- 1/1/2025
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00:00It was the rock band Queen who famously opened probably their most iconic record with,
00:04Is This The Real Life? Is This Just Fantasy? Music fans have debated the meaning behind those
00:10words for decades, and actually, they could well have nothing to do with the universal nature of
00:14reality. But in conceiving them, the singer and songwriter Freddie Mercury was at least
00:19tabbing into a universal truth, channelling a philosophical conundrum that has flittered
00:24through the minds of humankind since we first became self-aware enough to consider it.
00:29This is Unveiled, and today we're answering the extraordinary question,
00:33Is Anything Really Real?
00:36Do you need the big questions answered? Are you constantly curious? Then why not subscribe to
00:41Unveiled for more clips like this one? And ring the bell for more thought-provoking content!
00:46On the timeline of humanity, the question of reality has always been all around us.
00:51That's kind of the point. It's the fundamental question of our existence. Are we living in a
00:56tangible, objective world, or is our experience a complex illusion? Can we trust our senses,
01:01or are they hardwired to deceive? In ancient times, we looked mostly to God, or to God's
01:07multiple, to try to explain what we couldn't understand. We developed stories and traditions,
01:12legend and myth, all in some way seeking to get a grip on our lives. In ancient Greece,
01:17and Rome especially, records show that many of the most influential philosophers,
01:21such as Socrates and Plato, were also endlessly interested in truly understanding what life was,
01:28what's the point of living, and how is reality intrinsically formed? By the time of the
01:33Renaissance and the Enlightenment, there were multiple theories erupting all over the world
01:37map. Human beings have always been naturally inquisitive, but in just the last few hundred
01:42years, we've really outdone ourselves. All leading up to now, a moment in time when almost everyone
01:48alive has likely, at one stage, asked themselves questions like, why am I here? And how do I know
01:55that what's happening really is what's happening? In the modern era, the pursuit of science has
02:00added new dimensions to this age-old debate. And today, we can explore it via things like
02:05simulation theory, and through other matrix-like scenarios. We can also consider the implications
02:10of a multiverse, the potential influence of artificial intelligence, and even the possible
02:15existence of an extraterrestrial edge. All have a role to play as we continually try to prove
02:21what's real. So, let's get into it. First up, simulation theory, which proposes that reality
02:27is, in fact, a computer-generated sim. It's an intriguing concept that actually has roots in
02:32ancient ideas, but it gained prominence in modern times largely through the work of the Swedish
02:37philosopher and Oxford professor, Nick Bostrom. Bostrom's seminal 2003 paper, Are You Living in a
02:43Computer Simulation?, suggests that, if a technologically advanced civilization can create
02:49realistic sims of their ancestors, a prediction that many models do make, then the odds of us
02:55existing in a base reality are extremely slim. Instead, we're much more likely to be populating
03:00one such ancestor sim, no matter how intelligent and capable of free will we believe ourselves to
03:06be. All of that would, in fact, be false, or an illusion. Elon Musk is a vocal advocate of
03:11simulation theory. He argues, for instance, that, given the exponential growth of video game
03:16technology, it's now certainly plausible that advanced enough civilizations would create simmed
03:22worlds indistinguishable from reality. The renowned astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson,
03:27has also gone on record emphasising the potential for all of this to be a simulated construct.
03:33The chances for which Tyson has before claimed could be as much as 50-50. 50% likely we're
03:38living authentic lives. 50% likely that everything we've ever known is artificially dreamt up and
03:44rendered by some higher power. So, if our reality were a sim, then what would that mean for us?
03:50It's the first chance of many that we have to properly question the true nature of what we know.
03:55On the one hand, would it matter if we were simulated? Some argue, not really. But, on the
04:00other, could our lives ever hold the same significance if we knew that we were mere
04:05lines of code? Importantly, sim theory is a speculative hypothesis lacking concrete evidence.
04:12It isn't a proven fact. But it sure does make you think. In a broader sense,
04:16the Matrix has come to be something of a catch-all term for any proposed social structure
04:21that takes us out of this dimension and into another. Of course, the idea is most closely
04:26associated with the 1999 cyberpunk sci-fi classic, The Matrix, which depicts a once-unsuspecting Neo
04:33as he has the veil of reality removed to learn the truth. Across all manner of blockbusting
04:39scenes and bullet-dodging special effects, Neo goes from being essentially an extra in what he
04:45used to think was real life… to very much the main character in a higher dimension. But could
04:50Neo's story ever actually happen? Recent advancements in artificial intelligence certainly
04:55have fuelled speculation about the potential emergence of a Matrix-like reality. As AI
05:00becomes more sophisticated, the prospect of an intricate, all-encompassing digital realm
05:05somehow managed by intelligent machines seemingly becomes less and less like science fiction.
05:11And perhaps it wouldn't need to be a straight-up ancestor sim, either. With growing talk around
05:16digital immortality, could it actually be that we're all actually housed just on a server
05:21somewhere? In this version of reality, it's like we've already died… it's just that we don't know
05:26it. But before our deaths, we all lived in a civilization advanced enough to know how to
05:31convert our essence into something that could be digitally saved. And if that were the case,
05:36then it would of course make sense to remove the parts of our former selves that knew about digital
05:41immortality… because that knowledge could easily trigger madness in the here and now.
05:45Again, it's not something that's commonly said to be true. There is no proof of the Matrix.
05:50But versions of it do form the basis for a growing number of hypothetical ideas.
05:55And occasionally, notions of a higher version of ourselves have bled into testimonies given
06:00by those who suffer a near-death or out-of-body experience. In general, the Matrix is a concept
06:06that explores the boundaries between human and machine consciousness, blurring the lines of what
06:10we perceive as real… and it could be becoming more and more relevant with every passing year
06:16and AI tech innovation. But finally, and as with many an alt-model for how the universe works,
06:22some believe that we have to consider the potential for alien intelligence guiding the way.
06:27It adds another layer to the mystery, but could also solve many of the seeming problems.
06:31The Zoo Hypothesis famously suggests that life on Earth is constantly watched by an
06:36unknown alien group, pitching us like caged animals on show at the zoo. The Lab Hypothesis
06:42builds on that by suggesting that those aliens are also actively experimenting on us, turning the zoo
06:48into something more like a planet-sized petri dish. Crucially, though, both would serve to solve
06:54some of the mysteries of the universe. With the fine-tuning problem, it's now the case that reality
06:59works so well for us because it's custom-built by a higher hand. With the Fermi Paradox, we now know
07:05why we haven't discovered any aliens yet… because our extraterrestrial overseers would never enter
07:10our enclosure. For fear of scuppering the experiment, or just because it would be dangerous
07:15for them. Even the apparent unknowableness of the Oort Cloud could even make some sense if it
07:20were actually placed there by a superior force to double up as something like the viewing windows in
07:25a reptile house. Clearly, all of the above, and especially the alien option, are highly speculative.
07:32Simulation theory, the Matrix, AI potential, and ET possibilities. None are supported by
07:38empirical evidence. However, all do form the basis for contemporary answers to the question
07:43of what's real. On top of that, all could in some way be grouped together under the broader concept
07:49of the multiverse. If ancestor sims exist on a massive server somewhere, then all of those
07:55individual programs essentially form a multiverse. If digital immortality is viable, then the universe
08:01has far more layers than we typically give it credit for. If there's alien life that's sophisticated
08:07enough to create an entire star system for us, then is it so difficult to imagine the wider,
08:12bubble universes that are key to the inflationary multiverse model? For now, the scene is set for us
08:18to at least reconsider everything we know, and the search is on to find the proof that would turn
08:23these hypothetical ideas into genuinely valid scientific breakthroughs. What do you think? Is
08:29there anything we missed? Let us know in the comments, check out these other clips from
08:33Unveiled, and make sure you subscribe and ring the bell for our latest content.
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