Reality... (10)

What do we actually know about 'reality'? What is the ultimate defining tool we can apply?
This has been pondered by philosophers as well as scientists for a long time. Plato for example spoke of prisoners in a cave already a few centuries BC


Now that we have computers, the idea that the reality we are experiencing might just be a program/a simulation has arisen, and I personally would say this is indeed a very plausible idea, and one that can not be dismissed.

For all I know, the reality I am experiencing, this life, could just be something my 'brain' is led into experiencing, while the actual reality could look extremely different. This could be a simulation only I, or maybe a few, or maybe many are sort of linked into. We could be a species that has stumbled upon the last remains of a different species that once existed in this universe - humans - and from data gathered we have created this simulation to understand better what humans were about, or..
we could be spies/soldiers that are being trained in this simulation to infiltrate/invade some planet called Earth in the future.

The possibilities are quite endless: a program for punishment, simple entertainment, or we could be the humans of the future, learning about our ancestral roots this way. It would not be about a question like 'life after death' then, but 'life after the simulation', and a lot of the near death experiences could find explanation too this way, as well as some other strange occurances/experiences individuals claimed to have made.

Thing is, if this is a simulation, we will NOT be able to know. Even hearing about scientists working on ways to prove or disprove whether this reality is a simulation, has no bearing on it, for if the outcome of 'their' research should prove it is not a simulation - we have no way of telling whether that info is indeed correct/real or just part of the program itself.

Also another question someone else raised recently in a thread, about whether things happen for a reason, would have an answer if this would be a simulation, as then indeed there'd be a high chance that things DO happen for reasons, as they could simply all be part of the program and the experience we are meant to have.

Also sometimes in this life I have crossed path with individuals I felt I sensed a 'connection' with, something I never figured why, but that then for example could be because those individuals are in truth 'real' and not just part of the program, and I could indeed know them from outside the simulation and something about them triggered some deep rooted 'memory/recognition'.

These ponderings aren't insane, they are very valid, alas of course one could claim why have them? What difference does it make to ponder it if nothing can be proven or disproven in regards to it?

Well.. my answer would have to be.. maybe I am meant to ponder this as part of my experience in this simulation.
Who... knows.....

The simulators know youre on to them
its not safe to talk about these things here
meet me at 9.30 tonight under the tree at spar

I was there, right under that tree!!!
Don't tell me they plugged me into an alternate 'reality' again compared to everyone else. Wouldn't be the first time

all I know is they tried to infiltrate our rendezvous
I had to get out of there but I did wait for you

Hey, everything happens for a reason!

Agreed, alas same time I do enjoy thinking, and this is something I find interesting to ponder.

The Matrix version of this, as Hollywood needs drama, of course puts sinister on-goings at the roots, but the true reality could be very none dramatic indeed, like I mentioned - maybe just an educational program :)