retrospec | (no subject)

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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

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We shall see whose fancy prevails in the end.

Behold, my theories three: [ oh no ]

1) I see no reason why hypnosis should be discounted. If you wish to maintain your grip on 'reality', as you so artfully put it, then a simple explanation is oft the most convincing. We are expected to go back to our daily lives of drudgery and toil after a world-altering event that no other mere mortal appears to remember. The reason? Oh ho ho...what a tangled web we weave. 'Tis the result of a series of torturous tests that alter our perception of what is true and what is false! Even now we straddle the heavenly barrier between the material and the immaterial. Which brings me to my next point:

2) Alternatively, the entirety of the city around us has been bewitched - and, as you say, cannot itself be confirmed as 'reality'! When the laws of the mortal realm are so easily crushed, perhaps the veracity of that realm itself comes under threat. We may even now be living in a dream world, or Purgatorio! Oh, wise Virgil, guide us - we fools inhabiting Dante's role - out of this ultimate trial!

3) A wizard did it.

I'm going to ignore the flowery nonsense.

1) Possible. We can't rule it out. However, the shrinking presents difficulties. Before, the only changes were ones of perception and memory; hypnosis was fanciful,
yet plausible. Being reduced in size significantly changed how we interact, physically, with the world around us. I don't believe hypnosis alone could account for that.

2) Again, we cannot rule this out, but I would infinitely sooner believe some type of technology or computer simulation than a "dream world," let alone Purgatory.

3) Technology sufficiently advanced would be indistinguishable from magic, and far more plausible..

Your words are intriguing, though inelegant. It is true that we use all our senses, not merely our visual facilities, when interacting with the world. However, could those senses not themselves be enchanted? Akin to a poor soul who is plagued by voices from the aether, but in reality is merely trapped within the confines of her own mind.

So you do, in some small way, agree with me! Ah, sweet triumph! I will concede that Purgatory is the most unlikely idea of the lot, but whatever the solution: we must embrace it with proudly unfurled wings!

Please do not misunderstand: My agreement with you extends only to the premise that something is going on and we must begin to doubt what our senses tell us.
No further.
I will continue to insist on logic and reason wherever possible.

There is no evidence that "magic" or enchantment exists. If there truly is something amiss with the world at large, it is almost certainly technological in nature.

As you say, sufficiently advanced technology may well be indistinguishable from magic. But would not the opposite also hold true? Why, even this cursed application could, in actuality, be a portal into another realm; a veritable Pandora's box of arcane trickery!

Come, lift the veil from your eyes! These fiends are intent on deceiving our notions of what is truly possible in this world!

Except technology is real.
Magic isn't, no matter how much you want it to be.
Please cease these fantasies.

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