Opening Comments On Lesson 1

 I would like to start off with a comment, sorry if it is a bit winded.            I enjoyed seeing The Matrix, especially with reading the Descartes Meditations as background with the question of dreams and reality.  The Matrix is an excellent choice to introduce the philosophical question of what is reality.  I know I have had some quite vivid dreams that I would swear were seeming quite real, but, I did wake up and my lifelong reality set back in.               You really can’t escape the fact that there is a continuity of awareness in the reality of daily life that is not seen in dreams.   And if the argument is that the day in day out living is not real… well then try out an alternative… “To be or not to be – that is the question: … The undiscovered country, from whose bourn no traveler returns, puzzles the will, and makes us rather bear those ills we have than fly to others that we know not of?”  Was Shakespeare a contemporary of Descartes?               With all due respect to Descartes, while life is pretty darn complex and there is plenty I wish were just a dream, a little skepticism goes a long way, and a lot of skepticism can get you hung up a bit on philosophizing about some pretty strange and unbelievable things.  And while there may be fun in this, at the end of the day your still living your own reality.               I agree there are some pretty unbelievable things of life, but give it a day or two, if you can, you will know whether it is real or not.  Somehow reality, if it is significant enough, will sink in.  If there is any doubt, then, drink the water and eat the food of your dreams and see how long that sustains your being.               Just some thoughts.