So I have been working on some long posts on the nature of congnition and the social ramifications of perseption. I know I know, too much fun for you to handle. I will attempt to keep them dry and free of life so as to keep your sides from splitting. As a pre-curser to these Posts of Excitement and Glee I am posting this, my Philosophy of Life. Some of you may have already read it, as I wrote it in 1997, but it's a fun little trifle and will lead into the next posts in an appropos manner. Enjoy!
A Philosophy on Lifeas seen by the author, Sean Barker
What is the meaning of life? Many of the earth’s greatest minds have contemplated this question at one time or another, and many philosophies have emerged from their answers. For example: we are here to serve a “God” of some type before we enter a new plane of existence, or we are here only to make plastics for the Earth, since it cannot do it itself, and once it has enough it will kill us all. These two ideas are both well and good, but unfortunately they are wrong. Only I know the real meaning of life on Earth, and now I will share it with you.
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of the meaning of life, there are some basic principals that one must be aware of. First you must contemplate the way that one perceives the world around you. By this I mean your senses. We have five, by most people’s account, and they all report back to the brain where they are processed and interpreted. Everything around us is merely a manifestation of sensory input. This is an important idea in understanding the true meaning of life. The brain is the key to our interaction with the “real” world. Second one must understand that we are aware of only our own consciousness and of no one else’s. By this I mean that I know I am conscious, but I have no way of knowing that you are conscious. As of yet there seems to be no proof of mind reading, so we simply have to take it on faith that you too are conscious in the same way I am (if in fact you are indeed conscious at all!)
With these two ideas securely understood we can begin to explore the true Meaning of Life.
A few basic principals surround the meaning of life. One: I am the only real consciousness here. Two: my consciousness is being stimulated at all times with sensory information by a exceedingly advanced alien race. Three: the world we call Earth, the Solar System, the Milky Way, etc., does not really exist as we know it, but is sensory information being fed to me by the alien race and their supercomputers.
We will now explore each of these points in the meaning of life. Prepare thyself!
The first point in the meaning of life is a very important one to understand. This world and all of its inhabitants are sensory information only, without real substance and without real consciousness. This isn’t to say they aren’t “human” or “alive”, for they are in most every sense of the word. For all intents and purposes, people and all other life on Earth are “alive”, in about the way a character on TV is alive, except they stimulate all five senses instead of only two. But they are unconscious automatons here to create a more real world for my existence. They, and you, are run mainly by the supercomputers of the aliens. You do your “act” or “job” when I come in contact with you, and when my interaction with you is over and you pass out of my “sensory fields”, which we will discuss later, you cease to exist except in the computer’s storage bank. There you wait until the program needs you again.
The fact that you and all the people and animals around you are not real may be disheartening and even depressing, but don’t let it be. Life can still be worth while even though you are living a fantasy without any basis in truth or substance. The computers provide a background of amazing detail for each and every person, which of course makes everything more realistic for me. Just because you now know that you really don’t exist, don’t let that stop you from leading the full and rich life that the computers can create for you. You have every right to as a character on planet Earth.
Now we will get into the heart, the “meat and potatoes” if you will, of the meaning of life. My consciousness is at every moment being fed sensory information that is the basis for this “world”. Imagine the perfect virtual reality experience and that is about what my life amounts to. Why exactly they are doing this to me I really don’t know. Most probably it is an experiment of some kind. But it could be that I am merely the toy of some young alien child, in a shoebox under the bed, there for his/her/its, pleasure. I can’t say for sure because they haven’t communicated with me yet, nor do I expect them to. It would most surely contaminate the experiment, or fun.
As you may expect this was hard for me to accept for a time. Am I supposed to base my life on the idea that some alien race is controlling and directing every facet of my life, of my world, of my existence? I know, it sounds absurd, but I am absolutely certain that it’s true. There may not be any proof of their existence or their influence, but then again there is little proof that they are NOT real, and who can argue with that?? Now I have come to accept and even rejoice in this knowledge, and have even found a deep personal fulfillment in the fact that I am special and the center of this galaxy that has been created for me. It’s really quite a nice feeling!
Now let’s talk about the world and the sensory information. There are “sensory fields”, as I like to call them, that the world exists of. Each one corresponds to a sense and no one is more important than the other. My sight field consists of what I can see, my acoustic field consists of what I can hear, and so on and so forth. Anything outside of these fields really doesn’t exist. This means that when you step out of my line of sight the visual part of your program stops. It’s like watching a movie; what’s on the screen is what you get and what is off the screen doesn’t visually matter, and for that reason might as well not be there. In this particular case, it isn’t.
This world that the aliens have created for me is amazingly complete (as you well know!). It stimulates all five of my senses at once without a break, it conforms to all the laws of physics and nature, and it has a vast and complete history full of mystery and intrigue. It might as well be real, and to me at least it is. For if you will remember the first concept that we examined, only our senses determine what is real and what is not, and since my senses are being utterly controlled, this world becomes reality. I find it fascinating!
Many people may say, “But how can you diminish this world into something created just for you as your plaything or to entertain you?!?” I’m shocked by this view! I don’t find that I am diminishing anything. It’s merely the truth, take it or leave it. I’m sure that in some way the aliens that are experimenting on me, or the alien child that is gaining amusement from me, love me in some way or they would not have given me such a neat sensory experience. Plus I can’t put too much stock in what that type of person says, since they really don’t exist and are just programmed by the computers to say things like that.
One thing that I haven’t mentioned yet, and that I would like to touch upon now, is death. Death becomes much more complicated when you realize that you aren’t really alive in this world. I expect to live a long life in this world, unless the aliens decide to cut my program short for some reason. Once my program does end though, I expect I’ll wake up and meet my alien hosts. You may wonder how I can be alive when I’ve just lived an entire life and died, and to explain we must contemplate the concept of time. Time is again merely the stimulation of the senses in a progressive order. The faster you stimulate the senses the faster time, at least the time in this world, moves. It can be compared to watching a film in fast motion. Your time is moving at what you consider normal while time in the film has increased speed. It is logical that the aliens should want to speed up my time, since I’m sure they don’t want to sit around for eighty or ninety years to experience my life when they have fast forward. Once my life in this world ends hopefully they will let me start a new one in some other world. I would hope that the next world they star me in will be better than this one, but I expect that will depend on how I have acted in this world. But then who am I to ascribe my values to a superior alien race?? I look forward now to death. I see it not as an end, but as a continuation into a new world, and how can you fear that?
Now you have an idea as to the true meaning of life. You can now continue in your program knowing the truth and not deluding yourself with fantasy. Don’t be upset that you don’t really exist. You exist to me, and that’s all that really matters. You may think that I’m insane for believing what I believe, but that’s okay, I forgive you. I know it’s the truth, and that's all I need. And who knows, maybe your character is based on a real person, and somewhere, in the real world, you do exist. Hopefully you can take comfort, if not entirely base your make-believe life, on this hope.
I would like to leave you saying that I do not think less of you just because you do not really exist. I’m sure that the aliens wouldn’t want me to do that. I will continue to live my life, experiencing as many sensory stimulations as I can, and feeling a greater sense of peace in understanding the true Meaning of Life!
