/sci/ - Science & Math

A lot of people seem to think that the universe might be a simulation. The idea is that if it is easy to simulate a universe, then inside that simulation it is also easy to simulate a universe, so iniside that simulation it is easy, ... etc. Therefore there is an infinite number of simulations running inside each other, and the probably that our universe is not one of them is approaching 0, therefore it is most likely that we are in a simulation.

The problem I see with that is that any computer can necessarily simulate an area of space that is less big than itself. For example if my computer is made up of 20000 atoms, and each atom is a memory block storing information useful for the simulation of atoms, then I can only simulate a universe consisting of 20000 atoms, at best. If this was not true then a computer would essentially be able to simulate a computer with more memory than it has, inside of itself.

This seems like a very basic violation of some physical law, but I am not sure. Can someone prove me wrong? Does quantum computing solve this problem somehow?