--- title: "A Scientist Is Looking Into Whether We Can Hack the Reality Simulation" description: "Dr. David Peterson argues that if we are indeed living in a computer simulation of reality, we can probably hack it — by submitting feature requests." date: "2023-01-18" modified: "2023-02-03" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientist-hack-reality-simulation" categories: - "Cybersecurity" - "Future Society" - "Hacking" tags: - "computer simulation" - "Simulation" - "the digest" --- # A Scientist Is Looking Into Whether We Can Hack the Reality Simulation ![Dr. David Peterson argues that if we are indeed living in a computer simulation of reality, we can probably hack it — by submitting feature requests.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Unisym Want to be able to pause a conversation so that you can think of something perfectly charming to say? Send a hologram of yourself to a party for a few minutes in the case that you're late? Fear not — someone's looking into it for you. That someone is question is Dr. David Anderson, a computer scientist, SETI enthusiast, musician, and mathematician at the University of California, Berkeley who, [as *The New York Times* reports](), argues that if we are indeed living in a computer simulation of reality, logic then stands to reason that we should be able to somehow hack that simulation — a hypothetical "software" that he refers to as "Unisym" — to add fun new features. That said, considering that a simulation of Earth would be wildly complex to implement and run, functionally hacking the system *ourselves* to add reality-altering widgets would probably be impossible. But fortunately, according to Dr. Anderson, there's another way: prayer. Sort of. ## Manifest It Per Anderson's thinking, which he outlines in a mid-pandemic published [blog post](), the alleged computer-simulated "meta-universe" would be written and maintained by "meta-hackers" — basically just extremely advanced computer engineers — who, in theory, might be able to field "feature requests" from humans. "Is there a mechanism by which we — from within the simulation — can submit feature requests to the Unisym repository?" Anderson ponders in his blog. "It's conceivable," he continues, "that the meta-hackers consider "pull requests" — changes to the source code — from our universe." But! We can't just expect meta-hackers to know what we want. We need to somehow put our hopes and dreams for universal updates out there. Dare we say... you have to manifest it? And manifest Anderson does. In that same blog, he lists a series of crowd-sourced "universe feature requests," which range from the more mundane, creative ask that we can switch on a button to see all of the footsteps that we may have ever taken, to the very lame ask that we all become immortal and be granted unlimited lines of credit. But if you do send Anderson any requests to relay to the meta-hackers, he does have on big rule to keep in mind. "I'm only interested in changes... that allows a new version of Unisym to continue simulating starting from the current state," he warns. "Otherwise the meta-hackers would have to start simulating from the beginning, and I might not exist." *Updated to correct the spelling of Dr. David Anderson's name.* **READ MORE:** *[Are We Living in a Computer Simulation, and Can We Hack It?]()* \[*The New York Times*\] **More on simulations:** *[Professor Insists That We Actually Don't Live in a Simulation]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()