A prominent computer scientist and MIT professor believes there's a very good chance we're all living in a computer simulation.
The idea of humans living in a simulated reality controlled by robotic overlords has been much explored by academics, experts and notable figures like tech mogul Elon Musk.
But in MIT researcher Rizwan Virk's new book, 'The Simulation Hypothesis,' he probes the idea further, even examining how long it might take before humans could use today's technology to construct their own simulation of reality.
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MIT researcher Rizwan Virk believes it's more possible than not that we're living in a computer simulation akin to the scenario depicted in the 1990 sci-fi film the Matrix (pictured)
There are several aspects of our world that explain why it's likely we are all living in a simulation, Virk said in an interview with Vox.
He pointed to 'quantum indeterminacy,' or 'the idea that a particle is in one of multiple states and you don't know that unless you observe the particle,' Virk said.
This theory is explained in the 'Schrodinger's cat' experiment, which posited that when a cat is placed in an opaque box, the animal is both alive and dead, a mixture of both states, until the box is opened.
Virk elaborated on this idea by noting that he thinks it's more likely the world 'isn't really physical,' but instead based on information.
And when the world is looked at in that point of view, it's more likely we're living in a simulation, he said.
'The truth is that there’s much we simply don’t understand about our reality, and I think it’s more likely than not that we are in some kind of a simulated universe,' Virk told Vox.
'Now, it’s a much more sophisticated video game than the games we produce, just like today World of Warcraft and Fortnite are way more sophisticated than Pac-Mac or Space Invaders.
Rizwan Virk, a computer scientist and MIT professor (right), believes we could create our own simulation of reality one day. He describes this idea in his book 'The Simulation Hypothesis'
'I think there’s a very good chance we are, in fact, living in a simulation, though we can’t say that with 100 percent confidence. But there is plenty of evidence that points in that direction,' he added.
The question of whether we are actually aware of the real world is one which has been continually asked by philosophers.
The earliest mentions of the debate can be found in Plato's Republic, where the Allegory of the Cave describes the illusory existence led by most unthinking people.
Plato suggested that the only way to come
