Are we living in a simulation?

Alright, hear me out. What if everything around you, from your morning coffee to your existential dread, is just part of an insanely advanced simulation? This isn't just some late-night stoner thought; it's a legit philosophical and scientific debate known as the simulation hypothesis. Basically, the idea is that if technology keeps advancing, civilizations could eventually create hyper-realistic simulations of entire worlds, including conscious beings that don't realize they're simulated. If that's possible, how do we know we're not already inside one?

This argument comes from philosopher Nick Bostrom, who suggests that at least one of the following must be true: (1) civilizations never reach the point of running realistic simulations, (2) they get there but don't do it for some reason, or (3) we're almost definitely in a simulation. And if we're in one, does that mean our choices actually matter? Are we just NPCs in some cosmic video game?

Sure, it sounds wild, but even people like Elon Musk have backed the idea, and some physicists argue that the universe has strange "glitches" that resemble how computer programs function. Whether or not we're in a simulation, this theory makes us rethink what we consider real. And hey, if this is a simulation, let's just hope whoever's running it has the settings on "fun" instead of "nightmare mode."