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Letter: Who exactly is running this simulation? (1)

Published 7 January 2026

From Matthew Stevens, Sydney, Australia

The question of whether we live in a simulation is of intellectual interest, but is ultimately irrelevant. Whether we live in the “real” universe or a simulation, we exist solely on account of its laws, and so we cannot ever leave. Communicating with any programmer, however (I imagine an acne-prone teenager with a universe simulator), might be possible, if we can show that information is more fundamental than matter. Just how, though, is an exercise left for the reader (13/20 December 2025, p 54).

Issue no. 3577 published 10 January 2026

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