Hello and welcome to 'Tibees plays the
sims', I am your host Toby and I must
confess before we start that I've spent
many periods of my life addicted to the
sims, I hadn't played for a while but me
justifying this video as content for my
youtube channel has put me on a very
slippery slope we are playing in Strangetown
today, a town for the scientifically
curious and a place where nothing is
quite as it seems. I'm playing The Sims 2
because I'm old school and that's the
version of the game I spend the most
hours on. As you can tell from the title
of the video I'll be creating some
famous physicists from history in the
game and simulating a few months in
their lives. I started with Einstein here
I'm not very good at recreating faces
but I'm doing my best to make the face
look kind of right. I'm a little
disappointed there was no crazy
scientist hair but I think that what
we've got will do the trick.
I've named this family the atom family
although it won't be quite your usual
nuclear family, we will have an
assortment of people from different eras
and I hope that they will be able to
live harmoniously together.
Einstein was apparently one of the early
trendsetters for successful people
wearing the same outfit every day, he had
several variations of a classic suit so
he wouldn't have to waste time and
brainpower deciding on which outfit to
wear each morning. I will try not to
waste too much of my own brainpower
deciding on an appropriate wardrobe for
him. I will give him some space-time
gridded pajamas though. Einstein I have
given the life aspiration of knowledge I
think that makes the most sense this
will drive him to know everything there
is to know about anything. It says their
lives are a simple equation, the more
knowledge the higher the aspiration
meter and the longer and brainy of the
life. Albert Einstein was born on March
14 1879 which is the same day as pi day
since Americans would write it out as
3/14 this makes him a Pisces. The
next character that I made was Carl
Sagan an American astronomer and science
communicator as well as being the author
of many scientific patents
Sagan co-wrote and was the host of the
original cosmos TV series which I paid
homage to recently with a video. Sagan
also worked on the Pioneer Plaque and the
Voyager Golden Record which were sent
out into space with the idea that they
might be able to convey information to
extraterrestrial intelligence if ever
found far away from home. I managed to
find the classic Sagan reddish
turtleneck and brown pants. I made his
aspiration popularity just because I
don't want them to be all the same and
Sagan did do a lot of work with
popularizing science and being in the
public eye. For my next trick I will
create Emmy Noether perhaps not as
well-known as the last two but she made
some really great contributions to
theoretical physics and mathematics
you don't usually learn about noether's
theorem until you are deep into studying
physics at university but it explains
the relationship between symmetry and
conservation laws.
It's a beautiful theory which finds
symmetry and form and seemingly messy
physics. Her aspiration is knowledge
something that in real life she pursued
despite many difficulties, she worked
without pay for many years because at
the time women were largely excluded
from academic positions.
Next up the Richard Feynman a bit of a
controversial figure but definitely one
of the most famous physicists. He
received a Nobel Prize for his work on
quantum electrodynamics, authored some
popular books and gave great lectures
many of which are transcribed online for
free. The Feynman lectures on physics
are a good resource for all physics
students wanting to learn. I think I did
the worst job on making Feynman look
like the real thing I wanted to capture
that he
seemed quite tanned but I couldn't quite
get the hair and face right. After
deliberating on the everyday suits for a
while I went with a light tucked in shirt.
I made Feynman's aspiration pleasure, of
course he also pusues knowledge but I
think he has a famous quote about doing
physics for the pleasure it brings. For a
cute addition we have Schroedie the cat
modeled on Irwin Schroedinger. Some of
you would have seen my post this week
about losing my own cat Ketchup after he
was hit by a car and I am still quite
sad about that but I guess I take some
comfort in the fact that he will live on
through the videos that he was in and
the fact that so many people knew him
and loved him. Last but not least we have
someone who isn't actually a physicist
or a scientist he was a painter, it's Bob
Ross, friend of the channel. Bob and his
afro are famous for the joy of painting
television series from the 80s and is
the inspiration for my joy of
mathematics chalkboard series. I wanted
to add him in to give a bit of a
different perspective. I've also made his
aspiration pleasure it seems like he
paints for the pure joy it brings and he
can find happiness and beauty in any
landscape. He was born in 1942 the latest
of everyone that I've made in fact in
1942
all of the others were still alive
except for Emmy Noether
who died a few years prior in 1935 but
all the physicists involved here were
actually alive for overlapping periods
of time. And so that's our family let's
move them into the house that I've
already built for them I'll show you
around in a second but first let's look at
our characters aspirations and wants in
life. It is kind of sweet to see that the
common fear that they all hold above
anything happening to each other, above
their own death or misfortune is the
persistent fear that anything bad will
happen to Schroedie. As you enter the
house take off your coat and hat
and place it on the coat rack, downstairs
we have a kitchen or workshop and study
space including a statue in honor of
Newton's apple, a pendulum clock to
inspire thoughts about the nature of
time and some quantum wave snapshots
depicted on the walls. We also have a
globe and a chess set.
Up a level we have all the bedrooms
with carpet chosen to suit the
personalities of each occupant, a nook
for Schrodie and a library at the front
with reading chairs that look out to
the big glass doors. On the top level we
have a breakout room with easels, a drum
set, a fish tank and gym equipment.
There might not be much time to come up here though between working on important
discoveries. Outside I have placed
telescopes and a camera for
astrophotography, these are dwarfed by
the radio dishes next door which
belonged to SETI and aid in their search
for extraterrestrial intelligence. We
have a fountain of knowledge and a small
garden. Outside we also have the lab
filled with state-of-the-art equipment
and includes a small cleanroom for
delicate fabrication. Features of the lab
include a scanning electron microscope, a
transmission electron microscope, an
atomic force microscope, a single photon
emitter and several laser experiments.
Behind the lab we have a small enclosure
with specimens from ongoing biological
experiments. Now the first few weeks in
the house were great, the library was
well used as it was stocked with the
best scientific journals and books, we
have early copies of Newton's Principia
and Euclid's elements. Things were
harmonious, people played games together,
ate meals together, here is Feynman
planting some hydroponic crops in the
lab and working on some important
manuscrip- oh never mind. While the
others worked on science Bob spent his
time in the loft painting, he was happy
and produced several fantastic
landscapes. Some uninvited guests arrived
and brought their pets
who destroyed several precious and
irreplaceable items. The workspaces
inside provided a great place to be
creative, improve mechanical skills and
put ideas to the test.
Sagan spent a bit of his time hiding in
the front garden at the bubble fountain
but also a lot of time looking up at the
skies and wondering about his place in
the universe. Nights were peaceful and
mealtimes were filled with
intellectually stimulating discussions.
The scientists enjoyed working together
but there was also a healthy amount of
competition as there always is in
academia. Einstein found great
inspiration in the house and began to
question some of Newton's work on
gravitation. We had our first major
hiccup when Emmy was killed by the
plant in the backyard, that was tragic
and unexpected.
Luckily the scientists had been working
on a resurrection device and Emmy was
brought back from the dead.
She wasn't unaffected though she gained
a new perspective on life. The concept of
beauty had always been important to her
and her work but in her second chance at
life she couldn't help but appreciate
the beauty of life itself and wished
that others could see it too. One other
in the house could, it was Bob and he and
Emmy formed a close friendship. They
bonded over discussions about the nature
of symmetry and color combining, they
agreed that in life there were no
mistakes just happy accidents. Inevitably
the kitchen caught fire one night and I
regretted my forgetfulness in regards to
installing sprinklers. Emmy got a job at
the local uni as she felt it was
important to give back. Feynman also got
a job at in a local law firm where his
intelligence saw him quickly promoted.
He was pretty cheeky, putting soap in
the fountain one day just to cause some
chaos. Schrodie was also learning a lot,
he was taught about the famous
Schrodinger's cat thought experiment and
taught to play dead for the purpose of
illustration. Sagan landed several
television contracts and spent time at
the mirror practicing his public
speaking abilities.
One night Sagan took a photo of the
dishes next door and hung it up in the
hallway with the title Pale Blue Dish. Bob
asked to paint a portrait of Emmy.
Nobody knew it at the time but that night was the last time there was ever peace in the house
or at least for a while. Einstein had
failed to show up for dinner, nobody
thought much of it assuming that he had
got stuck with work in the lab and would
come in soon. In fact Einstein was in the
front yard digging with a shovel. He
couldn't explain why but something had
just come over him, an uncontrollable and
unexplainable urge to dig. Deep
underground he found a scroll of paper
it was tattered but he could make out
some handwriting quite similar to his
own it was a note dated exactly one year
prior to the current date. Some words
were torn but what he could make out
said 'you've been here before...it repeats...
a simulation...' at first he didn't know
what to make of the note which he put
away in the lab but then it began to
make sense.
He studied simulation theories, time
loops and quantum computing and began to
understand why he had been unable to
shake a feeling of deja vu, why he had so
many times walked into a room and then
forgotten what he came for and left
empty-handed. He had figured out as other
versions of him had several times before
that he was indeed living inside a
simulation. He meditated on the idea but
decided not to tell anyone else in the
house. What good could that cause, to shake
their worldview to the core and leave
them questioning their sense of self? No
it was best to let them be happy even if
their quest to find truth and science
would never lead them to the real truth
just to the rules of their programmed
universe. Einstein was a clever man but
not clever enough to hide the note, for
days later Feynman approached him with a
very aggressive temper "why didn't you
tell us?!" he shouted.
Einstein realized his mistake in being careless with his
possessions.
"because it doesn't matter" he calmly replied.
"doesn't matter? Nothing
matters more than this!" shouted Feynman.
Feynman next confronted Sagan, he told
Sagan "I know why you're having so much
trouble figuring out what's beyond those
dishes, it's because that area hasn't
been loaded yet!"
Sagan looked up at the
sky and considered this, in the end he
had to believe it for it would solve the
Fermi paradox which had been plaguing
his mind. Feynman wrote a series of
dishevelled blog posts after the top
scientific journals rejected his papers
trying to publish the truth. He was
dismissed as a crackpot. In rage he got
to work on a neural device that he would
wear which could block any attempts to
control his free will, to block any
commands originating outside of his own
mind. The device worked for a bit, he was
able to resist the urges to sleep or eat
or go to the toilet, he was free but
deeply unhappy. He fell asleep standing
in the bathroom refusing the desire to
sleep in the bed as an attempt to break
the simulation. As his limbs wobbled all
night precariously tipping him but never
enough to fall, Feynman held on to sanity
with only the weakest of grips.
On the computer whilst posting another
blog post about his device he noticed a
game that he used to enjoy playing, he
opened it up just to imagine what it
would be like to control characters in a
game, he wanted the best for his
characters and did what he could to see
them win and thrive. Maybe Einstein had a
point after all, maybe it didn't matter.
Since realising the truth and resisting
he had seen the darkest days he had
known. He at least owed him an apology.
Feynman found Einstein in a place he'd
never been, the upstairs loft. Einstein
in recent days had stopped doing
science and taken up an interest in
painting he had looked around at his
housemates and noticed that the only one
who seemed truly happy was Bob. Happily
painting simple pleasures he was
unaffected by the simulation rumors
since his self-worth did not depend on
knowing the truth but rather on
appreciating his reality however
constructed it might be. Somewhat
hesitantly and still in his pyjamas
Feynman took a seat at the drumset and
began to play, the rhythm took over his
body and somehow he already knew how to play. It puzzled him how a song he didn't
know could come out of his playing. He
caught a glimpse of himself in the
mirror and realized that life loses
meaning when you are looking too hard
for an explanation, so he just accepted
it and danced along.
