The Wachowskis’ sci-fi hit, The Matrix, has a concept that’s out of this world, but what if that’s exactly what our robot overlord want us to believe? According to a group of scientists/billionaires who managed to convince themselves that we are all stuck in a Matrix-like existence, complete with robotic entities literally sucking the life out of our bodies, truth is stranger than fiction.
And just to prove a point, these influential intellectuals are banding together for a million-dollar project to 1) prove the existence of the Matrix and 2) break us out of this computer generated reality, similar to what Neo did in the movies.
Understandably, these tech billionaires refused to be named but they insist that the dangers of a Matrix-like life sucking machine is not an imaginary one.
The New Yorker’s Ted Friend revealed in a piece that the idea of “simulation hypothesis” has been circulating in the tech’s elite, spawning fears among the rich and powerful that all that fame, money and influence are just in their heads. The article highlighted the ruminations of “Y Combinator” owner Sam Altman but Friend stopped short at naming him as one of the unnamed tech personalities that are engaged in the project.
The chance that we are only living in a computer simulation is “billions to one”, according to SpaceX and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk. In a California Q&A, the executive said that the rise of artificial inteligence [AI]-powered technologies made the concept of The Matrix not as far-fetched as most would believe, noting that highly intelligent computers can go rogue in the future, turning the entire human race into their own power source.
It’s worth noting that Tesla’s CEO, who has been warning about the dangers of AI for years to a point where he established his own “robot gym”, have donated millions of dollars to ensure that human beings won’t be enslaved by evil robots.
Musk added that advanced technology makes it virtually impossible to distinguish reality from computer-generated simulation and in the future, most games will be so hyper realistic, you can’t tell what’s real from make believe. This could mean the now is so realistic; humanity is oblivious that we’re just robot grub.
Altman believes Musk’s theory, noting that mobile devices were designed to control humanity by AI and that another theory is that our consciousness could be uploaded to the cloud.
“We need to level up humans, because our descendants will either conquer the galaxy or extinguish consciousness in the universe forever. What a time to be alive!” Altman enthused.
Fueling the obsession that we’re all tangled in a robotic Matrix is a Bank of America Merrill Lynch report that says there’s a 20% to 50% chance that “we’re all living in a simulated world.” Famed Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson also seconded Musk’s theory, saying that we could be living in a “base reality” that we call the real world.
The Wachowski’s didn’t invent “the matrix theory” they only copied it. The first published simulation hypothesis was by Hans Moravec. Later, the philosopher Nick Bostrom developed an expanded argument examining the probability of our reality being a simulacrum.
It’s actually an old Gnostic concept (1000’s of years old) that continually pops up in some form (From Plato’s Cave to the Brain in a Vat theory). Metaphorically, the Enuma Elish of ancient Sumeria also seems to refer to suggest a counterfiet reaity created from the body of the Slain Tiamat. However, in the computer age the credit should go to Konrad Zuse.
What happens when you get to the end of the rabbit hole and you find God?
We are living in a “God” simulation. We are the experience in this 3D world of something beyond anything we could comprehend, but that is really unable to comprehend this level of physical existence.
The fifth paragraph should say: The chance that we are NOT living in a computer simulation is “billions to one”, according to SpaceX and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk.
I am inclined to agree with Bud.