Could Gravity Be a Glitch in The Universal Simulation?
People have wondered for thousands of years whether the world around them is truly real. Ancient thinkers imagined humans as prisoners in a cave, seeing only shadows on a wall and mistaking them for the full truth. In more recent times, movies like The Matrix showed a world where everyday life was just a computer program fed into human brains. These stories tap into a deep human curiosity: what if everything you experience is not the base reality, but something created by a higher power or advanced technology?
Via Space
This question has a modern name, the simulation hypothesis. It suggests that the universe might be a highly advanced computer simulation run by beings far more intelligent than humans. The idea is not new, but it has gained serious attention from scientists and philosophers. If true, it would change everything you think about existence, physics, and the place in the cosmos.
Nick Bostrom’s Famous Argument
In 2003, Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrom published a paper that brought the simulation idea into mainstream discussion. He argued that at least one of three things must be true. First, almost all civilizations go extinct before they can create realistic simulations. Second, advanced civilizations choose not to run many ancestor simulations. Or third, humans are almost certainly living in a simulation.
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Bostrom’s reasoning is simple. If future humans or other beings can create countless simulated universes, each containing conscious beings, then the number of simulated realities would far outnumber the one real base reality. Statistically, it would be more likely that you are in one of the simulations. This logic has sparked debate, but it remains a thought experiment without direct proof. Scientists have been searching for clues that might bridge philosophy and hard evidence.
Melvin Vopson – From Data Storage to Cosmic Questions
One physicist leading this search is Melvin Vopson from the University of Portsmouth in the United Kingdom. Vopson spent years working in condensed matter physics and digital data storage. He helped develop technologies for companies that store huge amounts of information on hard drives. This background gave him a deep understanding of how computers handle data efficiently.
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Vopson never planned to study the simulation hypothesis. His work on information theory and physics led him there naturally. He began asking whether the universe itself behaves like a computer trying to save energy and space. His ideas build step by step, each one testing whether physical laws show signs of optimization, just like software does.
Information Has Mass – The Core Principle
Vopson introduced a bold idea called the mass-energy-information equivalence principle. It extends Einstein’s famous equation E = mc². Einstein showed that mass and energy are interchangeable. Vopson added that information itself has a tiny but real mass. Every bit of data, like a 1 or 0 in a computer, carries a small amount of mass.
Via Big Think
This means that when you store or process information, you are dealing with something physical. Elementary particles, the building blocks of matter, might carry information about their properties, much like DNA carries instructions for living things. If information has mass, then the universe must account for it when objects move or interact.
The Second Law of Infodynamics
Traditional physics follows the second law of thermodynamics. It says that entropy, or disorder, in an isolated system always increases or stays the same. A neat room becomes messy without effort to clean it. Vopson proposed a new law for information: the second law of information dynamics.
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This law states that information entropy tends to decrease over time. Systems become more ordered in terms of information. This is the opposite of regular entropy. Vopson argues that the universe optimizes information storage and processing, reducing the amount of data needed to describe reality. This behavior looks a lot like how computers compress files to save space and run faster.
Testing the Law in Nature
Vopson has sought evidence of this law in various areas. One striking example came during the COVID-19 pandemic. He studied how the SARS-CoV-2 virus mutated. Surprisingly, the genetic mutations reduced information entropy. The virus became more efficient at encoding its instructions. This suggests the universe favors simpler, more compressed information states.
Via New Scientist
Similar patterns appear in atomic structures and natural symmetries. High symmetry means low information entropy. The universe seems to prefer these ordered states. Vopson believes these examples support his law and hint at a deeper computational process.
Gravity and the Reduction of Information Entropy
Vopson’s most recent work focuses on gravity, one of nature’s fundamental forces. Gravity pulls objects together, forming stars, planets, and galaxies from scattered gas clouds. This clustering creates more order in the universe. Vopson argues that gravity reduces information entropy. When particles or objects spread out, they require more bits to describe their positions and velocities.
Via New Scientist
When gravity brings them together, the system becomes more symmetric and needs fewer bits. This is like data compression in a computer. In his 2025 paper, Vopson shows that gravity acts as an entropic force driven by the need to minimize information entropy. He starts with a simple model of space as a grid of cells, each holding bits of information. Adding matter increases entropy. The system then evolves to lower entropy by clustering matter, producing the effect people call gravitational attraction.
Deriving Newton’s Law from Information
The most striking part of Vopson’s work is that he derives Newton’s law of gravity from his information principles. Using the second law of information dynamics and the mass-energy-information equivalence, he calculates the force between two masses. He treats space as discrete at the Planck scale, the smallest possible unit of length. Each tiny area stores information.
Via ThoughtCo
The entropic force emerges from the gradient of information entropy. After some mathematical steps, the force turns out to be exactly F = G m1 m2 / r², the same as Newton’s law. This derivation demonstrates that gravity is not a fundamental force, unlike electromagnetism. Instead, it emerges from deeper information rules, much like how temperature emerges from the motion of molecules.
Links to Earlier Ideas About Entropic Gravity
Vopson’s approach builds on work by Dutch physicist Erik Verlinde from 2011. Verlinde proposed that gravity is an entropic force arising from changes in entropy on holographic screens. Vopson’s version differs because it uses decreasing information entropy and the mass of information. Both ideas agree that gravity is not fundamental but emerges from information dynamics.
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The two approaches complement each other. Verlinde focuses on increasing entropy, while Vopson emphasizes decreasing information entropy for optimization. Together, they strengthen the case that gravity serves a computational purpose.
Broader Implications for Physics Mysteries
If gravity is an information-optimization process, it could help solve long-standing problems. Dark energy, which causes the universe to expand faster, might relate to information balance on cosmic scales. Black holes, famous for their huge entropy, might compress information in extreme ways.
Via SciTechDaily
Quantum gravity, the quest to unite quantum mechanics and general relativity, could find a path through information physics. Vopson suggests that these mysteries might disappear if you view the universe as computational. Physical laws become rules of code designed to run efficiently.
Does This Prove You Live in a Simulation?
Vopson is careful not to claim proof. He says his work supports the possibility of a computational universe. Gravity’s role in reducing information entropy looks like data compression, a hallmark of simulations. Yet he stresses that it remains a hypothesis.
Via LADBible
The universe behaves as if it is minimizing computational resources. From virus mutations to galaxy formation, patterns point to optimization. While not definitive, these clues make the simulation idea more plausible than ever.
Facing Criticism and Welcoming Debate
Bold ideas like Vopson’s naturally draw questions. Some physicists argue that deriving gravity from information is interesting but not revolutionary. Others point out that the model assumes discrete space and bit storage, which are not proven. Vopson welcomes this feedback.
Via Space
He believes science advances through open discussion and testing. He often includes question marks in his paper titles to show that these are hypotheses. His goal is to share ideas so others can build on them, disprove them, or refine them.
Explore the Theory That Gravity Reveals a Simulation
Exploring whether people live in a simulation forces everyone to rethink reality. It connects philosophy, physics, and computer science in new ways. Even if the universe is not simulated, the search reveals deep truths about information, entropy, and the laws that govern everything.
Via SciTechDaily
Vopson’s work shows how a background in data storage can lead to cosmic questions. It reminds people that curiosity and careful reasoning can uncover surprising connections. Whether you find proof or not, the journey deepens the understanding of this universe.
The idea that gravity might be evidence of a computational reality is mind-expanding. It suggests that the most familiar force in life could be a clever trick to keep the simulation running smoothly. As scientists continue to test these ideas, you may one day know whether the rabbit hole goes deeper than you ever imagined.
