Reality Hopping

I am a bit of a bookworm. I am not as voracious a reader as I was in my youth. I blame this in part on a significant improvement in both the quality and quantity of escapes available to me as I get older. Once upon a time the engine of my imagination guided and fueled by a book was the best possible escape into another reality. Now, I can spend quality time adventuring from the Two Rivers to Shayol Ghul complete with the beautiful company of Egwene Al'vere with a few button presses on my TV. I have to say Amazon Prime is less wordy than Robert Jordan. May he rest in peace and satisfaction that his work has given him a form of immortality. 

Last year as I began my replay of the Final Fantasy video game series (still waiting on FFVIPR as I write this) I started thinking about the number of hours of my life I have spent on video games, comic books, movies, tv shows, books, and how valuable was that time. I was a bit surprised in my reflections to decide that I do not regret any of that time. I went on to realize that from a certain perspective many of us live more of our lives visiting and enjoying realities than have nothing to do with the "real world." I know I am not alone in this. 

One of the interesting things that has come with getting older is that I cannot digest the same diet that I did as a kid. This is true of avoiding bad nutrition like pizza for breakfast, but in a more real sense it applies to my reading. I spend a fair amount of time learning about topics that interest me or positively impact my ability to function in the real world. For example, I found myself extremely over stressed this week and unable to process. I started to dust off a few of my previous books that have helped me along the way. I thumbed through my Brene Brown collection. I considered Mark Manson and Gary John Bishop. I even picked up a few of my books on communication like Radical Candor and didn't find myself excited. 

My love of reading and my need for stress relief made a hard right turn into an obvious outlet of retail therapy. (Don't worry, I will get back to my crazy points about reality in a few minutes) One of the things I love about the internet is that I can gain quick access to vast amounts of information with a few simple searches. If I want to trust in the quality of paid advertisements I don't have to dig very deep for recommendations. I also know how to go deeper and find what (mostly) real people would suggest for everything from what book about stress and anxiety relief really helped them to which camera bag might hold my GoPro, Sony ZX-1, and my Olympus Mirrorless and all the necessary batteries, cords, and paraphernalia.

Gosh that is such a great word. Paraphernalia. I love most things that give me an excuse to buy gear. That gives me a plethora of paraphernalia. Yes, hefe, I would say that I have a plethora. That is a strained Three Amigos reference. Most of you won't get it, but it gave me an excuse to type plethora which another word I really like, but I digress. 

I ordered a few books. I started with Stress-Proof: The Scientific Solution to Protect Your Brain and Body--and Be More Resilient Every Day.  The book has to be good because they just could not stop naming the damned thing. I liked the words Stress-Proof, Solution, and Resilient. They all seemed in line with my goals for reading it. I question the accessibility of any book with more than four words in the title, not counting subtitles. "This thing may end up reading like a fucking stereo instruction manual, but what the hell," I thought to myself as I added it to my cart. 

I also want to point out that the cover of Stress-Proof is a bright yellow. I do not find yellow soothing. I wonder if I am alone in that. I get comfortable with blues, greys, and even a nice green. Is there marketing research that says bright eye popping colors are soothing? I doubt it, but I bet there is strong marketing behind it drawing the eye no matter how it makes you feel. That probably sells books which is probably more important than the cover making me feel calm. 

Yes, these are the things I think while buying books about reducing stress. I decided that my doubts about Stress-Proof probably warranted a secondary book on the subject. My research uncovered Unfuck Your Brain by Faith G. Harper, PHD, LPC-S, ACS, ACN. Anyone with that much alphabet soup giving titles who names their self help book something smartly obscene wins my heart. Frankly any professional person who has the balls to be publicly profane just gets it in a way that is important. They are my type of person. I added Unfuck Your Brain to my cart with a smile. 

I felt a little irresponsible not picking up something to help me professionally. I like those sorts of books quite a lot. I picked out Surrounded by Idiots by Thomas Erikson. I do not think I am surrounded by idiots by any means, but again that disrespectful title wins cool points. Also, it is a book about effective communication. I can never learn enough there. In the cart it went and my stress came down a notch. 

I have been noodling hard on how to define reality and what is real. To round out my shopping experience I added The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos by Brian Greene. Give me science fact talking about multiverse theory any day of the week. I will lap that up like a kitten at a bowl of cream. I like thinking about what could be true. The nature of things fascinate me. I can forgive that long ass title since most of it falls under the heading of subtitle. 

Which was precisely when my mind wandered to simulation theory. Maybe it was the new Matrix movie or the fact that I have been chewing on the idea since I first heard it, but I wanted a serious book on simulation theory. I was so thrilled to find Reality+ virtual worlds and the problems of philosophy by David J. Chalmers. Not only was this exactly the book I want, but it is a new release. I mean NEW release books never find me in a timely fashion. I catch most things 3 or 4 years late. 

Reality+ released in 2022. Meaning this book published in the last month. For the record it actually came out on 25 January 2022. I have to say that the fact my brain has been pondering the subject and here drops a dense treatise from the ether feels a bit suspect. Then again, if I wanted to let someone in a simulation know they were in a simulation it feels like pretty much exactly the brick to the head I would throw. Subtlety is overrated, mostly by Creationists. 

Before I plow into Reality+ (I managed to stop reading after the Introduction before starting Chapter 1) I figure the time has come to lay some of my crazy out here on the blog for the world to see. That brings us back to Final Fantasy and time spent in other realities. Maybe that is the most magical part of being human. We have the ability to, for the most part, travel between realities and choose where we spend our quality time. 

I have some realities I prefer over others. For the past several years I make an annual trip to visit Wade Watts and his friends in the Oasis by reading Ready Player One. I have visited the Oasis via the portal of audiobook, digital book on my Kindle, and with one of several different print copies of the book. I have also handed these hard copies out (so many I have lost count) to people I care about. I want them to have a chance to visit the reality Wade Watts exists in. It is an experience we can share and appreciate in common. What is there to doubt about that being real?

I started with Ready Player One because it was through Wade Watts and his creator Ernest Cline that I started to realize that I was as much a resident of Hyrule, the Mushroom Kingdom,Tamriel,  the Hybroean Age, Hogwarts, and Faerun (or Toril if you prefer) as I am Earth. In books I have joined in the adventures of detectives, killers, vampires, witches, and the occasional promiscuous lady of the evening. Those experiences were real and have actual enriching value to my life. 

Movies and tv shows make those shared experiences more accessible. Not everyone wants to spend their free time with their nose stuck in a book to join these adventures. That is why the greats come back over and over like Sherlock Holmes, Around the World in 80 Days, and Dracula. We need those realities to expand upon our own. 

Video Games take this further. You get to step into a leading role in these adventures. They become more immersive by adding skill, reasoning, logic, and determination of the player to the mix. With controller in hand I have saved Princesses, fought demons, won races, and saved countless worlds. The lives of characters have unfolded before me including some heavy hearted losses along the way. I doubt I am alone in shedding a tear for a fallen digital friend. 

Regardless of what thoughts are inspired in the pages of Reality+, I am excited to continue visiting all of the realities I know and love including the "real world." I think they are all valid. They all have value. I don't know that I could be who I am today without crawling through New York's sewers with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or battling my way through Hell as a Warrior in Diablo.  

I believe as computers become more sophisticated it will be easier to visit and create realities of our own. The writers and artists who create worlds are in effect opening a portal between their reality and yours allowing you to share experience. This mystical act of extra sensory connection transcends time and space and in many ways it defies definition. When I read a Sherlock Holmes story written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle am I visiting a mental realm created between 1887 and 1927? Am I stepping into Doyle's imagination? Am I visiting a reality which if it were rendered by a future VR might be called the Holmescape? If I am living Doyle's thoughts in 2022 can he be considered truly dead since his vision is alive and well? 

Yes, this idea gets deep enough that it questions reality and the definition of existence. I can simplify it somewhat I think, or maybe I can complicate it further. If you google "who created Itchy and Scratchy" you will get the following top response (assuming you are in the same general geographic area I am and have somewhat similar Google algorithms governing your searches... another reality based discussion...) " Itchy & Scratchy Studios is run by Roger Meyers Jr., the son of Roger Meyers, the cartoon's "creator." The studio was bankrupted after it was sued by Lampwick for $800 million, but was saved after receiving a large cash settlement from the government over its use of Mr. ZIP."

These results are answered from the perspective of being within the Simpson's reality. From a completely different point of view the creator of the Simpsons, Matt Groening and crew, are the actual creators of Itchy and Scratchy. Yet, the likelihood of someone using those search terms to come up with the answer of Matt Groening is rather limited. The searcher is likely looking for in universe knowledge based on the phrasing of the question. The post doesn't even bother to differentiate or explain that Itchy and Scratchy are a fictional show within the Simpson's reality unless you dig deeper into the post. 

Transcending the perspective of reality is such an understood part of the experience that we do not examine it too deeply. I could as easily have used the example of Reptar's relationship to Tommy Pickles or talked about Murray's talk show in The Joker. These realities within realities aren't complicated if you don't stop to think about them. We just transverse them with the ease of Alice chasing after the White Rabbit. 

Oh and Unfuck Your Brain is terrific. That little book, while bright yellow in color, is a great read. The language, while vulgar to some, is very accessible. I found the first few chapter charming and informative. Most of all I feel less anxious for reading what of it I have thus far. It breaks down the function of the brain in the first few chapters in a conversational way that really enhances my understanding. 

Between deep thoughts on reality hopping, buying a few books, some reading, and a little organization around the house I am feeling pretty great. I have even indulged myself in some good cooking and a few naps. That is about as good as the real world gets without being on some sort of adventure.