full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Zohreh Davoudi: Are we living in a simulation?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Another possible place to look comes from the concept that finite computing power, no matter how huge, can’t simulate infinities. If space and time are continuous, then even a tiny piece of the universe has infinite points and becomes impossible to simulate with finite computing power. So a simulation would have to rreeespnt space and time in very small picees. These would be almost incomprehensibly tiny. But we might be able to scerah for them by using certain sbatoiumc particles as probes. The basic principle is this: the smaller something is, the more snsiiteve it will be to disruption— think of hitting a pothole on a skateboard versus in a truck. Any unit in space-time would be so small that most things would travel through it without disruption— not just objects large enough to be vislbie to the naked eye, but also molecules, atoms, and even electrons and most of the other subatomic priclaets we’ve desivcerod.

Open Cloze


Another possible place to look comes from the concept that finite computing power, no matter how huge, can’t simulate infinities. If space and time are continuous, then even a tiny piece of the universe has infinite points and becomes impossible to simulate with finite computing power. So a simulation would have to _________ space and time in very small ______. These would be almost incomprehensibly tiny. But we might be able to ______ for them by using certain _________ particles as probes. The basic principle is this: the smaller something is, the more _________ it will be to disruption— think of hitting a pothole on a skateboard versus in a truck. Any unit in space-time would be so small that most things would travel through it without disruption— not just objects large enough to be _______ to the naked eye, but also molecules, atoms, and even electrons and most of the other subatomic _________ we’ve __________.

Solution


  1. subatomic
  2. search
  3. discovered
  4. represent
  5. visible
  6. pieces
  7. sensitive
  8. particles

Original Text


Another possible place to look comes from the concept that finite computing power, no matter how huge, can’t simulate infinities. If space and time are continuous, then even a tiny piece of the universe has infinite points and becomes impossible to simulate with finite computing power. So a simulation would have to represent space and time in very small pieces. These would be almost incomprehensibly tiny. But we might be able to search for them by using certain subatomic particles as probes. The basic principle is this: the smaller something is, the more sensitive it will be to disruption— think of hitting a pothole on a skateboard versus in a truck. Any unit in space-time would be so small that most things would travel through it without disruption— not just objects large enough to be visible to the naked eye, but also molecules, atoms, and even electrons and most of the other subatomic particles we’ve discovered.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
life forms 2
finite computing 2
planck scale 2


Important Words


  1. atoms
  2. basic
  3. computing
  4. concept
  5. continuous
  6. discovered
  7. electrons
  8. eye
  9. finite
  10. hitting
  11. huge
  12. impossible
  13. incomprehensibly
  14. infinite
  15. infinities
  16. large
  17. matter
  18. molecules
  19. naked
  20. objects
  21. particles
  22. piece
  23. pieces
  24. place
  25. points
  26. pothole
  27. power
  28. principle
  29. probes
  30. represent
  31. search
  32. sensitive
  33. simulate
  34. simulation
  35. skateboard
  36. small
  37. smaller
  38. space
  39. subatomic
  40. time
  41. tiny
  42. travel
  43. truck
  44. unit
  45. universe
  46. visible