Help! I'm trapped in the Matrix

I've been listening to the RadioLab podcast The (Multi) Universe(s) over and over again on my mp3 player. In it, Brian Greene, professor of Physics and Mathematics at the Columbia University, talks about what math and physics tell us about universes.

These are the key items I picked up from his talk: (a) given there is a finite set of particles in our universe and provided that the universe is infinite (really infinite, ie: there's no limit to our universe), then the particular arrangement of particles that make up our little area of the universe must be repeated (simply a probabilistic argument) again and again, rarely, yet many times. That means, there's, at least, another one of my typing this same blog somewhere else, and there's another one of you reading this same blog. And we are not so unique as we think we are. (b) Einstein's theory of relativity accounts for repulsive gravity and where that changes to zero is where energy turns into particles and so various universes pop up. That means, in theory, there are an infinite number of universes, inside each of which, the previous (a) is also true. (c) Then there is this whole Matrix thing. That means, given the above two sets of infinite possibilities, there could be a sufficiently advanced civilization where they are able to simulate an entire universe, or at the very least, an entire world. Okay, it is quite rate in a random area of a random universe for a life form to evolve into a civilization like ours. But if a technologically advanced civilization were to figure out how to simulate an entire universe, then it is quite possible that they could roll out a great multitude of such simulations. So, the probability is in the favor of us being a Matrix-like simulation than a real one.

So, in the words of Robert Krulwich, we could be the 5th grade science project of some kid in planet Zantar. Actually, I think it is a little bit more subtle than that. The 5th grader's project is probably something like Mars or Mercury. The middle schoolers probably have done the gas giants as a class project. That explains the many moons of Jupiter. Some exceptionally bright kid in 7th grade probably did the rings for Saturn. Making the water planet and placing it in the habitable zone for the possibility of life is probably a high-school level project. Setting the course for the evolution, that's gotta be the undergrads of Zantar. And, the human civilization, their idiosyncrasies and its impact on the planet ... that's gotta be a PhD thesis project.

I don't know about you, but I've had many moments in my life when things have happened quite unexpectedly. Then there have been other moments where at the time seemed quite insignificant but later turned out to be pivotal. And, some of both types have been crucial events to make drastic changes in my life. Looking back, I know, that had I picked a different choice at each of those moments, the life would have gone on a different direction. So, that means, the Zandar kids aren't just initiating the simulation and doing a "set it and forget it" thing. I think, they are poking things here and there and changing the parameters in the simulation at various times to see what happens as a consequence. It is sort of like me not being in control or not having the free will (of which I've written previously under this blog, and Brian Greene in this podcast also says as an illusion.)

So, I want the red pill. I want to see how far down this rabbit hole goes. I want to see the PIC (People in Charge).