SIMULATIONS

SIMULATIONS

By M.B.O Owolowo 

Vital lessons can be learnt from contemporary technological developments and emerging digital trends. We live in a world of advanced technologies that include artificial intelligence, cybernetics, computer simulations, and the possibilities of quantum computing and simulation. Artificial intelligence or machine intelligence revolves around utilizing algorithms and data that mimic human intelligence. Cybernetics involves systems study and adaption, through feedback, of environments for functional improvement. Computer simulations involve mathematical modelling and are attained by running computer programs. There has been a rapid evolvement of quantum information sciences, and an expansion of frontiers in computing and teleportation. Quantum computing involves developments in quantum mechanics and entanglement for computation, which also includes the theoretical possibilities of simulation. 

Technological advancements have evolved to a phase where what humans observe to be reality, can be replicated. As a result, there are various types of computer-generated realities – augmented reality, simulated reality and virtual reality. Primarily, these pseudo realities are attempting to simulate immersion – escapism – in some sort of alternate reality. Computer simulations can be used for training in various industries to help improve human performance through perception and execution of remote tasks. Motion controllers can track motion via accelerometer sensors. Haptic, kinaesthetic or 3D touch technology can be used to control virtual objects. Holographic User Interface (HUI) is being advanced for better 3D experience. 

I remember during my postgraduate studies; I travelled to Japan and visited the Panasonic Center Tokyo. As part of my excursion, I was treated to a futuristic exhibition – a spectacular edutainment session. The highlight of futuristic technologies for me was Panasonic's Life Wall. It was an interactive wall where projected images could be controlled with hand gestures and movements. Panasonic's Life Wall could simultaneously act as a TV, computer, CCTV, gadget control, gaming and study area. Principally, the objective was to depict the capabilities of the Life Wall as it executes daily tasks, and its essentiality in futuristic households. 

Simulations can be used in cybernetics, robotics, training of military personnel, pilots and astronauts. Astronauts can be trained to perform replicated tasks in a simulated outer space environment. There are various movies that have utilised these technologies to project various forms of simulated or alternate reality. The 1999 movie, The Matrix, depicts humanity being trapped in a simulated reality. In the 2017 Movie, Valerian, the scene at the Big Market portrays an extra-dimensional realm, which is accessible through special virtual reality-type equipment; this enables interaction between two realms. The 2018 movie, Ready Player One typifies the manifestation of virtual reality and gaming. 

Gaming is a multi-billion industry that has continually pushed the boundaries of simulated reality. The world of gaming (video games, arcade games, computer games), has come a very long way from Spacewar! (1962) and Pong (1973). Nowadays, computer games are trying hard to simulate reality. The virtual world is a computer-based simulated environment that is commonplace in gaming. Also, within this virtual world, there are instances; which are a copy of game areas for a select group of players, isolated from the wider game world. So, this can be perceived as a game within a game – creation within a creation. Such gaming platforms permit user-generated content (UGC) or user-created content (UCC) by users. These permitted instances can manifest in various contents like the metaverse – portmanteau of “meta” (beyond) and universe. There are virtual world platforms that simulate reality and permit user-generated content such as Second Life or the life simulation games of The Sims franchise. These games are often referred to as MMOG (Massively Multiplayer Online Game). Such platforms involve a combination of role-playing video games (RPGs) and massively multiplayer online games where a large number of players interact via a virtual world platform. Examples of some of these games include, World of Warcraft, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Realm Online, Lord of The Rings Online, Anarchy Online, Final Fantasy, and Star Trek Online. The gaming world keeps developing and the games can be deployed on smartphones. Some of these smartphones utilise GPS technology to simulate augmented reality and give the user another experience. Games such as Ingress and Pokémon Go are part of this gaming sub-genre. There are some downsides to these sorts of games.  For instance, Pokémon Go was blamed for causing “deaths”, and accidents to gamers, passersby and bystanders caught in its gaming web. Nevertheless, computer gaming continues to broaden its scope with the metaverse, virtual world evolution to 3D – three dimensional – spaces, shared with the internet of things. Interestingly, the gaming world has a sub-genre referred to as "godgames". The irony!  

There are propounded theories based on the advancement of technological patterns and trajectories, developments may metamorphose to a point where simulation is indistinguishable from reality. That reality is simulation. For example, there are theorists such as the French sociologist and philosopher, Jean Baudrillard whose works included simulacra and simulation, and hyperreality, highlighted the inability to consciously distinguish between reality and the simulation of reality. Also, American writer and science fiction enthusiast, Philip K. Dick, had his own theories about simulation; at the 1977 METZ Sci-Fi Conference in France, he informed his audience that “we are living in a computer-programmed reality”. More recently, I came across discussions about the possibility of mankind living in a computer simulation. Elon Musk and Neil deGrasse Tyson are examples of those who have respectively discussed the topic via different platforms. The computer simulation theory is not new. In 2003, Nick Bostrom published “Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?” in Philosophy Quarterly. Bostrom's probabilistic analysis propounds the possibility of mankind living in a computer simulation. However, I am of the opinion that as intellectual beings, we must not stop at the hypothetical phase – the ultimate quest is to identify the initiator of the "computer simulation". 

The self-inflicted, and often hubristic, epistemological boundaries must be shattered to include the possibility of a supreme being – a creator. The objective is not just to identify our existence in a supposed computer simulation, nor is it the futile preoccupation of breaking out of a presumed encapsulated system. Rather, the objective is to appreciate the computer simulation as a logical similitude to understanding our existence – as creations created within a created system by The Creator. Notably, the computer simulation position aligns with The Computer Maker Analogy, as posited, with divinity being the distinctive factor. There are simulation theories attempting to expound the potential of civilizations becoming advanced enough to escape the simulation in which they live. Those in this category theorize possibilities of escaping from a virtual prison and consequently experiencing a supposed real world. In reality, though this may seem merely theoretical, and the breaking out of a simulation an impossibility, the theory can actually be expounded from the Islamic position. The simple explanation is that mankind evolves from Earth to the afterlife. From an Islamic viewpoint, there are various examples of citations in an afterlife. The post-human phase of the simulation theory can be appreciated by exploring human transfiguration. Essentially, mankind goes through a phase of their souls being trapped in the human form, until it is released to manifest to its fullest potential. One example where the Quran explains transfiguration in the afterlife states: 

In that We will change your likeness and produce you in that [form] which you do not know – Quran 56:61 

A loosely translated saying attributed to Ali ibn Abi Talib – a cousin of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ – explains mankind's transcendence thus:  

People are asleep, when they die they wake up – Ali ibn Abi Talib

Excerpt from pgs 68-72 of P.R.I.S.M: Primal Religious Instruction Serving Mankind by M.B.O Owolowo ©️