I had an interesting conversation with my brother, Zach, about video games. He said, "You know, there's scientific research being conducted, as we speak, about the possibility that we are in a computer simulation. The movie, The Matrix may not be that far-fetched. Think about it. We all face different levels of challenges, a certain amount of success and failure, and new players are added regularly."
WHAT IS SIMULATION THEORY AND WHY DOES IT MATTER?
I was not aware this possibility was under investigation. If I'm genuinely in a video game, I would like the opportunity to change players. I don't believe the person who's handling my avatar is very good at this particular game. I prefer someone who can jump to levels of progress more quickly. I want to be living the dream of having a house on the beach in Florida and a penthouse apartment overlooking Central Park.
While we're at it, please decide on the direction of my life. I see other players knowing exactly what they want to do in this game. Their passion for business, sports, or the arts is quite admirable. I seem to flit around from one career to the next. I enjoy speaking to audiences to help inspire them to find their voice. Whoever created Tony Robbins, though, plays this game way better than my creator does. Everybody in this world knows him, but I'm pretty much anonymous. Wait a minute, are you programming this writing as well? Don't try to blame me for not being as famous. It would help if you took responsibility for not practicing this game more. That figures, I would have someone who wants to have an actual life and not waste time on stupid entertainment.
Does this mean I don't have to try anymore? Do I sit back and wait for my producer to figure out my next hurdle? I hope it's something easy like trying to decide which beach house my husband and I can agree on. Speaking of husbands, thanks for picking a magician for me. Evidence for believing this is all a computer game is the fact that I'm married to a magician. Of course, I'm still waiting for the house on the beach to appear. Again, maybe a little bit more practice in this game would be a great help.
How do you know when you win? Does this illusion of consciousness have an end game? Do I stop pushing and pulling on my life because I don't have any control after all? There's a sense of relief if I don't have any choice in this world. To think that free will doesn't exist because all my direction is beyond my control. Then again, I'm not sure I want to give up power that easily. I prefer to believe that I have a purpose that goes beyond playing a computer program.
The feeling of love and the pain of loss is real to me. If my consciousness is the result of a simulation, I still feel the need to do my best in this world. The only thing that is important to me in this lifetime is to be of service to others. I believe we are here to lift each other up. When we work to encourage and support everyone in our community, that's when we succeed.
As far as The Matrix is concerned, I told Zach that it was easy to figure out that Neo was the One. All you had to do was unscramble his name. I know, mind blown.