Addendum: from what I understand, the article’s proof relies on computational quantum gravity having a Gödel sentence. Now, quantum gravity is in practice, as far as we know, experimentally untestable-the distinctive phenomena it predicts only occur at scales far beyond our present technological ability to explore-and who can say if that will ever change. So, is it possible for a computer to simulate humanity as it currently exists, such that the simulated humans couldn’t detect they were simulated? I don’t know; but what I can confidently say, is this research has nothing useful to say about that question, because this is theoretical quantum gravity research, and I’m not aware of any good reason to believe quantum gravity has any relevance to answering that specific question. This research claims to show computers are incapable of simulating aspects of reality which are empirically unavailable to us; even if the research is right, it makes zero difference to the question of whether the actual empirical experiences we do have are simulated or not.