Jailbreak

George Hotz, a self-driving car developer and famous hacker, is the latest tech celebrity to suggest that our universe may be a simulation built by some society more advanced than our own.

“There’s no evidence this is not true,” Hotz announced during his talk at the Austin tech conference SXSW, according to The Verge. “It’s easy to imagine things that are so much smarter than you and they could build a cage you wouldn’t even recognize.”

Dizzying Logic

Simulation Theory has several high-profile advocates, including Elon Musk, who basically argue that we all exist in some sort of mega-advanced game of The Sims.

To be fair, Hotz’s logic could be used to justify the existence of anything from Santa Claus to luminiferous aether, an invisible substance that scientists used to believe blanketed the Earth — but which turned out not to exist.

Sure, the absence of evidence of a simulation is not the same as evidence that such a simulation doesn’t exist, but it also can’t serve as evidence that it does.

E Nomine Simulātiōnem

But a logical fallacy or two isn’t going to stop Hotz, who mused about the prospect of forming a religion dedicated to setting people free from the simulation. Never mind the question of how we, supposedly simulated beings, would continue to exist outside of that simulation.

“With companies, you only really lose,” said Hotz of his decision to start a religion. “I think churches might be much more aligned toward these goals, and the goal of the church would be realigning society’s efforts toward getting out [of the simulation].”

READ MORE: Comma.ai founder George Hotz wants to free humanity from the AI simulation [The Verge]

More on simulation theory: Philosopher Hadn’t Seen “The Matrix” Before Publishing Simulation Hypothesis