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 I find it rather comforting to think that we live in a matrix. Not the matrix, just a world that's not the real one. It makes me feel better believing that every big decision I make that changes my life is really as big of a deal as it feels like at the time. (ex. which college to go to.) Now, I don't remember if this train of thought was in class or just in my head during class (or both), but wouldn't it be cool if there were multiple dimensions or universes existing in the same place, but we can't tell they're there?  It might be able to explain some things we can't with logic, like ghosts who might just be extremely visible inhabitants of another dimension.

I remember in high school talking about Socrates' Allegory of the Cave, and it was what really got me thinking about reality and just how real it is.  This made me wonder if I would rather be the one person who escaped the cave and saw the light, or if I would prefer being one of the others who were perfectly content with the shadows on the cave wall.  Is ignorance bliss? I'd like to think I'd be curious enough to take the red pill and see reality, if given the chance. Looking up the Matrix on wikipedia reminded me of a scene from the movie Total Recall with Arnold Schwarzenegger in which Arnold is offered a red pill (just like the Matrix O.o) to wake up from his dream. Arnold realizes it's reality because the guy offering him the pill has a large, obnoxious bead of sweat rolling down his bald and shiny head. So, obviously, Arnold kills him and everyone else present with much gore and glorious violence.  My point for this is that Arnold knew it was a dream because he saw something wrong/unpleasant so it must be real. We see things that are wrong and unpleasant every day, so it must not be a dream or fantasy, right? But what about the really really horrible things out there, like genocide and starvation and widespread poverty and all of that stuff that we've been told is out there? We don't let it affect us because we've never seen it. Does it mean it doesn't exist? Or does the fact that it doesn't affect us mean that this reality isn't real? How far can we trust what we perceive and our brains know?