Can digital technology create reality?

Digital technology does indeed have the capability to create digital representations of reality, as discussed by experts like D.A. Wallach on the The Peter Attia Drive Podcast. Wallach suggests that the ultimate goal of digital technology could be to simulate reality based on fundamental laws of physics, which influence everything from the bottom up. This process involves distilling complex realities into simpler, more manageable systems, just as physical phenomena became more apprehensible after Newton's laws were established 1.

Additionally, digital technology, particularly through the use of virtual reality and artificial intelligence, offers the potential to create compelling alternative realities. As Lex Fridman discusses on his Lex Fridman Podcast, these technologies can generate environments that might be preferred over actual physical spaces due to their immersive and potentially more appealing qualities. This has been considered feasible within technological advancements expected over the next century 2.

Therefore, while digital technology cannot create "reality" in the literal sense that it becomes our primary physical experience, it can indeed construct highly convincing and immersive simulations of reality that may become preferable spaces for interaction and experience.