In 1962, this Hungarian physicist accidentally found we're living in a simulation.
He proved:
• Observing shapes reality
• Realities can coexist
• Universe requires minds to exist
But, scientists mocked him for 50 years
Here's why his discovery will haunt you forever: 🧵
His name was Eugene Wigner
A Nobel Prize-winning physicist
And one of the last true polymaths
But in 1962
He wrote a short paper that would disturb science forever:
“The Problem of Measurement in Quantum Mechanics”
Wigner was obsessed with a strange question:
What happens to reality before we look at it?
Quantum physics said particles remain in a fuzzy *maybe* state
Neither here nor there
Until someone observes them
Then, reality “collapses” into one version
But here’s where Wigner went too far
He said:
The collapse doesn’t happen just because something *interacts* with a particle
It only happens when a *conscious mind* observes it
In his words:
"It is not possible to formulate the laws of quantum mechanics without reference to consciousness"
Wigner's argument stunned the scientific world
Because if true, it means:
• Consciousness shapes physical reality
• Reality is incomplete without a *mind*
• The universe cannot exist without an observer
He turned physics into philosophy
To test his theory
Wigner proposed a thought experiment:
“Wigner’s Friend”
A friend sits in a lab and observes a quantum event
Wigner is outside the lab, unaware of the result
Two realities now exist:
• One where the event happened
• One where it didn’t
Both are true—until Wigner looks
This broke physics
Here's why:
Because it implied the universe isn’t objective
There’s no single reality
Reality is relative to the observer
And multiple timelines may exist at once
Like quantum *Schrödinger’s Lives*
All waiting to be watched
Scientists hated it
Many called it “metaphysical nonsense”
Others said Wigner was betraying physics for mysticism
But the math held up
The logic was sound
And now—60 years later—some of the world’s top physicists are catching up
Modern quantum theories now echo Wigner:
• “Participatory Universe” – John Wheeler
• “QBism” – Conscious agents create probabilities
• “Multiverse” – Every possibility is real somewhere
Even *quantum computing* is built on this strange observer-dependent logic
So what does this mean for *you*?
According to Wigner:
• Your mind helps bring reality into existence
• There are infinite versions of your life playing out
• You are not a passive being in the universe
• You are a *co-creator* of it
Let that sink in:
The universe does not happen *to* you
It happens *through* you
You’re not just matter
You are meaning
And without your awareness
Reality might not exist at all
Wigner died in 1995
Ridiculed by many
But quietly honored by those who saw the future
Today
His “Wigner’s Friend” paradox is one of the most studied problems in quantum physics