Is The Universe An App? Exploring the Physics of Awareness

The idea that the world is an illusion which betrays its real origin has a long tradition and can be found in the writings of Hindu rishis, early Greek philosophers, and Christian gnostics. What is perhaps surprising is to find such a rich literature on the subject in neuroscience and quantum physics.
The latest, and perhaps most provocative, idea to gain some currency in varying scientific disciplines is the hypothesis that the universe is the result of a computational simulation and, as such, is an incredibly rich and detailed illusion which has ultimately tricked us into believing otherwise.