Scientist Is Going To Prove The Matrix Is Real By Hacking It, Here’s How
A scientist is planning to prove The Matrix theory by attempting to hack the simulation that many believe we live in.
Are we living in a simulation just like Neo was in The Matrix? While it sounds farfetched, it’s not necessarily impossible, and one scientist wants to hack our simulation. The New York Times expounded on the theory outlined by David P. Anderson who says that if we are indeed living in a computer sim, reason dictates that we should be able to hack that simulation.
First of all, if I were inclined to listen to anyone’s theories on us possibly living in the matrix, it would be someone named Mr. Anderson. Anderson further explains that his plans to hack our simulation would involve sending feature requests to the theoretical engineers who run it. Due to the complexity and unknown form of our simulation’s source code, it would be highly unlikely that we could add these features ourselves.
Anderson reasons that if the universe is indeed running on code, that code would have to be exceedingly well-written and thus, easy to modify. The so-called engineers of our matrix should be able to field these pull requests for new features and implement them if they wish. Anderson further states that if he found a way to hack our simulation, he would want the changes to be ‘backward compatible’ so that the simulation would continue from its current state rather than rebooting and erasing the current simulation from existence.
Anderson also proposes that matrix engineers could run a fork (aka a parallel universe) to beta-test new features before implementing them in our simulation. With that, all the pieces to hack the universe’s software would be in place. The question is, what features would you want in our new update?
Anderson went on to propose some feature requests that he and his friends thought of sending to the matrix engineers. Some of the hacks are fairly simple and mundane while others are potentially universe-altering. His first idea is a footstep map that would show you everywhere you’ve walked in your life as highlighted orange marks on the ground (with configurable colors and time filters, of course).
Another useful matrix hack that Anderson proposed was a ‘sentence lookup’ feature that allows you to find out if anyone has ever said a sentence before, or even if someone has ever thought of that statement before. Someone also suggested a ‘joke success prediction’ feature, which would allow you to avoid telling a joke that will result in awkward silence rather than boisterous laughter. There’s even a ‘Crtl+M for shrooms’ feature for people to automatically simulate the effects of psychedelic substances.
After that, some of Anderson’s matrix hack suggestions get a little off the rails. Other suggestions include time travel, movement superpowers, a pause button, a look of death, immortality, and telepathy. These would all be pretty difficult to implement without fundamentally changing how humanity currently operates.
Of course, this is all about as theoretical as it gets (as Anderson admits), but it would certainly be interesting if we could find a way to ‘hack the matrix.’ Anderson does finish up his thoughts by saying that the engineers would likely be scanning the simulation on a regular basis for bugs and feature requests. So, if you want to post a feature request on social media every now and then, it probably wouldn’t hurt!
