[As with the formal Simulation Argument and the eerie alternate realities of The Twilight Zone and other science fiction stories, reports of people experiencing inverse presence (in which the ‘real,’ nonmediated world seems to be mediated by technology) don’t have to be true to be thought-provoking and revealing. The report below from The Independent’s Indy100 website and others like it are more evidence that we’ve “crossed over into” an era dominated by ideas of simulation and illusion. The original report includes the viral video, which is also available (at this writing) on TikTok. –Matthew]

[Image: Even the woman’s hair seems to pause in mid-air. Credit: @unknown1575489/TikTok]

TikTokers think video of woman ‘frozen in time’ is proof we’re living in ‘The Matrix’

By Harriet Brewis
July 17, 2023

Millions of people believe they’ve witnessed a real-life “glitch in the Matrix” after a woman was caught on camera apparently “frozen in time”.

In the brief video, which was shared to TikTok last week, the unidentified pedestrian could be seen walking along a residential street – except that she wasn’t.

At least, not for a few seconds, that is. Despite clearly being mid-stride, the woman was still as a statue, with even her long, blond ponytail apparently paused in mid-air.

“Why is she frozen?” the voice of the dumbfounded man filming the scene can be heard saying.

“Bruh, I’m trippin’,“ he adds, as the woman suddenly starts walking again, as though nothing untoward took place.

A caption to the clip reads: “She was like that for a minute before.”

The footage racked up a staggering 4.8 million views and more than 460,000 likes in just four days as thousands of TikTokers shared their bewilderment at the apparent phenomenon.

“The way the wind isn’t even moving her clothes or hair but it’s all just stuck completely frozen,” one observed.

“Sometimes I think we’ve slipped into a different dimension,” admitted another.

“She almost GOT OUT of the simulation. It pulled her right back [into] THE MATRIX!!” commented a third.

“Welcome to the Truman Show,” said a fourth.

Meanwhile, others joked that the woman’s “WiFi was bad”.

“She disconnected for a sec,” one remarked.

“Buffering,” wrote another.

Others attempted to offer more logical explanations for the “glitch”, with one suggesting: “It was a paused video of a video.”

However, fellow viewers were quick to pour water on this theory, with one noting: “No because a car is still driving by in the beginning when she’s frozen.”

Another group of commentators lamented that the cameraman failed to run over to the woman and quiz her on what had happened.

“We need her perspective on this,” one wrote, while others insisted they would have confronted her for answers.

In the end, all we can say is, isn’t life more fun when some mysteries don’t get solved?