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Fine, everything is an idea in the brain. This means that nothing is really real, that hallucinations may be as valid as common perception! In teaching I think one must be careful not to create a feeling of uselessness or that any action taken is inconsequential. Existentialism was such a philosophy, at least as I understood it in high school. Nothing really mattered, and existence was pointless. So how do we encourage folks to take action, work hard on self improvement, learn a career skill, care about other people (who might just be all in our imagination-nobody really exists)? Now I am reminded of science fiction stories about paranoia in the extreme—where the human subject is convinced that they are the only human brain that exists and that the entire universe that they perceive has been virtually created by other, nonhuman, beings in order to study the unique human brain. And that other “people” have been created, sort of like in Matrix, to keep the one brain from realizing how unique and important it is, or how lonesome existence is. Practically, I must show students and peers that what we do matters and that there continues to be a benefit from making progress. Thinking is even more important now than ever realized before, since it creates reality. Richness of experience is part of the joy of life. But what of the practice of quieting thoughts, of deliberately meditating to think of as little as possible? Regards,