The Digital Press

A new study from UBC Okanagan mathematically proves that the universe cannot be a computer simulation, challenging a popular sci-fi idea. The researchers show that reality requires a type of understanding beyond what any computation or algorithm can achieve.

Why it matters: It settles the long-debated simulation hypothesis by demonstrating the universe's fundamental nature transcends computation.

The big picture: The work links cutting-edge physics and Gödel’s incompleteness theorem to reveal limits of algorithmic descriptions of reality.

The stakes: If true, it rules out the possibility that our universe is a recursively nested simulation, impacting physics and philosophy.

Commenters say: Critics argue the study confuses computability with undecidability, and that simulation layers face an exponential resource problem making full simulations practically impossible.