Our Universe is full of wonder and mystery. With advances in technology and science, we are always finding out new information about ourselves, our planet, and everything around us.

There are many ideas out there pertaining to our or universe – how life is made, how we continue to thrive, as well as other theories about our experiences. Most of these theories tend to go unfounded – which can be a good thing, considering some of them are pretty far-fetched and scary – but what if you woke up one morning to realize the world you see around you isn’t exactly what it seems?

What if what we see is just a projection of another two-dimensional world?

The Holographic Principle

Many scientists have believed for quite some time that we live in what can best be described as a Holographic universe. This idea of a holographic universe came up in the early 1990s.

Leonard Susskind, professor of theoretical physics at Stanford University, helped introduce the concept of the ‘holographic principle.’ Susskind worked along side Gerard ‘t Hooft, a Dutch theoretical physicist and professor at Utrecht University, and together they released a statement to the scientific world.

This principle is the idea that we all are basically living in two separate places – one of you is here on Earth where you’re experiencing life, while the other is at the edge of the universe in a two-dimensional world. The two-dimensional version of you is being projected into this world, which we experience as reality.

The idea of this ‘holographic principle’ may sound far-fetched, or even downright insane, but when you look at the scientific support behind it, it may be closer to reality than we think.

Can This Theory be Proven?

The two professors, Susskind and ‘t Hooft, released their findings in response to Stephen Hawking’s black hole research. While there is no conclusive evidence that supports their theory (yet), there are other scientists and researchers that are jumping on the bandwagon to help find whatever evidence there is.

Our understanding of how the universe was made, as well as how it works, would be completely changed as well.

Niayesh Afshordi, a professor of physics and astronomy at Perimeter Institute and the University of Waterloo, released a statement regarding the theoretical principle. “We are proposing using this holographic universe, which is a very different model of the Big Bang than the popularly accepted one that relies on gravity and inflation,” said Ashfordi.

There are experiments being conducted as well, such as the “holometer” at Fermilab in Chicago, which uses lasers to sense and record holographic noise. “We want to find out whether space-time is a quantum system just like matter is,” said Fermilab Center for Particle Astrophysics director Craig Hogan.

“If we see something, it will completely change ideas about space we’ve used for thousands of years.” This experiment has been ongoing for a few years now.

Mind blown?

While the ‘holographic principle’ seems to have quite a way to go before we know for sure if this projector exists, we are left with the idea that anything is possible. After all, the entire idea behind the field of science is proving or disproving a hypothesis.

So what if it does exist? Would it change your outlook knowing you are actually just a projected copy of the real you?