The idea that the world is an illusion has long been a thesis of faiths such as Hinduism and Buddhism – and more recently, movies including The Matrix and Inception. Now, some researchers think they can prove it scientifically.
If reality is other than what we take for granted, what are the implications? Peter Howell
Twenty years ago it was the plot of The Matrix, but experiments set to begin in the near future, pandemic permitting, in California hope to show that the world is, indeed, an illusion.
The idea that we are living in a simulation is viewed simply as science fiction by most mainstream scientists but it has some surprising and high-profile supporters, including Tesla and SpaceX entrepreneur Elon Musk, who has said the odds are "a billion to one" against us living in base reality, and analysts at Bank of America, who estimated its likelihood at between 20 and 50 per cent in a 2016 report.
