Space & Astronomy

Researchers mathematically disprove simulated universe theory

By T.K. Randall
November 4, 2025 ·  14 comments

Image: AI-generated (Midjourney) What if we told you that the world you live in isn't real ?

It might sound like a concept straight out of the Keanu Reeves science fiction favorite The Matrix, but according to some of the world's top minds, the idea that we are living inside a computer simulation is not only possible, but perhaps even more likely than the idea that we are living in the real world.

Efforts to prove that this is the case have been ongoing for years, but now a group of scientists has reportedly found a way to mathematically prove that we are definitely not living in a simulation.

They've done this by showing that the fundamental nature of reality operates in a way that no computer could ever be capable of simulating.

"It has been suggested that the universe could be simulated. If such a simulation were possible, the simulated universe could itself give rise to life, which in turn might create its own simulation," said Dr. Mir Faizal, Adjunct Professor with UBC Okanagan's Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science."This recursive possibility makes it seem highly unlikely that our universe is the original one, rather than a simulation nested within another simulation."

"This idea was once thought to lie beyond the reach of scientific inquiry. However, our recent research has demonstrated that it can, in fact, be scientifically addressed."

The specifics of the team's mathematical proof are rather technical, but generally center around proving that a complete and consistent description of everything requires "non-algorithmic understanding."

"We have demonstrated that it is impossible to describe all aspects of physical reality using a computational theory of quantum gravity," said Dr. Faizal.

"Therefore, no physically complete and consistent theory of everything can be derived from computation alone."

"Rather, it requires a non-algorithmic understanding, which is more fundamental than the computational laws of quantum gravity and therefore more fundamental than spacetime itself."

Source: Phys.org | Comments (14)

Tags: Simulation