers down your spine. For in fact, the
Universe seems to be ‘fine-tuned’ to make life
possible! The British cosmologist Fred Hoyle was the
first to realise this is no coincidence. A very
peculiar thing about the fundamental constants is
that they appear to have exactly the right values.
If they were slightly smaller or bigger, atoms,
stars, planets and people simply wouldn’t exist!
Take the strong force inside atomic nuclei. If the
force were just slightly stronger, it would boost up
the burning of stars so much, that they would
explode only seconds after they were formed. We
wouldn’t have a sun – or even a planet. If on the
other hand the force were a tad weaker, it would be
too weak to hold together elements like the heavy
hydrogen isotope deuterium. Stars wouldn’t light up.
And we wouldn’t be here either.
Astonishingly, the same goes for all other
constants. As the famous British astronomer Martin
Rees put it: “Wherever we look, we see examples of
fine-tuning. Most of the physical constants and the
initial conditions of the Universe examined so far
appear to be fine-tuned to some extent.”
That leaves us with a gnawing, unsettling question:
Why? Why are all physical contants exactly the way
they are? Every cosmologist agrees that this can
hardly be a coincidence. So what, or who, set the
rules?
Okay, hold that thought: matter is ultimately the
manifestation of something else. Gladly, there are
also things that are normal. Take the Universe.
Again, it is something we think we know. The
Universe is that big black thing with all the lights
in it over your head. Perhaps you’ve even heard it’s
expanding: first, there was a kind of blast (called
the ‘Big Bang’), and from that moment on, the
Universe grew bigger and bigger.
But hold it right there. Once more, the real story
is far stranger than that. For starters, the
Universe has no ‘outside’. To ask what is ‘outside’
the Universe is a meaningless question – it would be
like asking what continent lies ‘outside’ our
planet. ‘Outside’ the Universe there are no
dimensions, and there is no time. The Universe is
best seen as an expanding bubble of dimensions in a
sea of nothingness – although ‘nothing’ isn’t really
a word you can use to describe what is ‘outside’ the
Universe. It is extremely difficult to fully
comprehend what that means. According to one theory,
there are many dimensional bubbles like the one we
live in. Our Universe could be the result of two of
such bubbles – or ‘planes’ – colliding. And wait,
now you’re doing it again: you’re picturing a place
with bubbles floating around. But there’s no such
thing as a ‘place’. Instead, the other Universes
should be wrapped up within our own reality,
remember?
An even more bizarre theory has it the place we call
the Universe is actually best compared with a
hologram. Our Universe could be some kind of optical
illusion, the result of several dimensions
resonating.
And it goes even further. For in fact, it could
actually be possible to create a Universe!
Basically, the only thing you’d have to do is
squeeze a huge amount of energy together into a very
dense, small spot. This would lead to a Big Bang,
the theories predict. We wouldn’t see it happening:
the Big Bang would create a new dimensional bubble,
far beyond reach of our own bubble.
OK, let’s pause for a second. Just think about it.
Is it possible that our reality is actually made by
some other civilisation, in some other Universe? It
would explain why the fundamental constants are
fine-tuned.
And You? How Real Is Your Mind?
So, to wrap things up: we live in a place that’s not
really a ‘place’, we’re made of stuff that’s not
really ‘stuff’ and what we see is only a small part
of what’s really there. Matter, time, dimensions,
the Universe – it’s all lucid, unreal. And to make
things even more bizarre, for some reason, our
Universe is exactly preset to make our existence
possible. Pretty confusing, don't you think?
Gladly, you can cling to this one security: that you
are here. No matter how weird the stuff around you
is, you are definitely for real. No need to explain:
you just know you are. But do you really?
Let’s do an experiment. Speak out your name over and
over and over and over again. After a while, you’ll
notice something weird. Your name will begin to
sound strange. It’s no longer something that is you
– your name is just a word, a random sequence of
syllables and sounds that other people utter when
they want to catch your attention. If your parents
had given you another name, you would listen to
another sequence of sounds.
There are actually experiments that prove it. When
you disturb your brain in a certain way, your
feeling of ‘self’ can get detached from your brain.
Suddenly, it will feel as if ‘you’ are not inside
your body anymore. You experience what is known as
an ‘out of body experience’, or a ‘near death
experience’.
But you don’t have to be nearly dead to feel it. The
sensation can easily be created in a laboratory, by
placing a helmet with rotating magnetic fields on
your head. The magnetic field acts like a ‘jam
signal’ on your brain. Suddenly, you'll feel like
you're floating outside your body. But you aren’t.
It’s just your brain going confused.
And you don't really need a helmet to do the trick.
Visiting a place where the movement of the Earth's
crust generates magnetic fields can give you the
experience. Being in a situation where your brain
doesn't get enough oxygen sometimes does it. Certain
brain operations bring out the experience.
Meditation and intensive prayer can generate it.
In fact, exactly this is why some people see ghosts,
or Maria, or feel like they are visited by aliens.
It is an incredible weird experience to be ‘outside
of your brain’. Your brain will try to make sense of
it. Immediately, the rational part of your brain
will come up with an ‘explanation’ for the
experience. You will sense a ‘presence’ near you. If
you’re religious, you might see Maria, or Jesus. If
you believe in UFOs, your brain might tell you
you’re visited by aliens. If you believe in ghosts,
you’ll feel the presence of a ghost of a dead
person. But in reality, it’s your own feeling of
self you’re experiencing.
So... Are We A Game Of Sims? So there you are.
You’re just a walking piece of matter that’s
pretending to be someone. But in reality, things
like matter, or self, or the Universe, or time, or
dimensions are all illusions. Everything we see and
everything we feel are, in fact, the manifestations
of some underlying reality.
That leaves you with an unsettling question: what
exactly is that reality?
The truth is: we don’t know. Could be almost
anything, really. A dream, even. Or a simulation. Or
a kind of computer game, an advanced kind of
Civilization or Sims. There’s no way of knowing if
there’s someone or something pushing the buttons.
There’s no way of knowing if there isn’t, either.
And then, there’s this other thing most theorists
agree on: our reality could suddenly end. Our
universe could fold up. The dimensions we live in
could be wrapped up. The very fabric of our physical
world could be disrupted by some unprecedented,
weird physical event. From one second to the other,
our reality would no longer be there. Sounds like
fun, right?
But then again, why bother? For that’s the deeper
consequence of these things. If there is no such
thing as a place we call Earth, we needn’t really
worry about its end. Would the characters of a
Sims-game feel sad or disappointed when you turned
off the computer? Or would the people you dream of
at night mind if you wake up? You guessed it: they
probably wouldn't. What isn’t really there, doesn’t
really end.
That being said, there’s only one small problem. You
see: you have to be a good philosopher to really
feel it that way!
|
