OK, so the idea of us living inside a computer simulation is not new. It's been around for some time, and movies such as The Matrix have popularized it. But it's science fiction right? The idea that we owe our existence to a computer simulation is generally viewed as science fiction. Recently however, some well respected scientists have started to look into this as a serious prospect. Some are even thinking about what experiments could potentially be devised to prove it.
One of these scientists is Rich Terrile, and he has been interviewed about this by VICE. The interview can be found here,
http://www.vice.com/read/whoa-dude-are-we-inside-a-computer-right-now-0000329-v19n9
You can also view a TEDx talk by Nobel prize winning astrophysicist George Smoot at this link
My View on This
If you ask people to consider this idea as a serious view of reality, many are freaked out by it. I think this comes mainly from the Matrix movies, and their obviously negative take on it. By why would it have to be negative? A simulated reality would not necessarily have to be of "The Matrix" type, there are a many other possibilities. A second reason for the apprehension is that they react by saying something like, "OMG, then nothing is real?!". At which point I am seriously tempted to slap their face to remind them how solidly real they are. Why would a simulated reality be any less real than any other type?
A simulated reality would have rules(laws) that are behind its dynamics and evolution. At a fundamental level that isn't any different than a universe filled with quarks, other nuclear particles and atoms that are influenced by the physical laws we know. If you think the latter view makes more sense, just take a good look at quantum mechanics.
The other big implication that seems to come up from the simulated reality view, is the concern that everything is predetermined and there is no free will.I'm not going to get into the age old debate about free will. I just want to point out that computer simulations are run now that have a non-deterministic outcome. I would imagine that a simulation such as we may be living in could do the same. So the idea of free will or no free will is not a problem unique to a simulated reality.
I'm not sure if our existence is a simulated one or not, I tend to lend my support behind theories that have accumulated a good body of evidence. But if future evidence shows it to be true, I say COOL!
If we are it works really well with a religion/non-religion that's been around for a really long time. It's called Deism. (not theism) I didn't want to hijack your post but on my blog yesterday I wrote a blog called The little religion history has forgotten... Deism have some quotes from Einstein and other famous people. I mention Elon Musk and the matrix stuff at the end.
So I don't see why what you wrote is not possible. I do think it'd be difficult to find out for sure if we were in a simulation. The only way we'd likely ever be able to find out is if we manage to detect the boundaries (not like a box) of the simulation.
How far can we zoom in on particles before things start getting weird? We may have already reached such a place with a lot of the Quantum stuff that we are running into.
The other direction would be how far out can you go.
I kind of view it like it would be if I was coding the simulation. How well can my simulation handle the concepts of infinity both inward and outward.
(none of this last stuff was in my blog... just reserved it for yours)
EDIT: Funny thing is me and friends talked about this at parties in the early 90s before the Matrix. :) We liked inventing different explanations for reality back then as a party gag.
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A very interesting opinion, and I adhere too of this theory
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I like your insight into this, and I plan on checking out Deism. You did not hijack my post at all, I welcome your comments.
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I just posted my own take on the computer simulation idea. It is long. Ultimately it was to pose some possible directions we might look to find out IF we are in a simulation.
I have this post referenced along with several others at the beginning of it.
If you want to check it out... it is Here
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