Are we just
living in a “Matrix” like computer simulation, with reality being just an
illusion? I must admit that there are
days where my luck is so unbelievably bad that I would be willing to say, “Yes,
this can’t be real.” “This has to be some sort of computer glitch in my system’s
programming!” But as I start to buy into the whole idea that maybe I took the
“red pill” and have the knowledge of what reality really is, that’s usually
when I end up doing something stupid, like dropping a hot cup of coffee on my
foot, and that’s about the time “reality” really kicks in! As I’m hopping around on one foot, making up
new swear words, I say to myself…”Nice job Morpheus, now go change your shoes.”
With that being said, I just read an article (caution…nerd alert ahead) where
an M.I.T. scientist says that, “More likely than not, we are living in a
simulation.” He also makes the claim
that, “Probability says you are more likely a simulated being than a biological
one.” Now armed with only my high school
diploma and a couple of years of college under my belt, obviously I am in no
position to debate an M.I. T. scientist over what really constitutes “reality,”
on an intellectual level. However, life
experience being what it is, has given me all the ammunition I need to know
what is real and what isn’t (at least on this plain of existence). For
instance, maybe in a smoke filled, Elon Musk simulated world, farming is
probably more like a video game, where all you need to do is move some virtual control
knobs and you are driving a tractor or watering your crops. Maybe the farmer’s tractor dies and you hit
the re-set button and you get to start over. Well, that would certainly be nice
if that’s what it was really like. But in the “biological being” world, farming
is its own reality that has no re-set or pause button. No way to gain “extra
lives” or go into a partnership by hitting the “player 2” button. Nope, it’s a
world of hard work, big bills, and lots of worrying over things you can’t control…like
the weather or whether or not your well will produce enough water. How about
dealing with labor issues, new annual state farming regulations or the never
ending parade of taxes that the government continues to impose on
agriculture…that my friends is as sobering a reality as any “red pill.”
But alas, being that I am not an M.I.T
scientist (trying to sell his book), maybe I have it all wrong. Maybe my
programming has me fooled into a “false sense of outrage,” an outrage as
believable as believing that the Kardashians actually have a real purpose on
this planet. Maybe every time I go to the grocery store and forget the milk or
slam my hand in the car door, it’s an intentional error written into my
subroutine, in order to make me believe I’m a living human. Or maybe, just
maybe… The Maxrtix was just a real good movie and some computer nerds who are
now all growed’ up and really uber successful, decided that they were too old to keep
playing video games, and took their virtual reality world to a whole new level?
Whatever the case, I’ll just stick to what I
do know about my non simulated world, and that is…coffee is great in the
morning, women and sunsets are both beautiful, my car won’t make that weird
clicking noise the minute I get it to the repair shop, and the Kardashains are
still pointless, no matter how many times you hit the re-set button.
Thanks for
reading, and I’ll see you in the virtual or real groves (take your pick).
- Tony
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