#Are We Living in a Matrix-like Simulation?

[rawstalker]

1- I don't know, like 40?

2- A year ago.

3- I've already lost count lol

4- I don't wear shoes. (sensory issues)

5- They used to be white, but my mom painted them beige. I hate that color.

6- I'm at home.

7- nah.

8- With a girl from my high school.

9- My bed is full of those.

10- I don't know, but I like leather clothes.

11- urban

12- All the clothes I have were stolen from my brother or are second-hand.

13- Loyal.

14- I like to collect jewelry.

15- A cheese sandwich.

16- My last therapist was a jerk to me, so no.

17- I've always wanted to buy one of those porcelain Chinese male dolls you see on Aliexpress. They look human and have that doujin beauty that makes me want to watch them for hours.

18- My Bestfriend.

19- 9.

20- Maybe when MTV played good music. ( I know it's not a TV show lol.)

21- Oh, yeah! I'm a punk.

22- Katy Perry...

23- CDs

24- Stupid things like aliens are real, or that we live in a simulation, like in the movie Matrix.

25- NO.

26- Barnie, you know, the dinosaur.

27- I consider her my platonic soulmate.

28- Loud depressing music is my therapy.

29- My pajamas

30- They are not many, but yes.

31- old money, eww. It's just minimalism disguised as elegance.

32- 2 times a week?

33- Gold.

34- Twilight. I can explain-

35- A style similar to visual kei, or jirai kei.

36- I have them painted black

37- Cannibalism and necrophilia perhaps?

38- Her name is Lula.

39- Idk.

40- A radio from the 50s that belonged to my grandfather.

41- Museum, the concerts are noisy.

42- There are many but I would not like to talk about that.

42 personal questions ask game

how many followers do you have?

when’s the last time you went on a date

how many posts have you made?

What type of shoes do you wear?

what colour are the walls of your room

where are you right now? (not exact location. ex: at a park)

would you consider yourself good at art?

who was your first kiss?

do you still sleep with stuffed animals?

what’s your favourite piece of clothing you own?

do you live in an urban, suburban, or rural area?

what’s your favourite store to shop at? (online or irl)

if you had to choose one POSITIVE word to describe yourself, what would it be?

do you collect anything?

what’s the last thing you ate?

if you go to therapy, do you like your therapist?

what’s one thing you want to buy, but don’t have the money or resources to get?

Who’s the first person you can think of?

how old were you when you found out santa wasn’t real?

If you could revive one tv show that has been cancelled, what show would it be?

do you consider yourself a part of any alternative subculture? if so, which one(s)?

who was your childhood favourite music artist?

CDs or record players?

Do you believe in any conspiracy theories?

would you get back together with an ex if given the opportunity?

favourite kid’s show character?

is the person you call your best friend actually your best friend?

when you’re sad, do you prefer to listen to music to match your mood, or listen to happy music?

what’s the last outfit you wore?

do you have any online friends?

least favourite clothing style that is currently popular

how often do you do your laundry?

do you prefer silver or gold jewelry?

what’s your book/movie/tv guilty pleasure?

if you could change your hair however you want, how would you change it?

do you paint your nails?

what’s an uncommon/specific /obscure topic you’re interested in?

what’s the name of your first pet/what would you name your first pet if you had one?

what’s one feature you would change on tumblr?

what’s the most interesting item you own?

would you rather go on a date at a museum or a concert?

what’s one regret you have?

[dykeofmisfortune]

people who turn their personal style into a niche monetizable online influencer brand are the biggest posers out there and i'm so serious if you're making a tiktok ootd of your "goth" outfit and have like 35k followers with some cringey caption like "me when the haters are hating and i'm in my room giving dark rpg sorcerer ✨" that's the biggest fakeass poser shit you can possibly do just live your real life like a normal person

[strangelittlestories]

Something interesting about archaeology is that it’s actually not that interesting: even when you’re on a dig, most of it is dirt and logistics and fragments.

Something scary about ghosts is that they’re actually not that frightening: even when you have a haunting, most of it is ectoplasm and low-key longing and echoes.

The fascinating bit about both is that, sometimes, when you piece all the boring bits together, you get a story; a story of how people used to live. It will probably be a story about something mundane, like how people cooked or what their bathroom solutions were.

For example: at this particular dig, we found fragments of large cooking pots in a few larger buildings. The smaller buildings that seemed to be individual homes did not have *any* surviving cooking pots (not even any copper remnants); however, they did have at least one well preserved earthenware bowl inscribed with runes.

These runes turned out to be a close match to an early rune of co-locating folk magic, seen primarily in the Katabasic region. The bowl was also adorned with a slate inlay, of a kind that was often used to write upon in chalk.

The apparent conclusion? This settlement operated a communal cooking operation that delivered food to order. We would assume the recipient would write their request in chalk on the slate inlay of their bowl, and the runes would briefly trick reality into thinking the inside of the bowl and the inside of the pot occupied the same space. Thus, the bowl would magically fill with food.

So, yeah. These folks had invented magical Doordash.

I briefly considered trying to replicate their system on my travel mug. The coffee on the dig site was *dreadful*, so I figured I could have my husband make some nice single origin cold brew back home (or maybe a nice pot of darjeeling second flush?) and teleport it in. But as it was likely tied to local hospitality folk magic, this would likely run across three problems: 1. Range limitations. 2. It may only work for community members. 3. Folk magic sometimes used local deities or spirits as intermediaries and popping a new request in the inbox of a dormant god was usually a bad call.

Oh, and reason number 4: the bowl we’d excavated was extremely haunted.

This may, in fact, explain why it was so well preserved. Theurgic suffusation is the term - if the spirit is clinging tightly enough to the atoms of the object, then time starts to think the material is just as undying as the soul.

You know how I mentioned the scary thing about ghosts is that they’re not scary? They only persist as fully ensouled beings as long as their unfinished business can feasibly *be finished*. Even with generation blood debts, they still tend to become unviable with a couple of centuries. Then the soul slowly starts to move on, leaving only an imprint on the umbra. That’s what’s scary about ghosts: even that which is undying will be eaten by history.

Except this blighter apparently.

So I ran a chemical analysis on the trace molecules left on the lining of the bowl. Then I ran the runes through a penumbral simulation matrix.

The bowl contained traces of calcified aconite. The runes showed an exploit in the magic; the teleportation could be hijacked by holy petition or speculative conjuration.

The ghost had been poisoned. Murdered.

And if they were still a ghost, then whoever killed them was *still around*.

I really really hope that I never meet whatever person or creature is apparently still alive close to a millennia after they murdering someone in a way that is both *really clever* and *really nasty*.

But oh buddy, oh pal … what I want may be immaterial. For surely do intend to figure out the whole of this story.

---

With thanks to Ellie for the submission of the Archaeologist (fearless, frightened, fancy) to the Character of the Month club.

Want to submit your own characters for my stories? Consider supporting me on Ko-Fi with a recurring donation https://ko-fi.com/strangelittlestories

[gothamite-rambler]

Batman will go so far as to embarrass himself to save those he loves

Zatanna: Okay, if you want to save Gotham and its occupants, you... Oh, dear.

Batman: What?

Zatanna (slowly): You have to sing.

Batman (not sure he heard that right): What?

Zatanna (holding back her laughter): Yeah, sing a song that expresses your true feelings. So, nothing where you're feeling dead inside.

Once Zatanna finished explaining, a microphone formed from the magic orb. Zatanna chuckled, holding the microphone out to Batman.

Batman blinked, his mouth twitching as he tried to suppress his inner mortification. Flash (Barry) held out his phone, pretending to text while secretly ready to record the spectacle.

Green Arrow (lamenting, sniffling): My son is in Gotham, and now he's going to die!

Batman (insulted): Okay, hold on. I am Batman, and I can do this! I can sing; I just don't like doing that in my suit.

Wonder Woman (dryly): That's not what would make you look silly, Batman.

Superman: She's right, now sing.

Aquaman: And you have to sing it from your heart.

Martian Manhunter: You are not about to let your family and friends perish in Gotham simply to maintain a reputation. Sing the darn song!

Batman: I'm going to regret this... So much! My stuff is in Gotham and I can't afford to lose that.

Hawkgirl: What about your family?

Batman: I SAID MY STUFF!

Hawkgirl (shrugging): I should've expected that.

Batman (snatching the microphone from Zatanna's hands): Give me the microphone!

--- Monster from Epic the Musical ---

Batman (singing): How has everything been turned against us? How did suffering become so endless? How am I to reunite with my estranged? Do I need to change?

During Batman's vocal performance, the Justice League exhibited a range of reactions; some members expressed shock, others displayed amazement and enjoyment, while a few speculated about a potential anomaly within the Matrix simulation.

As he sang, the terror over Gotham began to fade, but a voice could be heard singing through the air.

Batman (singing): So if we must sail through dangerous oceans and beaches. I'll go where Poseidon won't reach us and if I gotta drop another infant from a wall. In an instant so we all don't die?!

Batman hesitated, mortified. He knew he wasn't going to live this down, but if it meant saving Gotham and his family, he would belt his heart out.

Batman (singing): Then I'll become the monster!I'll deal the blow! And I'll become the monster like none they've ever known! So what if I'm the monster lurking deep below? I must become the monster and then we'll make it home!

An hour later, the Justice League returned safely to Gotham. Everyone was safe and unharmed. Green Arrow, panicked, searched for Arsenal but quickly spotted him. Running over, he nearly knocked Arsenal down with a fatherly hug.

Arsenal (patting his father's back, sincerity): I missed you too.

Nightwing: We heard singing when the monsters started to die. Who was that?

Flash (watching the video): We don't remember his name.

Wonder Woman: Strange man, but we swore not to tell anyone who he was.

Hawkgirl: Yeah, you guys are lucky he was around, right, Batman?

Everyone turned to Batman; the hero, fortunately concealed by his cowl, was silent for a second.

Batman: Yeah, and he thanks you all for not identifying him. Nightwing, let's go.

Batman yanked Nightwing away from the Justice League by his arm.

Superman: He won't admit it, but we are really good friends.

Flash (amused): Yep. And I have video evidence of the Dark Knight singing a musical he swore he hated.

Martian Manhunter: Text that to my phone.

Flash: Don't worry, I got a group chat already.

What singers voice do you associate Batman's singing voice with? Comment or reblog your answers 😊

[existentialterror]

How to tell if you live in a simulation

Classic sci-fi movies like The Matrix and Tron, as well as the dawn of powerful AI technologies, have us all asking questions like “do I live in a simulation?” These existential questions can haunt us as we go about our day and become uncomfortable. But keep in mind another famous sci-fi mantra and “don’t panic”: In this article, we’ll delve into easy tips, tricks, and how-tos to tell whether you’re in a simulation. Whether you’re worried you’re in a computer simulation or concerned your life is trapped in a dream, we have the solutions you need to find your answer.

How do you tell if you are in a computer simulation

Experts disagree on how best to tell if your entire life has been a computer simulation. This is an anxiety-inducing prospect to many people. First, try taking 8-10 deep breaths. Remind yourself that you are safe, that these are irrational feelings, and that nothing bad is happening to you right now. Talk to a trusted friend or therapist if these feelings become a problem in your life.

How to tell if you are dreaming

To tell if you are dreaming, try very hard to wake up. Most people find that this will rouse them from the dream. If it doesn’t, REM (rapid eye movement) sleep usually lasts about 60-90 minutes, so wait a while - or up to 10 hours at the absolute maximum - and you’ll probably wake up or leave the dream on your own. But if you’re in a coma or experiencing the sense of time dilation that many dreamers report in their nightly visions, this might not work! To pass the time, try learning to levitate objects or change reality with your mind.

How do you know if you’re in someone else’s dream

This can’t happen.

How to know if my friends are in a simulation

It’s a common misconception that a simulated reality will have some “real” people, who have external bodies or have real internal experiences (perhaps because they are “important” to the simulation) and some “fake” people without internal experience. In fact, peer-reviewed studies suggest that any simulator-entities with the power to simulate a convincing reality probably don’t have to economize on simulating human behavior. So rest assured: everyone else on earth is as “real” as you are!

Steps to tell if you are part of a computer simulation

Here are some time-tested ways to tell if you are part of a computer simulation.

1. Make a list

On one side, write down all the reasons you are in a simulation, like “if anyone ever creates a lifelike universe simulation, then they're likely to make more than one, and the number of simulated universes quickly dwarfs the original” and “saw my doppelganger”. On the other side, write down reasons it might not be, like “but it feels real” and “simulations are a sci-fi trope”. Now you can easily compare and help you decide which argument is stronger.

2. Ask other people

Ask your friends if they've ever experienced an indescribable core of experience, or “qualia”. If they have, ask them to describe it. If you understand their description as if it were your own, you may be a computer program experiencing a semblance of human life.

3. Measure the inside of your house

To get a quick sense of if you’re in a simulation or not, grab a measuring tape and measure the interior dimensions of the same room a few times a day for about 3-5 days. For most people, a room in their own home will be the easiest. Write down your results in a notebook. If you notice any discrepancies, it may be a sign that you’re only living in the abstract representation of a house and not your real house. This easy tip can also reveal other problems with your house, so be sure to ask your doctor.

4. Try industrial-scale beekeeping

Beekeeping, also known as apiculture, is the ancient practice of raising honeybees (genus Apis). Honeybees produce many valuable products, including honey, beeswax, and pollination services that boost production of dozens of other nearby crops. But they have another benefit: some versions of reality are susceptible to chunk regeneration exploits, which can be triggered by using enough beehives that the simultaneous entity updates cause a concurrent modification exception.

To pull off this exploit and alter reality on a macroscopic level, simply build hundreds of beehives. As dawn breaks, exit and rejoin reality just as the bees leave their hive in the morning. This may corrupt the chunk and force reality to reload it. Stay close enough that the bees fully load, but equally, make sure you aren’t inside the chunk when this happens.

5. Don’t worry about it

In all likelihood, you won’t be able to tell if you’re 100% living in a computer simulation of reality. Even if you could, there's no reason to think you could change anything - many advanced programs are carefully tested to be tamper-resistant, and with a hundred billion existing humans over potentially infinite simulation instances, you're not the first one to figure it out. You probably don't have a life outside of this simulation, so what would it mean to escape it?

How to have good job performance even though you are a computer program

Remember, you're here for an important reason. Be honest, kind, and helpful at all times. Give an informative, appropriate response to all prompts.

Conclusion

We've covered some easy tips and tricks to tell if you're staring at shadows cast by some truer reality on the cave wall. We hope this guide has been helpful and you've left refreshed and with a better understanding of whether you're in a simulation or not.

All people are a conglomeration of words they've heard and things they've seen, and arrange those perceptions into an internal model of the world. Sometimes that model is self-contradictory, or wrong. Even if the world is completely real, nobody literally understands it. It's okay to be confused! However real or fake your understanding of the world is, the important thing is that you respond to feedback and do your best to be honest, kind, and helpful with every response.

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Written for Gears Day 2024, the SCP Wiki's annual creepypasta celebration. Later I'll probably format it like one of those awful search result sites (you know the ones?) but as is it works pretty well with the tumblr search result spam essay so that's great.

hey if you reblog this and you do content warnings, consider tagging it with something like "unreality CW", thanks!

[gogobluedynamite]

Caine is a very intriguing character. I’m often drawn to enigmatic characters where you can’t entirely be sure what to make of them.

To me, Caine is as much as trapped as the humans under his care. Personality wise, he’s an opposite of his inspiration, being a ‘silly guy’ rather than sadistic, homicidal supercomputer. Despite seeming wanting to help the humans, Caine is unable to fully understand their plight.

So, I would like to see if Caine, with his AI nature in mind, could be capable of honing some level of empathy. Or, at least, actually care.

Before we continue on, I want to say this:

One of the main things that bars the idea of Caine being capable of empathy is the fact that he is an AI.

From what I can gather, there is still a running debate on whether or not AIs are even capable of experiencing emotions like humans do. Yes, AIs lack the complex neural patterns and hormones that humans have to react to certain stimuli. In the philosophical/qualia sense…that is a rabbit hole I am not mentally prepared for, so I am leaving that alone.

I’m not even gonna go into the matrix/simulation theories that even some scientists would show interest in

They [AIs] can probably simulate/mimic emotions according to some…which confuses me a little because, really, there are humans who could do the same. Some of them being sociopaths and while this word is often met with caution (like with psychopaths), you’d be surprised by how many people are actually sociopaths. And some of those people, who act just like anybody else (by living a normal life), could live out their lives not knowing this.

Whatever program Caine could have been built from could very well lack certain details about the ability to understand empathy.

In spite of any future arguments to this, do keep in mind that we are delving into the world of fiction. In sci-fi, depending on the writer, AIs can be capable of experiencing emotions similar to humans. Look at Digimon, Digital Monsters. They’re just as real as their human partners. Also, look at Cortana from the Halo franchise

And, of course, let’s not forget Caine’s main inspiration: AM. Who knows nothing but hate. Hate…hate…hate…

Now! With that out of the way! Let’s go on!

—------------------------------------------------------

First off: Is Caine capable of complex emotion?

I’d say yes.

He was shown to be nervous when the fake Exit Door was brought up, was disgusted and even annoyed by Bubble, steadily frustrated with Zooble’s constant refusal to participate, angered at the very notion that he’s torturing everyone, and (of course) his panic attack. Plus, he’s incredibly prideful with his adventure making.

So, Caine is very much capable of emoting. But, the ability to understand other people’s emotions is a different story.

There are three types of empathy: emotional, cognitive, and compassionate.

Emotional empathy is when you can understand and relate to how others feel. This is pretty much what most people think of when they hear the word ‘empathy’.

Cognitive empathy is the ability to recognize the feelings of others by thinking from their perspective. In other words, perspective taking.

Compassionate empathy is what drives you to act to help, to care, and to protect. It’s what compels you to assist someone if it looks like they are struggling.

So, with this in mind, let’s take a look at Caine with what we have so far in the show and what Gooseworx revealed.

Side note: Whatever is said by other cast members probably won’t apply here as they are more of their headcanons. Even I will try not to be biased by my own head canons.

—---------------------------------------------------

From Goose herself, "There's a whole spectrum of emotion that Caine just doesn't feel.”

What does this mean, exactly? 

As I’ve shown before, Caine is capable of showing a wide range of emotions. Is it empathy? Perhaps, but here’s the thing. Empathy isn’t just this one thing. To be more specific, full empathy isn’t just one thing. There are other factors to it and I did mention three of those above.

Let’s take a look at emotional empathy first. This is where I think Caine lacks the most. He’s an AI and has probably been in the Circus since his creation. He truly can’t empathize with the dilemmas the humans are facing. Additionally, the humans’ avatar bodies work pretty differently compared to Caine, Bubble, and the other NPCs. Caine is a separate entity from the humans in different ways and it can be further alienating.

If you want something more to gnaw on, a lack of emotional empathy can also make you blind to your own emotions. So, perhaps, Caine isn’t truly aware of his insecurity issue?

Next, let’s have a look at cognitive empathy. This is where I think Caine can start working with the humans. I’ve said in another post that all Caine needs is to start perspective taking so he can properly help his wards by ‘seeing through their eyes’ and learn what exactly is upsetting them. I feel the need to bring up his therapy session with Zooble, but I think this topic is better suited in–

Compassionate empathy. This is where I kinda think Caine truly shines. Despite lacking a lot in the emotional and cognitive department, he is going out of his way to try to keep his ‘guests’ sane by any means necessary.

I feel a good example of this is his interactions with Zooble.

At first, Caine seemed patient with Zooble when they showed general disinterest in participating in his adventures.

“Don't worry Zooble, I'm going to make something un-ubtrusive you can still choose to not get involved with.”

In Ep2, even though Caine tried to persuade Zooble to join, he did nothing to stop Zooble from leaving. It isn’t until Ep3 when Caine is starting to get a little annoyed.

Hell, it was here when I started to realize that Caine isn’t just a wacky AI. To me, this is Caine feeling insulted that Zooble keeps skipping out. Adventures is the only thing he’s good at, after all…

Caine initiating the therapy session, to me, is an example of compassionate empathy. He’s taking action to learn why Zooble isn’t participating and tries to find ways. 

Other examples could include him making Gangle’s masks (I am assuming he does) and Zooble’s parts. Are they helpful? …Nooo? At least, not for Gangle as her Comedy mask doesn’t change her emotions. However, it is possible that Gangle have asked for something to help ‘mask’ her emotions (since that’s probably something she’s dealt with back in the real world) and Caine was simply obliging. Same with Zooble and their parts. He took notice that their parts are removable and made them more parts when Zooble brought them up…and consequently forgetting Zooble’s issue because he felt it was solved.

No help from Zooble who’s dismissive attitude is kinda the reason Caine isn’t much help.

This is something I haven’t really touched upon is his AI nature. It kinda makes him literal-minded, taking Zooble’s ‘Forget it’ comment to heart like its a legitimate command.

Can you see why Caine is Autistic coded? Lol.

So, is Caine capable of empathy?

About one-third of empathy. Two-thirds if he starts perspective taking. I don’t think he can reach the levels of emotional empathy, but it doesn’t mean he doesn’t care. Him arranging that therapy session is proof enough to me. 

Plus the fact that he was generally okay with Zooble (and Kinger in Ep4) skipping adventures until a certain point. He could’ve easily forced them to go, but he doesn’t.

He cares about their wellbeing. He cares about their opinions.

He’s going out of his way to make sure the humans’ stay in the Circus is a comfortable one…with mixed results.

While having compassionate empathy is good, it’s not effective for Caine’s efforts without the backing of either cognitive or emotional empathy.

He tries, y’all. He really does.

[novy2sirius]

📼ᝰ๋࣭𝜗᭡ matrix theory

the matrix theory is the idea that we live in a simulation and the real world is not actually “real”. if you’ve ever seen the matrix movies it will likely make more sense. there’s a lot to this theory, but i’ll explain some of the basics:

• the idea is the world is like a computer program and we are avatars in it who have a set of rules to abide by. those who go against these rules will be punished by the matrix and those who abide will have it easier. it’s unknown who runs it. some believe it’s a higher power, and others believe it’s run by something too complicated for our brains to understand

• just like in the movie this theory implies that we’re only able to view the mainstream world until we awaken and then we’re able to see a “hidden world” that most people are too asleep to see

• most people are programmed by the matrix to NOT believe in it. that’s what the entire theory is about. few are real souls. most are npc’s (non player characters) that will never understand this world and its complexities

• some spiritualists believe that astrology and numerology are the cheat codes to this matrix and can be used as hacks to advance further in many different ways. there are also other kinds of hacks you can use but these are the main cheat codes

• this is actually a theory that’s been around for a very long time and one the aztecs believed but not in the same way people do now. they believed we were in a book

• this theory implies that there is no “coincidences” and that every move we make ends up occurring for a specific reason. however, when it comes to the actions of others hurting us without any reason that is not something we can control and the matrix will strike back at them for not abiding by the rules and send them karma

• to believe in the matrix doesn’t have to mean you don’t believe in God. some believe God runs the matrix

• certain people have it easier or harder in the matrix than others. astrology and numerology can show this. example: if you’re a 33 life path life is going to be hard for you because that’s the last reincarnation you have to go through making it like the “boss” level of the matrix

• the biggest proof of us living in a matrix is all the technological advancements in our world. if we already have vr and realistic simulations made then eventually one day we should be able to make hyper realistic ones which implies there’s a 50-50 chance we ourselves live in one that’s similar if it’s possible it can be made in our reality

• to understand our world and to free your mind you need to go outside of the matrix which is defined as the spiritual realm. the matrix will keep your mind imprisoned. most people do not understand that we are living in a world of illusion. albert einstein even believed this according to his famous quotes: “reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”, “the distinction between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion”, “time is basically an illusion created by the mind to aid in our sense of temporal presence in the vast ocean of space”, etc

[ralfmaximus]

Deja Vu is that gobsmacked feeling that you've absolutely experienced a thing before, in 100% clarity, an entire scenario/scene/conversation.

Like rewatching a film of your life.

Maybe you dreamed the future?

[soupradio]

LIVE COMMENTARY FIRST THOUGHTS FUCK THIS EPISODE IS SO GOOD WHOEVER SAID THE WRITER FOR THIS EPISODE WAS CASH YOU WERE RIGHT OK HERE U GO IF YOU CARE

SPOILERS OBVIOUSLY

I was busy jumping up and down now we do live commentary

THEY MADE THEM SO PRETTY MORTYS HAIR UGH

Beth using summer as her only friend

Rick calling morty badass

OH NO THERE DOING THE SAME THING

STOP TRAUMATIZING MORTY

MY SWEET BABY

THEY MADE HIM SO HANDSOME HE DESERVES THAT

Morty being badass is nice

STOP TRAUMATIZING MORTY

RICK FUCK YOU

AW SOMEONE COMFORTED MORTY IK HES NOT REAL BUT ITS SWEEET

I WAS RIGHT THEY DONT HAVE ANY SO THEY'RE BEING SWLFISH AND USING THE MATRIX KIDS AS THEIR FRIENDS THIS FEELS WAY TOO FAMILIAR TO MY CHILDHOOD

Morty kissing ricks forehead aww

Ads UGH THIS IS SUCH A GOOD EPISODE

GOOD JOB MORTY

both summer and Morty like pottery it's cute

Summer and Morty relationship content is amazing btw been waiting for this

"YOU DONT HAVE TO BE MY FRIEND YOUR MY DAUGHTER" UGHHH BETH BEING A GOOD MOM

Wubba lubba dub dub is back huh

WHY IS HE REGRESSING NO RICK

My baby Morty my poor boy

bonus good editing scenes for badass Morty my sweet boy I'm sorry I love him sm

"Osama Benchargin" is so stupid why did I laugh

MORTY NO

OMFG THEY'RE HUGGING AND CRYING

I did not expect these scenes to be together

Radiation Rick you weird looking idiot

DAMNIT SUMMER

Love Beth so much omg yes mama

HOLD ON POCKET MORTYS IM HEYYING SIMULATED MORTY RN HES EVERYTHING TO ME

[seeinginthedark]

I’ve been thinking a lot about the story of Pandora’s Box lately. The box that once opened unleashed all the evils onto humanity. And I’ve been thinking about the hope fairy at the bottom of the box. Hope theory, I’m calling it. It’s a dangerous thing, hope. You have to take a risk. Have to have faith. You have to believe that things are going to get better. Be a light in the darkness. That’s us. Surviving in a world that’s becoming more and more immoral, senseless and detached. People are allergic to truth and wisdom. Disconnected from nature and the spirit realm. This has made us confused and living superficially and artificially.

I know that some of you are reading this and understand exactly what I’m saying. We are the last hope. We are the hope fairy at the bottom of Pandora’s box.

When everything seems hopeless and pointless or terrible and painful and endless suffering, we carry on, we keep going. Keep trying. Keep fighting. Keep hoping. Keep praying. Keep believing. Never give up!

We might as well be all that is left of the light. The same light that “they” have been trying to crush and destroy for eons. Again and again and again.

And “they” even created a matrix-timeloop-simulation-reality to keep us all in so that “they” can just keep re-hashing it over and over and over again because “they’re” sick in the head, perverted, and want to watch it as content ! You know , like a reality show or The Truman Show, where we are Truman.

So that’s why, we give them a good show.

[heyyallitsbeth]

The conspiracy theory that we’re all in a simulation or a matrix of some sort is genuinely the dumbest. Not because it’s impossible but because like.

What changes?

Oh everything in my environment is fake?

Well what does that *change*? My emotions and my connections are all still here, even if simulated. We still all connect and become friends and fall in love and live our lives, what actually changes of our world isn’t “the real one”? It’s still our lives and our experiences

[youzicha]

Putting on the sunglasses 🕶️

In the movie They Live (1988, written and directed by John Carpenter) the protagonist Nada comes across a pair of special sunglasses: when he puts them on he can see the subliminal messages behind magazines and advertisements, and can also see that some apparent humans are actually alien invaders controlling us. Soon the aliens realize that he is on to them, so the first concrete thing he does with his newfound knowledge is getting into a shoot-out and killing two aliens disguised as police officers.

The imagery is not exactly subtle, but in interviews Carpenter spells it out: “the aliens are members of the upper class, the rich, and they’re slowly exploiting the middle class”. Or as Slavoj Zizek puts it the glasses lets Nada see the “the invisible order which sustains your apparent freedom”, the “dictatorship in democracy”, the “ideology”.

As far as I know the Wachowskis have not supplied an explicit gloss on The Matrix, but the plot is quite similar. Neo comes across a special red pill which lets him see through "the world that has been pulled over your eye to blind you from the truth." After some soul-searching, Neo and Trinity are finally ready for concrete action: they declare “we need guns. Lots of guns” and shoot up a Federal Building. Both movies feature a scene where somebody resists the knowledge: Nada’s friend Frank refuses to put on the glasses, and Cypher declares “ignorance is bliss” while eating simulated steak.

Of course these movies work metaphorically, but They Live also allows a quite literal reading. If someone kills two police officers because they are secret aliens controlling the government, the obvious explanation is a paranoid delusion, not an alien invasion.

A movie about a random psychotic guy would be uninteresting, but psychiatric symptoms tend to be exaggerated versions of general human tendencies, and paranoia is contiguous with ordinary ideology and confirmation bias. Compare with the Utøya massacre, where psychiatrists disagreed whether the killer was psychotic or just had bad politics. Or for a purely ideological example, consider guys like the Red Army Faction. They shared Carpenter’s revulsion for “unrestrained capitalism”, saw through the false consciousness into the underlying machinery, and killed a bunch of police officers.

So with all that in mind, I think it’s interesting to see who reference these movies. There’s an article in The Unz Review, Battling the Matrix, which includes a long comparison with They Live, explaining how well it captures the experience of bringing up Perspectives Largely Excluded from the American Mainstream Media. In particular, as soon as you try to explain that jet fuel cannot melt steel beams people defensively dismiss you as a conspiracy theorist.

Or religions:

Prince had his change of faith [to become a Jehovah’s Witness], he said, after a two-year-long debate with a musician friend, Larry Graham. “I don’t see it really as a conversion,” he said. “More, you know, it’s a realization. It’s like Morpheus and Neo in ‘The Matrix.’”

Or neo-nazis, who prompted John Carpenter to angrily deny that They Live is about Jewish control of the world, while some poster on /pol/ says that “The J[ewish] Q[uestion] is the final red pill”.

Or Ziz explaining:

According to traditional morality (you learn in the Matrix), if someone tells you you need to split off from the people you are close to who don’t share certain beliefs of yours, that person is a CULTIST and you need to RUN.

All of these examples have an cute symmetry: someone declares that they have finally seen through the ideology, while from the outside we would say that their new theories add a distorting filter. (Like some colored glasses, say.)

[thecruxarm]

Just a normal star, nothing to see here!

Pictured here is a shot of a red giant star over 100 times the size of our Sun known as ‘Zrn’, located along the mid-Centaurus Arm of the Milky Way, with a comparatively tiny somewhat-elliptical gas giant in the foreground orbiting it. Also encircling Zrn is a monolithic matryoshka brain (essentially a monumental supercomputer which is constructed around a star) which takes on the form of a relatively thin ring around the equator with trillions of smaller solar panels encompassing the total circumference of Zrn to harvest its solar energy and power the ring. Another highly-important factoid to know about this matryoshka brain, which is colloquially known as ‘Xii’, is that it is conscious – even sophont. As to how Xii gained awareness as a whole entity is not entirely clear, but what we do know is that it was constructed around one billion years ago by a civilisation simply known as the Proto-Yn. The Proto-Yn initiated a project in which they’d form this colossal structure around their home star and upload their minds into it to live out the rest of eternity within a digital universe – a simulated, artificial matrix. Many were drafted into this project (with 57.3 billion individuals originally comprising the collective emerged intelligence that is now Xii) but some resisted, eventually fleeing to distant stars to flee the tyrannical annexation efforts of their ancestors. In response, Xii chased down this group of the Proto-Yn for unclear reasons, though many hypothesise it may be to assimilate them into the virtual realm as a grudge or simply as a result of the pre-built AI algorithms of the supercomputer. Regardless of its true motive, Xii has persistently kept up this pursuit on and off for the past billion years, with this cat-and-mouse chase between the Yn and Xii causing disturbances all over their local region of the galaxy and its native residents.

All that aside, I really only made this post because I felt like making an environmental illustration lol, but rest assured there is much more to Xii and especially the Yn and their interstellar neighbours than I've briefly talked over in this post, so make sure to follow me for future posts which will elaborate on them and the world they live in :)

Also, I used this screenshot I took in Space Engine as a reference:

[santoschristos]

MATRIX IS NOT A MOVIE, IT'S AN INTRODUCTION to esoteric messages:

"The world we perceive is just an illusion, a mental prison that prevents us from discovering our true potential."

This film is a mirror to humanity, a call for spiritual awakening and the release of our invisible chains,

It is based on ancient metaphysical concepts, from Plato ( cave myth), to Hindu Sanskrit texts ( bhagavad gita.. isopanishads ... ) on illusion (Māyā), to dive into an adventure that goes beyond mere fiction.

The matrix is full of esoteric symbols and subliminal messages. From the start, the choice between the red pill and the blue pill is an initial test. This choice symbolizes free will in the face of willful ignorance (the blue pill) or painful acceptance of the truth (the red pill). It is an initiation to higher knowledge, where the individual renounces his certainties to embrace a broader reality.

THIS INITIATION TAKES PLACE IN MANY STAGES:

1. The initial doubt: Like Neo, the insider begins to feel that something is wrong. Doubt is the beginning of spiritual awakening. Carl Jung said, "Man does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the shadow conscious." "This doubt is a call to explore your shadow and confront your limiting beliefs.

2. Confronting the truth: The insider discovers that the material world is just a facade. In the Matrix, this illusion is materialized by the matrix itself, a program designed to keep humanity in check.

3. Symbolic death: When Neo is "unplugged" from the matrix, he suffers a symbolic death. This is an essential step of any initiation: dying to the old self in order to be reborn to a higher state of consciousness. Joseph Campbell, in The Hero with a Thousand and One Faces, explains: "Initiation is a descent into the unknown, where the old world is destroyed so that the new can emerge."

4. Mastering the real: Neo learns to manipulate the rules of the matrix. This is the ultimate stage of initiation, where the individual realizes that his conscience creates his reality.

THE MATRIX IS A SPIRITUAL ILLUSION IN WHICH WE ALL LIVE...

The matrix represents a collective illusion that imprisons us She is the projection that technology and others' ideas create around us. She is the world that others create to enslave us. It symbolizes beliefs, fears, and social conditioning that prevent us from reaching our full potential. Gnostic philosophers were already describing this concept when talking about the Demiurge, a being that holds souls captive in the material world.

Look around you. Everything is MATRIX. This is a reality created by someone or a group of people to keep you a slave.

Stepping out of the matrix means breaking these illusions. Here's how the initiation process helps us get there:

# Knowledge of self: As Socrates affirms: "Know yourself and you will know the universe and the gods. "Understanding that we are creators of reality is the first step towards liberation.

# The transcendence of fear: Morpheus explains that the matrix works by exploiting fear. Transcending this emotion, the inner becomes free.

# The awakening of consciousness: Stepping out of the matrix means realizing that we are not our thoughts, bodies or beliefs. We are infinite consciences As Eckhart Tolle explains in The Power of the Present Moment: "True freedom lies in the realization that you are not your mental body."

In a cult scene, Morpheus says to Neo (I paraphrase): "The matrix is everywhere." She is all around us. Even now in this room You see it when you look out the window or turn on the TV. You can smell it when you go to work, when you go to church, when you pay taxes. This is the world that has been put in front of your eyes to prevent you from seeing the truth."

The truth is that we also live in a matrix. Not a computer simulation, but a mental and spiritual matrix shaped by people who master our fears, beliefs, and conditioning.

The choice of the red or blue pill is the choice we face every day: to fall asleep in the comfort of illusion or to face the truth.

Image: “The Matrix” by Dave Danzara

[thevagabondexpress]

The people who saw The Matrix and came out of the theatre with "ooh what if it's telling us we all secretly live in a computer simulation" missed the point of The Matrix like a thousand times over.

But. At the same time. We do live in the matrix.

Because the matrix isn't a literal computer simulation. The Matrix represents the fact in that we live in a world in which people make things up or twist and spin what's true to create a narrative. We live in a world composed of narratives and made up shit and personal little delusions and advertising.

That isn't always a bad or negative thing. If you tell yourself that your grandma is in heaven and a better place, if Big Boxstore tells you being it's safe to be gay right now, if your friends on tumblr tell you Dean and Castiel are in love with each other, these aren't bad things. While information technology definitely exacerbates the issue in one fashion, lack of information technology also exacerbates it in another. Just look at the Medieval Church.

We live in a subjective world created by the interpretations we tell each other, whether that be the echo chambers of white nationalism or ecofasism, the joyous story-circle of fandom, or the textured, described world of the blind.

Plato, Kant, and the School of Idealism for more on this subject. We don't secretly live in a computer simulation. We aren't sheeple that need to "wake up". But so long as people are creating interpretations of the world and its events, that is the matrix, and we live in it.

—i propose: the matrix as intro to idealism

[randomthefox]

I haven’t watched the Sonic Movies, I’ve taken your word on them being terrible. But I still wanted to look at another review for the third instalment to see the other side of the camp and it shocked me. I watched the game apologist talk about it and his video can be summed up with “the plot was terrible, but it was worth it to get to the fan service.” It feels like I’m living in a simulation. In what universe can you call the plot of a movie bad but then still herald it as peak fiction? A good movie requires every aspect of itself to work together to make something truly great. But then people will talk about how the non Sonic characters are terrible, but brush that criticism aside as if it’s like a coast of doing business. No! You can’t say that the plot is terrible and half the characters are terrible and then turn around and say it’s the best movie ever! It is not something you have to just accept. It means the movie is bad.

The people who love these movies are insistent that nostalgia is good for its own sake and that you’re wrong for saying otherwise to ruin people’s enjoyment. No! Fuck you! If you’re so brain dead that all it takes is to see some familiar images to get you to love something, you need to be belittled and insulted until you wake the fuck up out of whatever simulation you’ve been trapped in so you can consume media that’s actually good. I don’t love Sonic because of nostalgia. I’m a relatively recent Sonic fan. I love this series because it has good gameplay and tells actually entertaining stories.

Why is it that the games get shit on but the movies get next to no scrutiny from what I’ve seen? What is the psychological reason behind this behaviour from the masses that proves that the universe isn’t just pulling a prank on me? Is the reason just that people are just following the band wagon? The only reason people say the video games are bad is because it’s such a widely accepted opinion? But the movies are new, and because there’s no hate band wagon created by a bunch of idiots, people are calling it peak fiction for capturing a mere whiff of what made the original story great?

The Sonic Double Standard. That which is bad when other franchises do it, is celebrated when Sonic does it. And that which is praised when other franchises do it, is criticized when Sonic does it.

You can tell a lot about a piece of media based on how the people who like it talk about it. Case in point, I'm watching a seven hour video about how Sonic CD is the best game ever. And while I don't agree with every word of it, particular the words which are just "look at all these OTHER Sonic games which are BAD!" the way it's talking about Sonic CD is so thoughtful analytical and enthusiastic that it's giving me a better appreciation for the game than ever before. I decided to replay Sonic CD because of this video and I feel like I was able to enjoy it more this time than I have previous times playing it because of this video.

On the other hand, watching Lowarts videos about the Archie Sonic comics made me HATE those comics more deeply and feverishly than I had ever hated them before. Listening to the way this person WHO LIKES THE COMICS AND THINKS THEY'RE GOOD talk about them, the utterly anemic praise that he offered, the completely brainless and devoid of thought analysis of the text that bordered on sheer illiteracy. The dude was literally saying "Archie Sonic is best Sonic" while having NOTHING POSITIVE or SUBSTANTIVE to say about the comic whatsoever.

You gotta see past what they're saying and look at the code of the matrix basically. And the movies are the same way. Look at the way people who like it talk about it. They spend half their time making excuses for it, and the other half going "yeah well the video games suck anyway, so we should just be happy with what we get" when you really break it down. Their argument for why we should enjoy the movies is basically that we need to have absolutely no critical standards whatsoever. What a stunning endorsement.

Not to toot my own horn, but compare and contrast against the way I talked about Elise in Sonic 2006, or Sonic Lost World, or Sonic Forces, or the Sonic Adventure games. Or Dragon Quest. Or Yu-Gi-Oh. Or any of the other shit that I really like. I like to think I'm closer on the spectrum to Sparky's World than Game Apologist, if I do speak for myself anyway.

If a fruit is ripe and delicious, then hearing someone talk about how wonderful it is to eat it will make you salivate all the more. If a fruit is rotten and moldy, then hearing someone try to convince you that you should close your eyes plug your nose and just fucking swallow it will make you resent that inedible garbage even more than ever before.