h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The Electric Ant was about a man who started toying with his perception of reality. Er. That's not very descriptive, I know. You sort of have to read the story to know what it's about. But basically, the question arises as to whether or not what he sensed (for example, a flock of ducks in the middle of his apartment) was actually real or not, for him or for the rest of the world.

Sophie's World I thought was great the whole way through. Of course, I say that about every book I don't absolutely hate. If you didn't think so then that's fine, I guess. It did seem sort of...whimsical, now to think of it...but around page three hundred it got really weird.

But what's the use arguing about something that makes no difference and will most likely never be proven? Like the nature of reality--what difference does it make whether or not it fits Theory A or Theory B, so long as their end results--what we perceive--are exactly identical? Oh well.

s and s,
~Wes

Aww well perhaps I will. Reminds me of A story by Edgar Allan Poe..
Yeah, then again I was reading Heinlein at the time and I got sidetracked.. Heinlein and Asimov! Perhaps I'll try again..
Don't think it does actually matter. Sort of a relief from all that does matter.

Well, see, the man in the story is actually a robot--he plays around with his "reality sensory feedback", sort of like his programming. When he altered it, he perceived different things around him. So he starts questioning what is real--what he can see and hear and feel, or something else?

An element of humor--unintended of course--to the story was that the information was being relayed to his main processing unit through a roll of tape. He would play around with his senses by getting out a hole puncher.

s and s,
~Wes

OOOO I really do need to check this book out! *chuckles* sounds like something I might right in my twisted mentalities! (yes some of my writing is online now, but it all sucks)..

It's just a short story, maybe five or seven pages long. You could probably find it in a collection somewhere if you looked long enough. Or some of his other work, really...from what our teacher says he wrote a lot of stuff like that. Working out his schizophrenia, I guess...

s and s,
~Wes

good! off to stare then...
sorting through library material..