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. Just like a Hollywood actor that suddenly realizes he’s not surrounded by real buildings -- but by props made of cardboard paper.
If that sounds like lame science fiction; I agree. Indeed, we?ve all seen The Matrix. But could such a thing be conceivable? Could it be true? Are we really here?
Perhaps the simulation is getting boring, and the guy running the program is about to switch it off. We?d see some kind of huge ?game over?-sign, and that would be it. One moment, we?re here. And the next ? we aren?t.
If you?re easily disturbed, or prone to paranoia, better stop reading now. You may not like the answers to questions like these. What you are about to read may change the way you see things -- forever.
Why is the Universe Fine-Tuned?
First, there?s a very, VERY weird 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!
It has to do with the stuff most people find boring in school: the laws of physics. Ultimately, all of these laws are founded upon the ?physical constants?. Such as the force of gravity, the ?strong force? that glues atomic nuclei together and the electromagnetic force, the driving hand behind stuff like lightning and computers. But why do these fundamental ?presets? have the values they have? Why aren’t they a little bigger, or smaller?
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!