The Matrix explored the idea that the world we're living in is actually just a simulation, and that everything has been programmed, and so we have no control over the outcome of our lives, in the final analysis. Once a person is able to escape the matrix by taking the red pill, they can finally be freed from the shackles of determinism.
Of course, the final film of the original trilogy showed us that even then, the outcome was still inevitable, and the simulation will just simply reiterate itself until, at some point in the future, one of the future iterations would find a way to break that cycle. Still, it's a work of fiction and a very elaborate thought experiment imagined.
However, what if our world actually existed that way? Not in the sense that there is a much larger universe beyond our present consciousness, and by some means, we can wake up from the simulated illusion we're currently living in and access true reality. But, in the sense that the world operates in a deterministic manner, much like a simulation.
Melvin Vopson, a physicist from the University of Portsmouth, believes that he may have found signs that we do live in a simulation. That the entire universe is careening toward one particular end. And he says this from the lens of what he calls "the second law of infodynamics (information dynamics)".
According to Vopson, this law states that, as opposed to the second law of thermodynamics in which entropy tends to increase over time, information entropy does exactly the opposite. If that were the case, then he says that as time passes, information will continue to decrease until such point that there is one pathway or direction where the universe will go.
He got this idea from studying the SARS-CoV-2 virus. He observed that the genetic mutations that the virus underwent was not random, which suggests that it is consistent with his second law of infodynamics. A similar experiment in 1972 ended with the same result, in that, the genome of a virus decreased over 74 generations.
If this were to be proven true, then it will completely change the way scientists view evolution and how it works. Instead of mutations or adaptations happening at random, it will become predictable, because the pool of information available has decreased, therefore, it will be a lot easier to determine the outcome and the probability of mutations before they even take place.
Of course, the logistics of trying to prove this theory is near impossible because we don't have the evidence for it. However, there is a possible experiment wherein one tries to prove that information is matter. For example, one can try to measure a hard drive before and after the erasure of information. Although, the change may be too minuscule to measure.
Nevertheless, it's a very interesting experiment to undertake. Furthermore, the estimated cost to conduct such an experiment is quite inexpensive at a mere $180,000, which simulation theory proponents may be able to scrounge up.
(Video credit: University of Portsmouth)