037. [Text]

[explosivecombat]

I come seeking discussion again today, which to most of you should probably be nothing new; if anything, I ought to apologize for it, but I suspect that will ring about as true as my usual apologies for the subject matter. For what it's worth, the subject is better than it usually is; take that as you will.

I'd like to discuss dreams today; I'm sure those that were here about a year ago know exactly why, but in the end that is neither here nor there, and you don't have to have experienced it to discuss this with me.

I'm sure we're all no strangers to very vivid dreams...? The sort that immerse you so entirely that they almost seem real...surely there are a few qualities here and there that mark them as dreams, but they're disregarded in favor of whatever is actually happening right in front of you. Dreams like that can hardly be said to be different from reality, can they? They invoke feelings within you; they encourage you to continue thinking about them long after you've awakened. You could even say that dreams like that have given you experiences that you might never have had, were you awake – you've gone on adventures and met people and done things that affected you, all while physically being asleep.

Say that there was a way to live like that forever.

Suppose that there's a machine that will put you under, rendering you solidly asleep and allowing you to experience whatever you want. The machine can simulate any pleasurable experience that you choose, instilling all the thoughts and feelings that would come with actually going out and doing those things for yourself in your waking life. There would be no pain or suffering; it would be an experience in pure bliss for as long as you were plugged into the machine.

Again, you could stay that way forever, if you so chose, living out the rest of your life in dreams, and it would be a pleasant experience that's custom-tailored to you. The only tradeoff is that you would be unconscious the entire time; the experience would be entirely in your mind, rather than anything you actually did.

Would you choose to go under and live the rest of your life happy but effectively comatose, or would you prefer to experience life for yourself, entirely awake, with all the imperfections and strife that may come with it?

You can answer me anonymously if you wish, because as usual, your identity doesn't interest me as much as your response does; if you really want to impress me, you'll tell me why you would answer as you did.

Comments

[doitrockapella]

If that's the case, I'm not entirely sure why you wouldn't consent to the machine.

Assuming your dreams would be the same thing that you were pursuing back home, you didn't particularly care about the means you used to achieve the end, and you didn't particularly care about the natural consequences of achieving that end, whatever those consequences might be. What mattered was the end itself, and more importantly the effect it had on you personally — not whatever collateral damage onto others came along with it. You weren't out to ruin people's lives so much as you were seeking to enhance your own.

So if that's the case, I think the only things that might turn you off from the idea are either the thought that having it only happen in your head would somehow devalue the experience — that is, it'd be lacking the component that only the presence of other humans with goals and ideals could bring to it — or the thought that taking it might make you a hypocrite somehow.

[explosivecombat]

So you think I would consent, then? That's interesting, though I can't say that I'm surprised.

I suspect I already know how you would answer, by the way.

[doitrockapella]

I don't really know what you'd do; that's why I thought I'd ask. The argument against tends to rely on the value inherent in the pursuit of achieving the goal, and ambition...isn't always one of your strongest suits.

You're going to say that I'm the argument against, aren't you?

[explosivecombat]

Would I be wrong in saying it?

[doitrockapella]

It's a tempting thought — the ability to do anything that might arise in my wildest dreams, no matter how outlandish or implausible.

But I suppose if I took the machine, life wouldn't be so different from the way it is already, and I'd be missing out on all the fun of pursuing the dreams themselves.

[explosivecombat]

As I'd thought, though you seem more hesitant about it than I would have imagined.

[doitrockapella]

It's something about the way you started out, actually, with the description of dreaming — going on adventures, meeting wondrous people, that sort of thing.

It reminded me of the way I felt about reading books, growing up. Going on adventures through the pages of a novel, while physically never leaving my window seat.

[explosivecombat]

Since honesty seems to be a bit of an accidental theme in the replies I'm getting, I've never been prone to dreams like that. I've heard about what it's like from people who have, but I'm assuming most of my life has been enough of an adventure that my mind doesn't need to fill in the blanks with much.

[doitrockapella]

None of "the kind of dreams worth telling someone else about", then?

[explosivecombat]

You wouldn't like them even if I told you; I often have dreams about Ishval.

[doitrockapella]

It's been almost a year since I first saw what your alchemy looks like, hasn't it?

I'm assuming that plays a large part in those dreams.

[explosivecombat]

It has, and it does.

It plays a large part in most of my dreams, actually.

[doitrockapella]

Is it like that for all alchemists? Given that part of using alchemy is a certain measure of imagination, I wonder if it's typical for it also to be connected to dreams that way.

[explosivecombat]

I think it might be, but I don't know if it's for that reason or simply because it's such a fundamental part of who we are.

[doitrockapella]

So would it be an eternal Ishval for you, if you took the option offered by the machine?

[explosivecombat]

[...]

I'm actually not sure. Possibly.

[doitrockapella]

You never did tell me if I got it right, you know.

[explosivecombat]

I will shortly; I won't refuse to give you a straight answer forever.

Tell me one thing, however - you said that I'm out to enhance my own life, more than I am out to ruin others' lives. What do you think it is about the things I do that enhances my life?

[doitrockapella]

The things you do let you see how others respond. Wanting to see how people think, wanting to see...I suppose in the case of the war, wanting to see who proves their right to survive, isn't it?

...So if that's the case, then having it all in your head wouldn't mean anything. It's a farce because there's no one else in it but yourself.

[explosivecombat]

Exactly.

As I've made plain to you many times before, I enjoy my work. But there's no point to my work if I can't stake anything on it, and there's no beauty in what I do if I can't put my soul on the line every time I do it.

So to answer your question - I wouldn't consent to it, no.

[doitrockapella]

You're not offended that I'd considered you might go the other way, are you?

[explosivecombat]

Well, you provided a valid reason for why you might think that, after all.

[doitrockapella]

I know how you like me to show my work.

...You know, if things hold true to form, we're due to have another three-day blackout next month.

[explosivecombat]

So we are.

Hoping for anything in particular?

[doitrockapella]

...Come to think of it, I've never really told you about my intellectual rivals back home, have I? I suppose in a way I could also call them my successors. I don't...usually talk about them, the way I bring up some of my others.

Unlikely as it is, I wouldn't mind seeing both or either of them again. It's been two and a half years since I last gave them the slip.

Speaking of other people making the work worthwhile, that is.