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A Unified Explanation of Quantum Phenomena? The Peer-to-Peer Simulation Hypothesis

Marcus Arvan

Published Feb 1, 2014• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

In my 2013 article in The Philosophical Forum, “A New Theory of Free Will”, I argued that several serious hypotheses in philosophy and modern physics jointly entail that our reality is structurally identical to a peer-to-peer (P2P) networked computer simulation. The present paper shows that quantum phenomena emerge naturally from the computational structure of a P2P simulation. §1 explains the P2P Hypothesis in detail. §2 then shows how it explains quantum superposition and wave-function collapse (§2.1.), quantum indeterminacy (§2.2.), wave-particle duality (§2.3.), and quantum entanglement (§2.4.).

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In my 2013 article in The Philosophical Forum, “A New Theory of Free Will”, I argued that several serious hypotheses in philosophy and modern physics jointly entail that our reality is structurally identical to a peer-to-peer (P2P) networked computer simulation. The present paper shows that quantum phenomena emerge naturally from the computational structure of a P2P simulation. §1 explains the P2P Hypothesis in detail. §2 then shows how it explains quantum superposition and wave-function collapse (§2.1.), quantum indeterminacy (§2.2.), wave-particle duality (§2.3.), and quantum entanglement (§2.4.).
In my 2013 article, “A New Theory of Free Will”, I argued that several serious hypotheses in philosophy and modern physics jointly entail that our reality is structurally identical to a peer-to-peer (P2P) networked computer simulation. The present paper outlines how quantum phenomena emerge naturally from the computational structure of a P2P simulation. §1 explains the P2P Hypothesis. §2 then sketches how the structure of any P2P simulation realizes quantum superposition and wave-function collapse (§2.1.), quantum indeterminacy (§2.2.), wave-particle duality (§2.3.), and quantum entanglement (§2.4.). Finally, §3 argues that although this is by no means a philosophical proof that our reality is a P2P simulation, it provides ample reasons to investigate the hypothesis further using the methods of computer science, physics, philosophy, and mathematics.
For over nine decades, quantum mechanics has profoundly shaped our understanding of nature, offering explanations for the stability of atoms, the formation of mole cules, the properties of materials, and phenomena such as light or radioactivity. It is essential to modern technologies—from microchips to lasers—and underpins the physics of elementary particles. Yet, despite its successes, it remains a deeply mysterious theory, confronting a central enigma: why does the quantum world behave so differently from everyday reality? Elements such as superposition and quantum entanglement—which allow particles to exist simultaneously in multiple states or remain interconnected regardless of distance—contradict classical world intuitions. This gap between microscopic and macroscopic behavior has given rise to what is known as the “measurement problem,” raising fundamental questions about the nature of reality. Diverging interpretations have led to two major schools of thought: anti-realism, promoted by Niels Bohr, which holds that reality depends on the observer and their interaction with measurement instruments; and realism, supported by Albert Einstein, which argues that quantum mechanics is incomplete and that eality exists independently of observation. Bohr’s complementary philosophy and Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle were central to the formulation of the “Copenhagen interpretation,” which became dominant in the 20th century. However, the persistent opposition of scientists like Einstein and Schrödinger inspired generations of physicists to seek a unification between quantum mechanics and relativity, culminating in new theories such as loop quantum gravity and string theory. Thus, the debate between realism and anti-realism remains alive, and philosophy continues to play a crucial role in exploring the new foundations of physics.
Advaita Vedanta — the philosophical system articulated in its classical form by Adi Shankaracharya in the 8th century CE, drawing on the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras, and the Bhagavad Gita — holds that ultimate reality is non-dual: that beneath the apparent multiplicity of the phenomenal world lies a single, undivided, self-luminous consciousness (Brahman), and that the individual self (Atman) is not separate from this ground of being but identical with it. This is, on its face, a metaphysical claim. What is remarkable — and what this article examines — is how consistently the findings of 20th and 21st century physics have converged on structural parallels to this position, not through cultural influence but through independent empirical investigation. Drawing on quantum entanglement (the non-local correlation of particles across spatial separation), the measurement problem and the role of observation in wave function collapse, David Bohm's implicate order theory, the holographic principle in modern cosmology, and the hard problem of consciousness in neuroscience and philosophy of mind, the article traces five specific points of convergence between Advaita Vedanta and modern physics. The research is careful to distinguish genuine structural parallels from loose analogical thinking — neither conflating physics with metaphysics nor dismissing the parallels as coincidental. The conclusion argues that Advaita Vedanta and quantum physics, approaching the nature of reality from radically different methodological directions, have arrived at mutually illuminating positions that deserve serious interdisciplinary attention.