False Reality Options

[ApocalypseAelis]

Offer:
You will be injected with a drug that will grant you sleep until death. You will be put into a metal tube where all your basic needs will be taken care of (i.e. food). In sleep, you will dream. This dream will be determined by you - you can choose whatever kind of dream it will be. Be any person you wish, live in any life you wish...do anything you wish.

You will never wake up. You die of old age in your sleep.

This offer is no scam. It's completely safe. It is also irreversible.

You can choose whether to remember your previous life or not. You can choose whether to know if you are living a dream or not in your dreamland.

Do you take up this offer?

----

What other people said:

"No, I'd rather live in reality than live a dream. Even though I wouldn't know it was a dream, I'd still know it before taking the chance...there would be no point in living if I get exactly what I want...."
-Sarah

"f**k no....that idea alone is enough to give me nightmares. I used to have obsessive thoughts about existence and reality and stuff like that like... 24/7...but it still freaks me out to think about my life being a giant dream."
-Chandi

"Hmmm...no, I wouldn't do it. I'm not sure why...because its not the truth. It just doesnt sound right...I don't really know why..."
-William

"No, I wouldn't do that. Fantasies should just stay fantasies...and that appeals to me sort of like suicide. You dont like reality so you just decide to go for that sleeping thing you're talking about instead of facing life. I wont like it. I get tired of reality, like the fact that I cant fly, but what about friends and family and the drama in school - all the things that only reality can offer you? If you do that mind-thing, it's almost like living a lie. Everything's in your head."
-Cherry

----

Other things to consider:

1. If you discovered the life you are living now is fake, and you were really lying in a metal tube, living a dream, in reality, would you choose to wake up? Would you, knowing absolutely nothing about what reality truly is, knowing nothing of who and where you are, knowing not whether you could escape back to the dream-land or not, choose to wake up? Or would you continue living in a dream world?

2. Is your answer based more on a need for truth or on an attachment to your current reality? Would your answer vary depending on the quality of your life? Would your answer be different if you were a homeless, penniless, drug addict?

----

Not a single person I've asked has answered yes yet.


As for myself, I don't know the answer.

I don't know where this idea came from. It just came to me. And I realized I wasn't sure if I would choose to live in a dream world or not. So I asked others.

[5ayuri]

No, I agree that there is no point in living when you can have exactly what you want, and it's also some form of suicide.
It's also something you can't grow of..like in reality you have to deal with issues and they make you stronger.

[expoised]

living a fantasy that you make up defeats the entire purpose of living. what makes life so exciting is that you never know what'll happen next. you don't know the people you meet and you're constantly being surprised.

even if i'd have the best type of life in my "dream"... it would be living a lie and i wouldn't want it. i think dreams should stay dreams and reality stay reality.

[Ington]

I say yes.

This is basically saying "Would you rather live happily for the rest of your life or commit yourself to constant struggling?" Face it people. Life is tough, and life is suffering. I would definitely take up the offer of dreaming vividly forever.

Who says its not a reality? What makes it so fake and wrong? If you feel that you are a part of it, it is your reality. If you cannot turn to anything else, that is your reality. What is so wrong with that?

No, I agree that there is no point in living when you can have exactly what you want, and it's also some form of suicide.
It's also something you can't grow of..like in reality you have to deal with issues and they make you stronger.

But if you were always content, there would be no reason for you to get stronger. Why is being content all the time a form of suicide? Can anyone answer this? Why is wanting to always be happy so wrong?

And note, people, its not just like a dream where you go to sleep and wake up. Its a dream where you can control everything, a vivid dream where you can create new people and detail everything to your preference. Basically, another world. Not a 'low budget' dream.

[emazing]

Wow, this is a pretty interesting topic.
My answer would be no.
I would much rather live in reality than in a dream, because in reality, you have your difficulties, your problems, worries, but. Everyone. has. to. deal. with. that.
No one's life can be PERFECT, so why bother? It's just a waste of your life.

[Herizon Action]

what it would be to live nothing but your own dreams...

[ParanoidAndroid]

No, I agree that there is no point in living when you can have exactly what you want, and it's also some form of suicide.
It's also something you can't grow of..like in reality you have to deal with issues and they make you stronger.

I agree... People should be stronger than actually giving into a world of dreams

then what is a dream within a dream?

Will you keep dreaming? What is the point when you have what you want?

You might as well as tie me to a tree and say ready aim fire

[*danielle_x3*]

I wouldn't want to live one big dream. I'd choose reality than a false one, even though the idea sounds like a cool one

[_sarcastic_]

no, i'd rather live in reality where i can make my dreams come true. being put to sleep and dreaming for the rest of my life doesn't sound like a very good idea. living in reality means there will be of course difficulties, tragedies, and happiness. it's life

[misoshiru]

although what ariel says is very, very tempting.

i think that my answer (for now) would be no.
personally, even though if there is a false reality and i could live a seemingly perfect life, right now, i believe that i would like to live and learn for myself. to fall down and learn how to pick myself up.
but ask me again later and my answer might be different.

[DrNick311]

This whole idea sounds just like something out of Vanilla Sky.

I wouldn't mind doing it, though.

And this whole thing definitely brings up the question of what reality is. But let's leave that in the debate forum.

[Levy2k6]

i wouldn't do it for life but it be awesome to escape this world and move a fake false one for a week or something.

[xangelkissesx]

I would say no. It wouldn't feel right knowing that you're living in a false dream rather than living in the real world.

[*incoherent*]

i love sleeping, but id have to pass on the offer. why waste life living in a tube?

[Heathasm]

yes . . . DEFFINATELY!!!! sign me up nowwww i've always wanted to do this my whole life :O i had no idea it was possible

[ApocalypseAelis]

^are you being serious or not? e_e Sorry, it's hard to tell over the internet. The "offer" is just a hypothetical question...

It wouldn't feel right knowing that you're living in a false dream rather than living in the real world.

Yes, but you could make it so that you wouldn't know it. You could make it so that it would be like being reborn...with no knowledge of reality - aka sleeping forever. It would feel right then, just as right as reality does.

why waste life living in a tube?

You wouldn't know you were living in a tube. And why would it be wasted? How would living a life in your mind be any different...you'd still experience everything as though it were real. It would feel exactly the same. It's not like anyone knows the meaning of this life anyway.

But if you were always content, there would be no reason for you to get stronger. Why is being content all the time a form of suicide? Can anyone answer this? Why is wanting to always be happy so wrong?

Maybe by accepting the offer, you're admitting that the life that was given to you isn't good enough. It's suicide because you're giving up your life to live in a lie.

If you're comfortable with living in a false reality, as long as you are content and the truth is never revealed, are you comfortable with being lied to, as long as you never learn the truth? Would it be okay to lie to people if what they don't know can't hurt them?

Isn't it a little uncomfortable to think of spending the rest of your life in something that never existed?

i wouldn't do it for life but it be awesome to escape this world and move a fake false one for a week or something.

Yeah, it would be. But I would be too scared to try it. I'd get addicted and wouldn't be able to get out of it even if I wanted to. Who'd want to escape paradise, even if it's unreal?

I guess it's sort of like taking drugs that mess with your emotions. The feelings that come with them are all only momentary and superficial - gone in an instant and too shallow to feel. Even if they are wonderful feelings, they're false...only a small escape from reality. (But then is a momentary escape from reality worse than a permanent one?)

no, i'd rather live in reality where i can make my dreams come true. being put to sleep and dreaming for the rest of my life doesn't sound like a very good idea. living in reality means there will be of course difficulties, tragedies, and happiness. it's life

But you could program your dream-life to include all these things too...you could make sure that in this dream world, you would learn all the things you can learn in life. Or you could just have yourself be the wisest person in existence. Does it matter how you attain your knowledge if the results are the same? Difficulties, tragedies, happiness...these things can be woven into your dream-life. They teach you things...give you experience. You might not even want them to be in your dream life, because you could program yourself to know all these things already without having to suffer the consequences like in reality.

living a fantasy that you make up defeats the entire purpose of living. what makes life so exciting is that you never know what'll happen next. you don't know the people you meet and you're constantly being surprised.

Yes, but you could program the drug to make yourself not KNOW that you are living a dream...then it would be EXACTLY THE SAME AS REALITY TO YOU. You wouldn't be able to tell the difference. If you lived this fantasy and made it so that you wouldn't know you were living in a dream, "life" would be as exciting and wonderful, probably even MORE exciting and wonderful than the one we're living in now.

I would much rather live in reality than in a dream, because in reality, you have your difficulties, your problems, worries, but. Everyone. has. to. deal. with. that.
No one's life can be PERFECT, so why bother? It's just a waste of your life.

Yes, now your life can be perfect. Now you won't have to deal with your difficulties, your problems, or your worries. Now you're being offered a perfect life. Why bother? Because this is offering you PARADISE! It's giving you the chance to spend the rest of your life dreaming, living exactly the way you want to live. There are no limits or boundaries. You can be anyone and anything you wish.

It would feel exactly the same. You wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Living the dream WOULD be reality, for you. How is it wrong? It won't hurt you in any way. You would be granted your every desire. What is the difference, anyway, between this dream life and reality?

[SillyCourtney]

I say no. Sure, I may not get all I want in life, but when I do finally get the object of my desire, I have this sense of achievement and pride. If I was in this dream world where I just got everything I would ever want, it would take away that sense of accomplishment. And if I had the option of knowing that this false reality wasn't real.. I would constantly be wondering what would really happen. It's the bad things in life that let you know what's actually good, and I wouldn't want to give that up.

And, to answer another of your questions, I also wouldn't want this dream state because of my ties to my own reality. I wouldn't want to give up my life now. Sure, things don't always go the way I want them to, but I have a good life and I have wonderful friends. (I have an ok family, for the most part.) I would hate to give them all up.. sure, I could bring them into my dream state... but it just wouldn't be the same.

And yes, I could make it so that I wouldn't ever know it was all fake.. but knowing me, I could never do that. I could never just disassociate myself with my previous life.

[racoons > you]

no, i'd rather live in reality where i can make my dreams come true. being put to sleep and dreaming for the rest of my life doesn't sound like a very good idea. living in reality means there will be of course difficulties, tragedies, and happiness. it's life

thats the point. you WOULD BE in a reality where you could make your dreams come true. by using this option.

why is achieving this through struggle inherently better?

[*RiC3xBoy*]

Yes,

[Just_Dream]

There are other things to consider about this false reality. In the dream, it's like, time can stand still. Time can go backwards, forwards, whatever you choose.

To be happy... How can you define eternal bliss? Getting everything you've wanted? It's such a selfish idea, even though we're all selfish. Without us knowing, some of us might even choose to the opposite road when taking this drug--to not dream of a life where we get everything we want, but rather to live a life where we don't get anything we desire. Also, we have the choice of NOT KNOWING that this is just a dream. Sad, isn't it?

To answer the question, no I wouldn't take the drug. Although my reasoning might not make a lot of sense to others, I stand firm in my belief that I'd rather live in the world I am in today. Maybe we all ARE living in a false reality, that all the memories were fabricated, in a world full of fabrications. It intrigues me to know that I might be living in such a world and I really want to know what it's like outside of that.

I don't want to be afraid--I want to see the outside of all of this. If this was a dreamworld, I don't know if I ever want to come back to this world. It might be too hard. Being so emotionally unstable, I'd probably die out there lol. It might be scary, but I'd rather know the truth than to live a lie, even if it meant happiness. Even though I'm with the person I love and I'm happy with him, I hate to think that maybe this is a dream, that I made it all up. I want to interact with other people, with real people. And, considering the circumtances of not knowing whether we are all in a dream world, I still question why things happen the way they do. Is it all up to fate, or do we control what happens?

But then again, this all COULD be a dream, right? And we wouldn't know. I still want to see the other reality.

A little offtopic, but... Has anyone watched the anime "Big O?" It's a strange anime, but there's a lot of thought put into it. Where memories from years ago are forgotten--where society is sheltered from the outside world. It's almost as if there was an apocalypse, but that small world was sheltered from it all. Domes where the city is protected, but people are fighting to find those memories. Of course, I never saw the last episode and I haven't seen all the episodes, so I wouldn't know.

[Hiphop d[-_-]b]

This is making me think really hard. Im not sure what i would choose. To live exactly how i wanted in a dream, which would be reality in my head appeals so much. But it would be a false world. Everything would be false. Love, friendship, Hate. It is all a dream.

Im not even sure what i would choose. But what if , right now we ARE living a dream ? This is so trippy.

[PiGo]

Im not even sure what i would choose. But what if , right now we ARE living a dream ? This is so trippy.

Sometimes I think that, and then I get scared, because what if whosever dream we were in were to just wake up?

But anyways, I don't think I would do it, but I'll have to think about it a little more.

[JustAnotherTeena...]

Wow...that sounds really creepy. In a way it would be an interesting expiriance, if you could just do it for a couple hours or something. But if it's irreversable? No way. It would be absolutly horrible. Nothing would be real, nothing would really mean anything...it would be living a lie. And would it even be living?

Oh, and you keep saying that it can be exactly the same as reality. Then what the hell would be the point? Why not just live you life, your real one? If it's exactly the same as reality, than what's the difference, other than one being fake and the other being real?

[Retrogressive]

First of all: Vanilla Sky.

Second: No. I would want to know that what I do changes reality not some delusional world.

[ApocalypseAelis]

Oh, and you keep saying that it can be exactly the same as reality. Then what the hell would be the point? Why not just live you life, your real one? If it's exactly the same as reality, than what's the difference, other than one being fake and the other being real?

It is same in the way that it feels the same, it doesn't FEEL like some "dream world," everything feels real and solid and normal to you.

It is different in the way that it is everything you ever dreamed of. It's the perfect life. The life you've always wanted.

Want to be able to fly? You got it.

Have boundless intelligence? Be invisible? Rule the world, rule the UNIVERSE? You got it.

The possibilities are ENDLESS.

First of all: Vanilla Sky.

Everyone I've asked this question to has either mentioned that or The Matrix...

Im not even sure what i would choose. But what if , right now we ARE living a dream ? This is so trippy.

I think everybody has thought about that at some point.

I try not to. All it does is make me scared as heck and mess with my mind. I could go insane from wondering. I don't think anyone will ever find out if this really is "reality" or a "dream." If anyone ever did, I don't think it would be me. So I don't think about it.

I'm such a coward... -_-

No. I would want to know that what I do changes reality not some delusional world.

You mean you would want to affect reality, right? Not that you would want to know that you were affecting reality.

Because when you go to the "delusional world," you could think that that "delusional world" is reality. You would think that what you do affects reality, even if you weren't. You just wouldn't know it.

[Tribal J_Rome]

as amazing and interesting as it sounds, hell no lol. life has it's up and downs, but i don't wanna take the easy way out. i'm not gonna P**sy out because i have problems, i'd rather fix em. if i was at the end of the road and at the brink of suicide or something, then maybe i'd go with it, but it does sound ridiculous. life is what you make of it....

[boobooxpp]

life is supposed to be hard, filled with complications. if you were to have everything you ever wanted, it would be boring and you'd run out of things.

isn't a maze more fun than a straight path?

[Tribal J_Rome]

life is supposed to be hard, filled with complications. if you were to have everything you ever wanted, it would be boring and you'd run out of things.

isn't a maze more fun than a straight path?

^word

[uLoVeMikeRoch]

"Everyone I've asked this question to has either mentioned that or The Matrix..."

Well, thats thats because this is exactly what the matrix was.