(no subject)

[truedetective]

As long as the changes were being made to our memories, it was plausible to argue that this was some sort of hypnosis, something done by Retrospec to our brains. However:

1) The experiment to disconnect from electronics that may be affected by Retrospec returned no results. We still felt the effects while disconnected.

2) This "shrinking" and the holes in reality cannot be explained by hypnosis. They are very real.

At what point do we begin to question the fabric of reality itself?

-N

Comments

[true_noir]

Being brutally honest? In January, when speaking with a few people, but it wasn't something I was comfortable admitting then. I'm still not comfortable with it, but I also can't change it.

But what is the alternative, really?

[truedetective]

We're living at the whims of a cruel and capricious deity figure?

[standalonehuman]

There are limits to what Retrospec can do. Everything they alter, it feels like it's only a simple replacement, it's not arbitrary. Everything that changes needs to still fill the purpose of what came before it. At least, from our perspective.

But we're almost getting into a distinction between reality, and the experiencing of reality. Our reality is no longer the same as everyone not on the application.

[truedetective]

I would argue that however we experience reality IS reality. How else would we know the difference? I would have assumed that the alterations were limited to perception until they made us tiny.

[cattack]

This does rule out hypnosis, but I have few other ideas.
The worst among them being that none of this is real, but some sort of science fiction-esque simulation.
I would have said a month ago that that was impossible, but I would have said the same of being shrunk down to the size of an insect.

[truedetective]

A "Matrix" scenario, then? Certainly it's something we can't rule out. There's no evidence to disprove it.

[matchbreaker]

If that was your theory, did you get a CT Scan?

[truedetective]

No. Why would I have? It would have been trivial to alter the results.

[vendettastool]

I'm still thinking about this in terms of code and design but it makes less sense because we are real.
Then again, what is real can be subjected to a person's own personal idea of reality.

[truedetective]

Cogito ergo sum. The only reality we can be assured of is that we are a thinking individual. All else must be suspect. Admittedly I never had such an obvious reason to take the latter part literally.

[feistytrader]

Just what the doctor ordered today. An identity crisis. Reality just got kind of weird. That's enough, isn't it?

[truedetective]

You describe the symptom. I'm interested in its source. The truth must be uncovered.

[thisloveisjustice]

Okay, I don't even know where to begin with the whole shrinking thing. Maybe compressing the space between atoms, but how to only affect humans... Anyway, what holes in reality?

[truedetective]

They're gaps. Cracks in what seem to be the fabric of the universe. Mohammed Abdul has a post in Retrospec describing them in greater detail.

[biellmann]

Personally I'm already at that point. I mean I'm not a scientist but I think it's impossible to do something like shrink a person without killing them. And how would they do it overnight to so many people without anyone noticing? Even if you could do it you would need some kind of crazy machine right?

[truedetective]

Physically speaking, I have no idea how you could do it.
It seems impossible.
And yet, it happened.

[accordance]

There is the possibility of reverse hypnosis, as if we are the ones awake and the others are still dreaming.

[truedetective]

Unlikely. How would you explain our recent shrinking, then?

[skald]

Ooh, so you tried ignoring your phones to see if things would appear normal again? What a good idea. So you still noticed that we were tiny even though you didn't log on for a while?

[truedetective]

It was before the shrinking. We still experienced hallucinomemories.

[onceandfuturemascot]

I didn't want to just chime in on eomsone else's conversation, but some form of hypnosis on people who aren't "connected" would explain a lot.

Like how I forgot all about this for two months without trying or realizing.

[truedetective]

Perhaps. From a purely logical perspective, it would make more sense the other way around: We are the ones being hypnotized. The Retrospec app is either the cause or an inoculation. If the latter, then what is hypnotizing the populace at large?

[b0mbshell]

I really wasn't prepared to consider anything about this, to be honest.

I guess I've been questioning reality since this mess started.

[truedetective]

On some level, perhaps I was too.
It seems like such a far-fetched theory, but what other option is there?

[obscultator]

Personally, I've always been partial to a particular theory I happened upon while skimming through some of the earliest network posts. Something to the effect of all of our consciousnesses periodically shifting between various parallel worlds within the infinite multiverse. It handily explains almost all of the odd goings-on and requires relatively few assumptions compared to some other equally outlandish proposals.

In all sincerity, though, I would try to avoid the temptation of falling down the philosophical rabbit hole that is questioning one's own perception of reality. It is a very deep hole, and I have rarely seen anyone climb out of it with any new insight that was worth having made the trip. Though I suppose Boltzmann Brains are always good for a laugh.

[truedetective]

Interesting. So, in this theory, all users of the Retrospec app simultaneously shifted into a world where everything was identical except horses had always been chocobos, and from then again into a world where everything was identical save the fruit had faces? I suppose it can't logically be ruled out.

[legne]

Questioning the fabric of reality itself, you say? I see that you are finally coming around to my way of thinking!

Nya ha ha! Do tell - let me hear your theories on Retrospec's latest danse macabre. I have a few of my own, just waiting to be unleashed!

[truedetective]

No.
My questions are entirely based on logic and reason, not childish fancy.
I will humor you, though:
What are your theories?

[fashionable_yapping]

A hypnosis this good lasting for months? Might as well throw up your hands and say nothing is real and that we've been dreaming our whole lives or whatever.

It's time to admit that there just aren't easy explanations for some things. I mean, miracles're a thing, you know.

[truedetective]

But a miracle has a source.
Perhaps it's a deity. Perhaps it's something else.
I am questioning the nature of reality, actually.