Brunch - Simulation Theory: Are we in the Matrix?

Simulation theory, also known as the simulation hypothesis, is the idea that what we experience as reality is actually an artificial, computer-generated simulation. It's a philosophical and scientific thought experiment that suggests we could be living inside a highly advanced computer program.
The most famous argument for this theory was proposed by philosopher Nick Bostrom in 2003. He laid out a trilemma, or three possibilities, arguing that at least one of them must be true:

• Possibility 1: The extinction of posthuman civilizations. It's highly likely that human-like civilizations will go extinct before they reach a "posthuman" stage where they have the technology to create detailed ancestor simulations.

• Possibility 2: They choose not to simulate. Any advanced civilization that reaches the posthuman stage is extremely unlikely to be interested in or willing to run a significant number of simulations of their evolutionary history.

• Possibility 3: We are almost certainly living in a simulation. If posthuman civilizations do reach the technological capability and have the desire to run ancestor simulations, they would likely create so many of them that the number of simulated realities would vastly outnumber the single "base reality." Therefore, the odds are overwhelmingly in favor of us being in one of those simulations.

In essence, the argument is that if it's possible for a civilization to create simulations indistinguishable from reality, and if they have the motivation to do so, the sheer number of simulations would make it statistically probable that we are in one of them.