Simulation Theory & Glacier National Park

Can the world really be this beautiful? Or is this DEFINITELY a simulation?

^^^ That's what I've been asking myself for the past week or so. Can this world actually be real? We're about halfway through our road trip now, and for the past several days we've been in Wyoming, Idaho (briefly), and Montana, which are all states I've never been to until now. I have been shocked by the beauty and expansiveness of it all. The juxtaposition in landscape across these states has really been awe-inspiring, and I'm thankful to be driving through them (instead of flying) because it really paints the picture of just how large and spread out everything is. We'll go from miles and miles of flat farm-land, to almost immediate monstrous mountains, to rolling hills with small rivers weaved all between. It sort of feels like undeveloped "terrain" in a video game, and some of the towns we've been in have really felt like "Sims," or "City Tycoon."

Now, this blog post might be a little out there for some, but let's just say: Simulation Theory has been on my mind a lot lately. Mostly because it feels like I've been witnessing glitches in the system. Let's pause for a second and define simulation theory for those who don't know. Wikipedia's definition says, "Simulation Theory is the proposal that all of reality, including the Earth and the rest of the universe, could in fact be an artificial simulation, such as a computer simulation." Think about the tv show Black Mirror, or the movies The Matrix and The Truman Show. Now, when I say I've been experiencing glitches, I mean I'm beginning to notice things like when a "character" in the simulation is being repeated (have you ever seen a person that you KNOW you recognize from maybe various places but you don't know why?) It's as if, because my sim has decided to wake up to the fact that I'm just a character in someone's video game, my sim is also now able to pick up on all the faulty, or lazy, coding. I mean, I'm not kidding you when I say there have been towns that we've gone into that every building just has the label of what it is, instead of an actual name. Like, "Restaurant," is next to "Gas," which is catty-corner to "Grocery," that shares a parking lot with "Auto." Isn't that kind of weird? Glitchy, right? Just me? And yaknow those street lights in video games that have like three round bulbs that hang down from a black metal pole? Well Kalispell, Montana has them on every corner of it's perfectly grid town-square (in addition to well-maintained hanging flower pots of every color flower). I'm just saying, it looks too manicured; like something I've literally created on a desktop computer in middle school. Jacksone Hole, Wyoming also had that vibe. In fact, while sitting in a park there, I noticed a big black crow flying from one specific tree, to the top of a neighboring building, and doing one loud "caw," on each surface before looping to do it again. I shit you not I watched this bird go back and forth, to the same two spots, with identical yells, several times before I left the park and wrote the whole town off as a major glitch. As I'm writing this, I realize we're approaching the big philosophical question of, "Does life imitate art? Or art imitate life?" and I'm not sure I actually want to tackle that, but in a way it seems that's what we're doing. So here we go.

Simulation Theory has casually interested me for a long time, but it really feels like I'm experiencing it first hand now. Glacier National Park felt like that more than anywhere I've ever been in my life. Like whoever was "building" this park spent some time on it; adding cute little waterfalls to nearly every mountain, crystal clear lakes and pounds around every corner, and beautiful varieties of trees and flora in abundance. Like they really couldn't stop themself from filling every inch of the map with outlandish beauty. Honestly, they may have even done too much. It's so incredible, and I'm glad that I got to witness the artistry and attention to detail that this gamer took, but also, it makes the simulation too obvious, yaknow? As I was climbing a mountain at one point, I turned to Grayson and said, "Do you notice that sometimes the ground almost feels hallow?" A nod yes. We noticed it with some trees as well, as we crazily knocked on them. We skipped rocks across the deeply blue water, noticing how some areas had nothing but perfectly flat stones, and others had the most pristinely round and multicolored pebbles. Again...too perfect. I don't know, maybe I'm losing my mind, and I'm sure some geologist somewhere would have a scientific reason for how and why this type of variation in beauty can happen in such compact space, but I promise you we weren't the only people walking around gasping about how "unreal" it all felt.

It's so interesting to me that the "natural" world and the "manmade" world can equally feel like a simulation. This theory, by the way, is one that tons of really smart people believe in. Elon Musk has said, "We're most likely in a simulation," and Neil deGrasse Tyson said it's "better than 50-50 odds." So, what would it mean if we were in fact just a simulation? Does that make life any less valuable? Personally, I don't think so. If anything it gives me a bit of peace to think that at some point I may just pull off the virtual reality headset of this life and continue on as an alien or my future self. How cool of a twist on reincarnation would it be if each "life" I've lived is just another version of a game that has infinite possibilities based on my characters choices? I think pretty cool, and I don't even play video games. It makes the idea that "the world is our playground" even more accurate - if this really is just a game, then why not PLAY? Have fun, explore, take risks, accept challenges, laugh, cry, love, DO IT ALL. I guess if I had to answer the question from above, I'd say that this life does in fact feel like it imitates art. Simulation or not, the world is stunning and magnificent; it deserves our full attention. Let's enjoy it as much as we can, for as long as we can.

~Your growth and peace are within reach~