Saturday, February 20, 2010

I was seven years old

before I realized that I didn't actually live on Earth. We were living on a generation ship, moving at a large fraction of the speed of light towards a distant star. But the psychological experts had added design elements to the ship that made the truth not obvious. I played on a playground, I skipped rocks on a pond, I flew a kite in the breeze....but it was all fake. The sun was false, the moon was phony. But it was all done very cleverly....what did I know? I had been born in space, I couldn't compare the real thing with anything, since the clever simulation was all I had ever known.
One day I said to Mary "Boy, this Summer is really hot."
Mary said "This isn't really Summer, it's just a program."
"Huh?"
"Just go down the Axis to Winter, and it will be plenty cold."
I ran home and told Mom what Mary had said. Mom took me down Axis. It was cold in that part of the ship. They had to start me on a psychological drug program, to obtain a proper adjustment to perceived reality......What was your childhood like?

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