# What if it was confirmed that we live in a computer simulation (Matrix Disclosure)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 27, 2019, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-it-was-confirmed-that-we-live-in-a-computer-simulation-matrix-disclosure/840927 "2019-09-27T21:38:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kamaski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9d8465/32.png) [@Kamaski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamaski)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-it-was-confirmed-that-we-live-in-a-computer-simulation-matrix-disclosure/840927/1 "2019-09-27T21:38:38Z")
What if the president comes out on live tv and says full stop we live in the Matrix. The average person doesn’t actually control their life, its all predetermined by the sim. Would there be protests/ mass freakouts? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-it-was-confirmed-that-we-live-in-a-computer-simulation-matrix-disclosure/840927/2 "2019-09-27T21:41:44Z")
I think the more likely reaction is to assume the president has gone insane. For it to be broadly accepted as a concept, the evidence for it would have to be pretty compelling. A lot of people would probably just shrug and get on with their lives, whether or not they are simulated. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-it-was-confirmed-that-we-live-in-a-computer-simulation-matrix-disclosure/840927/3 "2019-09-27T21:43:53Z")
How is this thread different from your previous thread on this subject? [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=871502](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=871502) ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-it-was-confirmed-that-we-live-in-a-computer-simulation-matrix-disclosure/840927/4 "2019-09-27T21:44:03Z")
Does the President have proof? ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-it-was-confirmed-that-we-live-in-a-computer-simulation-matrix-disclosure/840927/5 "2019-09-27T21:45:25Z")
Wait, the president is saying this? The United States President? The only people who would believe a word out of his mouth wouldn’t understand the concept. And for the record, the most troubling part of the idea we’re living in a simulation is that it implies that there’s a god of some sort - somebody or something that created and oversees the simulation. ---
**Author:** ![Kamaski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9d8465/32.png) [@Kamaski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamaski)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-it-was-confirmed-that-we-live-in-a-computer-simulation-matrix-disclosure/840927/6 "2019-09-27T21:57:04Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > Does the President have proof? Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Kamaski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9d8465/32.png) [@Kamaski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamaski)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-it-was-confirmed-that-we-live-in-a-computer-simulation-matrix-disclosure/840927/7 "2019-09-27T22:00:50Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > Does the President have proof? What evidence would be enough to be compelling? ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-it-was-confirmed-that-we-live-in-a-computer-simulation-matrix-disclosure/840927/8 "2019-09-27T22:13:20Z")
I’m having trouble imagining how it could be proved that a simulation was a simulation from inside the simulation. But we don’t actually have to know that to fully answer the question posed in the OP (ignoring the bit about the President). > [@](#): > > The average person doesn’t actually control their life, its all predetermined by the sim. > > Would there be protests/ mass freakouts? The result would be whatever the simulation had predetermined. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-it-was-confirmed-that-we-live-in-a-computer-simulation-matrix-disclosure/840927/9 "2019-09-27T22:17:50Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > I’m having trouble imagining how it could be proved that a simulation was a simulation from inside the simulation. The proof would be a lot like the proof there was a creator god, with the difference that the god says, “By the way, I consider the reality I created for you to be a simulation.” > [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > The result would be whatever the simulation had predetermined. Well, we’re living in that simulation. In theory we can look at how the simulated entities (that is, us) react to things in general, and speculate on how they’d (we’d) react to that. Of course I myself don’t interact with hyu-mans much so I couldn’t say what they’d do. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-it-was-confirmed-that-we-live-in-a-computer-simulation-matrix-disclosure/840927/10 "2019-09-27T22:30:46Z")
Were you in the Matrix for the past 7 months [since your last thread on this subject?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=871502) First, let’s not just keep starting the same thread over and over. Second, this isn’t really a debate. I’m closing this thread. I can’t really see the other one being a proper debate either, but I’ll leave it open for now. [/moderating]