The Matrix and quantum mechanics

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In summary: I don't think they are really getting to the root of the matter and that's a shame, because Nietzsche's ideas are quite profound.
  • #1
lucas_
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I am fascinated again with The Matrix especially as it could pertain to the minimum instrumental version of quantum mechanics.

Read this conversation (the quantum stuff added)

The Matrix is also the minimum instrumental version of quantum mechanics which "explains" our daily world.

"Morpheus: The Matrix is everywhere, it is all around us, even now in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window, or you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, when you go to church, when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Morpheus: That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage... born into a prison that you cannot smell or taste or touch. A prison for your mind.

added:

Neo: Bondage?
Morpheus: The Matrix implementation uses the minimum instrumental version of quantum mechanics which hides the Ontology.
Neo: Ontology?
Morpheus: The Ontology is simply a programming language.

----------------

Is this possible, the quantum ontology is a programming language? Not Many Worlds or Bohmians_ or Objective Collapse, but a programming language?

This would make The Matrix even more realistic and and believable. For Sci-Fi fans conversant with the Quantum. Kindly give your two cents.
 
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  • #2
lucas_ said:
...the minimum instrumental version of quantum mechanics.
What does that mean?
 
  • #4
You're looking for meaning in a movie that wasn't developed by physicists. Lay writers often grab terms from science to add depth but just like the scenery of the movie there is nothing more behind it.

It's always cool to add quantum ideas to a movie but its almost always stated wrongly. The notion of a matrix coupled with QM is actually a thing as one early version of QM was based on matrices called Matrix Mechanics by Heisenberg. Another version was Wave Mechanics by Schrodinger and later still Dirac showed that the are equivalent mathematical representations of the same thing.

Another movie that I liked K-PAX did that to great effect where Prot describes a star system and location and wonder of wonders they find it and his orbital description matches the system. That adds mystery to the movie but we know it isn't true.

Later he provides a deep quote at the end that I like a lot because there's some truth in it and it implies that we will be here again (a comforting thought for those of us who have lost someone dear to our hearts) but then again maybe not:
Prot:
I want to tell you something Mark, something you do not yet know, that we K-PAXians have been around long enough to have discovered. The universe will expand, then it will collapse back on itself, then will expand again. It will repeat this process forever.

What you don't you know is that when the universe expands again, everything will be as it is now. Whatever mistakes you make this time around, you will live through on your next pass. Every mistake you make, you will live through again, & again, forever.

So my advice to you is to get it right this time around. Because this time is all you have.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-PAX
 
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  • #5
Who are programmers here.

Can you write a program where the world building in the simulation or virtual environment uses quantum mechanics?

Remember when you observe event E in the classical device you update the probabilities for future events. The quantum state was not viewed as a physical thing just a collection of probabilities P(E) for events E.

The physical thing could be some kind of processing unit.
 
  • #6
Of course but due to the complexity of QM mathematics, shortcuts would have to be made to simplify effects.

Google quantum tic-tac-toe to see some of the difficulties and this code is using shortcuts to get the idea across and not the true QM nature.

My suggestion is become a programmer and take on this project and then you'll see what's involved.
 
  • #7
A world based on quantum mechanics would look exactly like the world we live in.
 
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  • #8
@jedishrfu
" Whatever mistakes you make this time around, you will live through on your next pass. Every mistake you make, you will live through again, & again, forever. " This is Nietzsche and his "Eternal Recurrence" idea not some idiot Hollywood script writer.
 
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  • #10
Quasimodo said:
not some idiot Hollywood script writer

I dunno, if the script writer is dipping into Nietzsche then they aren't exactly an idiot, surely?
 
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  • #11
Vanadium 50 said:
A world based on quantum mechanics would look exactly like the world we live in.
Good news Matrix fans.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/08/20/entertainment/the-matrix-trnd/index.html
"(CNN)Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss will again reenter "The Matrix," staring in a third sequel to the 1999 science fiction film that's expected to begin production next year."

Maybe they can emphasize in the new movie that the Matrix program uses quantum mechanics and our world is really a matrix?

I guess this would get students to become interested in Heisenberg Matrix Mechanics.
 
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  • #12
lucas_ said:
Good news Matrix fans.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/08/20/entertainment/the-matrix-trnd/index.html
"(CNN)Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss will again reenter "The Matrix," staring in a third sequel to the 1999 science fiction film that's expected to begin production next year."

Maybe they can emphasize in the new movie that the Matrix program uses quantum mechanics and our world is really a matrix?

I guess this would get students to become interested in Heisenberg Matrix Mechanics.

During the twelve month period from June 1925 to June 1926, three independent developments of a complete quantum theory were published.. and shown to be equivalent.

1. Erwin Schroedinger Wave Mechanics
2. Werner Heisenberg Matrix Mechanics
3. Paul Dirac Quantum Algebra

If you were to use them on a computer simulation of world building for Matrix like virtual "computer generated dream world" (as Morpheus put it). Which of them is more compatible or can be more easily implemented with software programming?
 
  • #13
Programmers wouldn’t approach it that way. When physics simulations are written for classical systems we would integrate a system of differential equations but that could be slow.

Programmers developed game physics where it simulates the world in the way we view it but not necessarily accurately because performance is needed shortcuts are taken and someone knowledgeable of physics would notice gotchas in how it works. Also the programmer can take advantage of hidden knowledge such as accurate positions of things and the solutions to the differential equations to speed their calculations along.

As an example, if we know a projectile is fired we know it ideally travels a parabolic path and we don’t need to integrate the physics differential equations associated with the motion. However, if we add wind resistance then we must modify the code to compensate.

The Unity game engine is a great example of this where games implemented on Unity have a realistic feel but there are noticeable differences with the real world but we are so amazed we overlook them.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_physics
 
  • #14
lucas_ said:
During the twelve month period from June 1925 to June 1926, three independent developments of a complete quantum theory were published.. ... Which of them is more compatible or can be more easily implemented with software programming?
The most effective method is to include a watchdog-like entity which continuously monitoring the participants and stops them when they are about to make discoveries regarding the 'physics' applied inside.
Matrix (the movie) has them too. :doh:

By the way: when somebody trying to mix simulation and quantum it's just like that meme about Neo taking both pills at once o0)

jedishrfu said:
The Unity game engine is a great example of this where games implemented on Unity have a realistic feel but there are noticeable differences with the real world but we are so amazed we overlook them.
Yep. When you can dodge a bullet you are happy to do so - even if you do know it's anything but realistic 😉
 
  • #15
Rive said:
The most effective method is to include a watchdog-like entity which continuously monitoring the participants and stops them when they are about to make discoveries regarding the 'physics' applied inside.
Matrix (the movie) has them too. :doh:

In our "world", there are too. First what if "abductees" who saw "grey aliens" were simply waking up to real memories where our real bodies or even brains were in vats "somewhere" or "someplace" else. :)

About watchdog-like entity. If you will read the Mothman Prophecies. Most witnesses were later killed by "Men in Black" who can morph or shapeshift. In Matrix, there were "gate keepers"? What if Men in Black were gate keepers too? :)

This is why "Ignorance is Bliss". Even if they were true. It's better to stuck one head under the sand. At least you are alive. Lol.
By the way: when somebody trying to mix simulation and quantum it's just like that meme about Neo taking both pills at once o0)Yep. When you can dodge a bullet you are happy to do so - even if you do know it's anything but realistic 😉
[/QUOTE]
 
  • #16
lucas_ said:
If you were to use them on a computer simulation of world building for Matrix like virtual "computer generated dream world" (as Morpheus put it). Which of them is more compatible or can be more easily implemented with software programming?

Let me say it again. A world based on quantum mechanics would look exactly like the world we live in.

Furthermore, the creators of the next Matrix movie are not interested in quantum woo. They are interested in selling tickets. If the word "quantum" even appears, it will be sandwiched between so much gobledogook that your discussion about aliens and Mothman will look sensible in comparison.
 
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  • #17
I hope they can create a Matrix prequel where it would explore the rise of the A.I. In Battlestar Galactica, they had a movie that explored how the robots came to exist (I forgot the name).

Remember this conversation in the original Matrix:

"This is the world that you know: the world as it was at the end of the 20th century. It exists now only as a part of a neural-interactive simulation that we call the Matrix…

We have only bits and pieces of information, but what we know for certain is that at some point in the early 21st century, all of mankind was united in celebration. We marveled at our own magnificence as we gave birth to AI: a singular consciousness that spawned an entire race of machines. We don’t know who struck first, us or them, but we know that it was us that scorched the sky. At the time, they were dependent on solar power, and it was believed that they would be unable to survive without an energy source as abundant as the sun. Throughout human history, we have been dependent on machines to survive. Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony.

The human body generates more bioelectricity than a 120-volt battery and over 25,000 BTUs of body heat. Combined with a form of fusion, the machines had found all the energy they would ever need. There are fields, Neo, endless fields where human beings are no longer born. We are grown. For the longest time, I wouldn’t believe it, and then I saw the fields with my own eyes. Watched them liquefy the dead so they could be fed intravenously to the living. And standing there, facing the pure, horrifying precision, I came to realize the obviousness of the truth."
 
  • #18
Vanadium 50 said:
Let me say it again. A world based on quantum mechanics would look exactly like the world we live in.

Does a world based on quantum mechanics needs to be necessarily 3D? Can't a computer of say near infinite processing computer able to artificially create 3D even if the programming algorithm would be based on quantum mechanics? I'm not talking of simple gaming environment but sophisticated virtual world with sub-brains and A.I. within the simulated world.

Then there is the holographic principle which says our world can be modeled in 2D.

What is the connection between quantum mechanics and the holographic principle anyway?

I think Matrix 5 would be more interesting (Rise of the Machines) than the coming Matrix 4 which would be based on events after Matrix 3. I like the original Matrix more, and part 3 the least.

Furthermore, the creators of the next Matrix movie are not interested in quantum woo. They are interested in selling tickets. If the word "quantum" even appears, it will be sandwiched between so much gobledogook that your discussion about aliens and Mothman will look sensible in comparison.
 
  • #19
Looking forward to the 4th! I can barely remember the original story. I need to revisit!
 
  • #20
If a sci-fi movie were based on QM, it ought to be called "The Hamiltonian" or "The Self-Adjoint Linear Operator", but those are not as catchy as "The Matrix".

Although, perhaps something called "The Hilbert Space" could do well at the box office.
 
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  • #21
Didnt they do a Broadway play on QM that was wildly popular?

Hamilton
 
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  • #22
When I first saw the movie there was this scene where Morpheus explains Neo what the One is: has the ability to reshape the Matrix as he saw fit etc etc.

I was like "doesn't Smith tick all those boxes?"
 
  • #23
lucas_ said:
Does a world based on quantum mechanics needs to be necessarily 3D? Can't a computer of say near infinite processing computer able to artificially create 3D even if the programming algorithm would be based on quantum mechanics? I'm not talking of simple gaming environment but sophisticated virtual world with sub-brains and A.I. within the simulated world.

Then there is the holographic principle which says our world can be modeled in 2D.

What is the connection between quantum mechanics and the holographic principle anyway?

I think Matrix 5 would be more interesting (Rise of the Machines) than the coming Matrix 4 which would be based on events after Matrix 3. I like the original Matrix more, and part 3 the least.

Reflecting on how the A.I. were able to create the Matrix software in future "Rise of the Machines" installations. I think the humans there were able to perfect quantum computer first. Then the A.I. using them to simulate quantum mechanics.

About the question whether a world based on quantum mechanics needs to be necessarily 3D. I think this is when you have to input the spacetime manifold into the program and make it diffeomorphism invariant so spacetime is not fixed like in Newtonian space.

When you include Einstein Field Equations in the simulation. I think this is when you can artificially create a 3D world for the simulation, right?

So Quantum Mechanics and General Relativity have to be embedded in the computer simulation at the same time.

Question. If our reality were simply program. What would happen to the question of quantum gravity? Would it automatically be solved, where Planck scale is simply the bits and bytes or pixel of the computer simulation? or would the problem of quantum gravity remains?Also supposed they didn't embed Einstein Field Equations. Can quantum mechanics exist alone without spacetime? Or what kind of world would it be?

When we think of matter. We automatically take into account spacetime. What would happen if there is only matter and quantum mechanics?
 
  • #24
lucas_ said:
Reflecting on how the A.I. were able to create the Matrix software in future "Rise of the Machines" installations. I think the humans there were able to perfect quantum computer first. Then the A.I. using them to simulate quantum mechanics.

About the question whether a world based on quantum mechanics needs to be necessarily 3D. I think this is when you have to input the spacetime manifold into the program and make it diffeomorphism invariant so spacetime is not fixed like in Newtonian space.

When you include Einstein Field Equations in the simulation. I think this is when you can artificially create a 3D world for the simulation, right?

So Quantum Mechanics and General Relativity have to be embedded in the computer simulation at the same time.

Question. If our reality were simply program. What would happen to the question of quantum gravity? Would it automatically be solved, where Planck scale is simply the bits and bytes or pixel of the computer simulation? or would the problem of quantum gravity remains?Also supposed they didn't embed Einstein Field Equations. Can quantum mechanics exist alone without spacetime? Or what kind of world would it be?

When we think of matter. We automatically take into account spacetime. What would happen if there is only matter and quantum mechanics?

By the way. Our plain quantum mechanics doesn't even use General Relativity. It doesn't even use Special Relativity. It only uses Newtonian Physics? But what would happen to quantum mechanics if it doesn't even use Newtonian Physics as the background?

It's possible the A.I. didn't integrate General Relativity or Special Relativity into the Matrix. But without it. Wouldn't the scientists among Neo detect the Ether? And with fixed referenced frame. Wouldn't they be able to measure the boundary and see it's composed of mere bits and bytes? So SR and GR are essential to hide the existence of any boundary to make secret the existence of the Matrix.
 
  • #25
lucas_ said:
By the way. Our plain quantum mechanics doesn't even use General Relativity. It doesn't even use Special Relativity. It only uses Newtonian Physics? But what would happen to quantum mechanics if it doesn't even use Newtonian Physics as the background?

It's possible the A.I. didn't integrate General Relativity or Special Relativity into the Matrix. But without it. Wouldn't the scientists among Neo detect the Ether? And with fixed referenced frame. Wouldn't they be able to measure the boundary and see it's composed of mere bits and bytes? So SR and GR are essential to hide the existence of any boundary to make secret the existence of the Matrix.

Another thing is that the ontological interpretation of quantum mechanics says the wave function "represents" something real. So the equations themselves can't conjure matter in the simulations. Therefore what kind of quantum interpretations is compatible with it being embedded in software? It is epistemic quantum interpretation?
 
  • #26
lucas_ said:
Another thing is that the ontological interpretation of quantum mechanics says the wave function "represents" something real. So the equations themselves can't conjure matter in the simulations. Therefore what kind of quantum interpretations is compatible with it being embedded in software? It is epistemic quantum interpretation?

But then, all quantum interpretations have the same mathematical formalism. So I guess the Matrix uses just the math of qm in the algorithm of its matter behavior?

For those who tried virtual reality googles. It can be so immersive because it is 3d due to the fish lens and at times it's like you are inside one.

So you can argue the Matrix is simply a virtual reality environment. But then how does the scientists among Neo perform quantum experiments? I guess this is when the math of QM is integrated into it?

But can you simulate quantum mechanics using conventional computers or do you need to use quantum computers?

What are you guesses?

They can explore these in "Rise of the Machines" prequel by sharing to the public whether quantum computers are required to simulate quantum mechanics. But is it really simulating qm or just using its math in the program, how do you distinguish?
 

1. What is the connection between "The Matrix" and quantum mechanics?

The Matrix is a science fiction movie that explores the concept of a simulated reality, while quantum mechanics is a branch of physics that studies the behavior of matter and energy at a very small scale. In the movie, the characters are able to manipulate the simulated reality using their minds, which is similar to the concept of quantum entanglement where particles can affect each other instantaneously regardless of distance.

2. Can quantum mechanics explain the possibility of a simulated reality like in "The Matrix"?

Quantum mechanics is a complex and constantly evolving field of study, and while it may offer some insights into the concept of a simulated reality, it cannot definitively explain its possibility. The idea of a simulated reality is still largely in the realm of science fiction and philosophical debate.

3. Are there any real-life examples of quantum mechanics in "The Matrix"?

One example is the scene where Neo learns to dodge bullets in slow motion. This is similar to the concept of quantum tunneling, where particles can pass through barriers that would normally be impossible to cross. Another example is the use of code to manipulate the simulated reality, which could be compared to the idea of quantum computing where information is stored and manipulated at the quantum level.

4. Is there any evidence to support the possibility of a simulated reality like in "The Matrix"?

There is currently no scientific evidence to support the idea of a simulated reality. However, some theories in quantum mechanics, such as the Many-Worlds interpretation, propose the existence of multiple parallel universes which could potentially be interpreted as a simulated reality.

5. How does the concept of free will relate to "The Matrix" and quantum mechanics?

In "The Matrix", the characters are able to manipulate the simulated reality using their minds, which could be interpreted as a form of free will. In quantum mechanics, the concept of free will is still a topic of debate, as some theories suggest that the behavior of particles is predetermined while others propose the existence of free will at the quantum level.

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