Why the Universe Might Be Flat
The Holographic Principle
BAZINGA SCIENCE:
Have you ever leveraged your nerdy knowledge to show off in front of your loved one? I bet you did, just like Leonard did with Penny with his laser holograms (although it’s just experimental physics someone might say…)
Now, one of the wildest ideas you might come across in the physics world is the holographic principle. Imagine it as an idea so trippy that even Sheldon’s eyebrows might raise just a millimeter. But don’t worry! I’ll explain it in a way that’s more “Soft Kitty, Warm Kitty” than "unravel the space time fabric."
And you can watch the video ⬇︎
So, What on Earth (or Off It) is the Holographic Principle?
The holographic principle sounds like something you’d see in a sci-fi movie, and it sort of is. It’s the theory that our entire 3D universe, everything you can see, touch, and live in, could actually be a projection of a 2D surface. Yes, you read that right. In this theory, we might just be holograms.
Think of a hologram sticker on your credit card. It’s flat, but it shows a 3D image. Similarly, some scientists believe that everything we experience in three dimensions could be coded onto a two-dimensional surface, like the surface of a vast cosmic hard drive. So in this sense, the universe might work a bit like that hologram, the full 3D depth we perceive is really just a clever trick of physics on a flatter stage.
Wait, What? How did they even come up with this?
The core of the holographic principle came from the study of black holes. In simple terms, when a black hole swallows matter, all the information about that matter isn’t lost but encoded on its surface, the “event horizon.” This idea led scientists to wonder, if information about objects in space can exist on a surface rather than in the space itself, then maybe the whole universe operates this way!
Let’s take a detour. Remember *The Matrix*? That was an entire simulated reality, a world made up of code but experienced as real by everyone inside it. If you could peek beyond the Matrix, you’d see it’s just numbers and lines of code, not so different from the holographic principle idea! In fact, according to this theory, all the stuff we interact with daily, like gravity, light, and space itself, might be part of this holographic “projection.”
Now, let’s step into the everyday. Imagine you’re driving down a road, feeling the wind, hearing the music, and maybe tasting a coffee on the way. It all feels tangibly real. But under the holographic principle, all those “real” sensory experiences could be data, projected from a distant cosmic surface. It’s as if the universe is a massive virtual reality system, keeping you blissfully unaware that you’re part of a cosmic light show.
Is there a point? There might be…
The holographic principle suggests that all the “depth” of the universe might be an illusion.
Just as this principle tells us there’s more information packed into a surface than meets the eye, the people around us contain layers upon layers of experiences, struggles, and dreams. We might see someone’s “surface” a simple smile, a curt answer, a hurried gesture, but beneath that surface lies a variety of unseen information.
If we let this concept guide us, it can encourage us to look beyond first impressions and dig deeper into the substance of the world and the people we share it with. It’s a reminder that life’s true depth isn’t always immediately visible and that some of the most meaningful parts of reality (and relationships) require us to look past the surface.
Now. If you could hack into the universe hard drive, what would you change?