Are We Living Inside a Video Game? Rizwan Virk on his Simulation Hypothesis

Are we living in the Matrix?

Rizwan Virk—an MIT computer scientist, leading video game pioneer, entrepreneur, film producer, venture capitalist, professor, and a founder of Play Labs @ MIT—is a leading authority on simulation theory. Now he comes to Commonwealth Club World Affairs to discuss the issues raised in his new book The Simulation Hypothesis: An MIT Computer Scientist Shows Why AI, Quantum Physics, and Eastern Mystics All Agree We Are in a Video Game.

Virk says the evolution of our video games, including virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing, will lead us to a technological singularity. We will reach the simulation point, he argues, where we can develop all-encompassing virtual worlds like the OASIS in Ready Player One or The Matrix—and in fact we are already likely inside such a simulation.

Though that sounds like science fiction, many scientists, engineers, and professors have given the simulation hypothesis serious consideration, including Elon Musk, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Nick Bostrom. But philosophers of many traditions have long contended that we are living in some kind of “illusion” and that there are other realities that we can access with our minds.

Virk's work in Silicon Valley as a video game designer caused him to wonder where our technology would take us and how long it would take us to create something like the world of The Matrix—and why he’s now 70 percent certain that we’re already inside a simulation.

Whether you are a computer scientist, a fan of science fiction like the Matrix movies, a video game enthusiast, a spiritual seeker, or simply a fan of mind-bending thought experiments, come hear Virk for yourself and you might never look at the world the same way again.

SPEAKERS

Rizwan Virk, Entrepreneur; Video Game Pioneer; Film Producer; Venture Capitalist; Professor, Arizona State University; Author, The Simulation Hypothesis; Founder, Play Labs @ MIT

Dean Takahashi, Editorial Director, GamesBeat at VentureBeat; Tech Journalist

5:30 p.m. doors open & check-in6–7 p.m. program7 p.m. book signing(all times Pacific Time)

Host or Publisher Inforum at the Commonwealth Club