Do We Live In a Computer Simulation?
Did you know that there are some people who believe that everything we know as reality is just a computer simulation? There are some people who believe that some advanced civilization is so far beyond our capabilities as a human society that they have programmed us into their own simulation.[1] In other words, nothing that we know as real is real.
If you've ever played the game The Sims, you know what I'm talking about. In The Sims, you can control characters, buy houses, and do a bunch of things that “normal life” would seem to have. You are in control of the people in your simulation. You control what they wear, what they look like, where they go, and what they do. It kind of reminds me of a movie series from the early 2000s called The Matrix. As far-fetched as all of this seems, there are people who believe this stuff.
Yes, there are people who are more willing to believe that some advanced alien civilization has created everything that we know: our memories, our experiences, our bodies, events in the world, even the 3D space that we live in and time itself. They believe that none of it is real.
Some scientists and thinkers, however, believe that the likelihood is very high that this is real. In 2003, Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrom published an article called Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?[1] Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, a prominent leader in scientific thought, has also taken the idea seriously. During the 2016 Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate, Tyson said, “I think the likelihood may be very high.”[2]
For a Christian, these concepts may seem far-fetched. Yet, when you consider their underlying message, they point to a familiar truth: the existence of a designer. They suggest that our reality is purposeful and guided by a sovereign creator. Hmmm, seems like I’ve read that somewhere else before?
Why is it that unbelievers are more willing to believe in advanced alien civilizations than the sovereign God of the Bible ruling all of creation? Have you ever thought about that? Essentially, that is what they're trying to say, while attributing the evidence to anything but God.
Well, the Bible tells us why and it reveals much about the heart of mankind. For as intelligent as human beings are, and that itself is a gift of the Creator, we are so spiritually dumb. It's not because the truth can't be known. We live in a world that unmistakably has been created and designed by God. Paul says, “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them” (Romans 1:19).
How has He shown it to them? “His invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived…in the things that have been made” (Romans 1:20). \
Yet Romans 1:18 tells us that fallen humanity “suppresses the truth” in unrighteousness. Paul says in Romans 1:25, they have “exchanged the truth about God for a lie.” This leads to humanistic thought, where the creature is worshiped rather than the Creator.
People will believe what they believe because they're sinful. Jesus said that people “loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). Satan is the mass deceiver of this world, and Paul says that he has “blinded the minds of the unbelievers” (2 Corinthians 4:4).
The reason people find it so hard to believe in this God is because of their own sin. Sin is like a computer virus that has corrupted their own hearts. They don't want to admit that God is God and, therefore, they are accountable to Him.
This is why people resort to simulation theory, evolution, and various other theories contrary to the Bible. Of course, what simulation theory really makes you believe about yourself is that you're not important. You're an experiment in someone else's reality. You're meaningless, like code that is just thrown away by the developer. Or, as some video game players say, you are an NPC, which stands for non-playable character in the game.
Simulation theory raises the possibility that what appears to be random to us is actually predetermined by someone else. This is why people resort to simulation theory, evolution, and various other theories contrary to the Bible.
God describes Himself in Isaiah 46:10 as the One who “declares the end from the beginning,” whose “counsel shall stand,” and who will “accomplish all [His] purpose.” Ephesians 1:11 says He “works all things according to the counsel of his will.” God is sovereign! He knows all things, plans all things, and ordains all things for His glory.
David wrote about even the events of his own life: “In your book were written every one of them, the days that were formed for me” (Psalm 139:16). That's right, every day, every second of our lives has been ordained by God through His providence. We are not in control of our lives! We ARE in someone else's reality! We are in the reality of a sovereign and Holy God.
Hebrews 1:3 says that Christ “upholds the universe by the word of his power.” So, no, we're not living in a simulation; we’re living under sovereignty.
All of our days and lives are in His hand, and history is moving toward His purpose. The universe will culminate in the return of King Jesus, when He will makes all things new.
Humanity is so blind and hardened of heart that they will believe almost anything. Yet the truth remains wonderfully simple: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
Footnotes
[1] Nick Bostrom, “Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?” The Philosophical Quarterly 53, no. 211 (2003): 243–255. Oxford University Research Archive: https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:44c386c4-5d9e-4ecf-a47c-9631a2a59747
[2] Neil deGrasse Tyson, “Is the Universe a Simulation?” 2016 Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate, American Museum of Natural History. https://www.amnh.org/explore/videos/isaac-asimov-memorial-debate/2016