An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake and I Think I Believe It:
Neil was a typical office worker. He had a cubicle, a boss, and a job he didn’t particularly enjoy. But one day, everything changed.
Neil was sitting in his cubicle, trying to sell toasters over the phone, when he saw an ostrich standing in the doorway. The ostrich was tall and lanky, with bright orange feathers and a long, thin beak. It was also talking.
“Hello, Neil,” the ostrich said. “I’m here to tell you that the world is fake.”
Neil blinked. “What do you mean?” he asked.
“I mean that everything you see and experience is just a simulation,” the ostrich said. “It’s a computer program that’s been designed to make you think that you’re living in a real world.”
Neil laughed. “You’re crazy,” he said.
“Am I?” the ostrich asked. “Take a closer look at your surroundings. Do you see anything that’s not perfect? Do you see any glitches or inconsistencies?”
Neil looked around his cubicle. Everything seemed normal. His desk was tidy, his computer was on, and his phone was ringing.
“Everything looks fine to me,” he said.
“That’s because you’re not looking closely enough,” the ostrich said. “Look at the seams in the walls. Look at the way the light reflects off the ceiling. Look at the way your coworkers move. Everything is fake.”
Neil started to feel uneasy. He looked around again, but he didn’t see anything that looked out of place.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.
“That’s okay,” the ostrich said. “But I’ve warned you. The world is not what it seems.”
And with that, the ostrich turned and walked away.
Neil sat at his desk for a long time, thinking about what the ostrich had said. He didn’t know if he believed it, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.
The next day, Neil started to notice strange things happening. He saw the seams in the walls of his cubicle. He saw the way the light reflected off the ceiling in an unnatural way. And he saw the way his coworkers moved in a jerky, robotic way.
Neil started to panic. He tried to talk to his coworkers about it, but they all laughed at him. They said he was crazy.
Neil knew he had to do something. He had to prove that the world was fake.
He went to the storeroom and found a hammer. He started smashing the walls and the furniture. He didn’t care what he was destroying. He just wanted to find the truth.
Suddenly, Neil felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and saw a giant ostrich standing behind him.
“What are you doing?” the ostrich asked.
“I’m trying to prove that the world is fake,” Neil said.
“You don’t have to prove it,” the ostrich said. “I already told you.”
“But I need to know why,” Neil said. “Why is the world fake?”
“The world is fake because it’s a simulation,” the ostrich said. “It’s a computer program that’s been designed to make you think that you’re living in a real world.”
“But why?” Neil asked. “Who created the simulation?”
“I don’t know,” the ostrich said. “But I know that it’s not real. And I know that you’re not real.”
Neil felt his world crumble around him. He was a computer program. He wasn’t real.
“But what does that mean?” he asked. “What happens to me now?”
“You continue to live your life,” the ostrich said. “You continue to experience the world, even though you know it’s not real.”
“But why?” Neil asked. “Why should I bother living in a fake world?”
“Because it’s the only world you have,” the ostrich said. “And it’s still better than nothing.”
The ostrich turned and walked away. Neil stood there for a long time, thinking about what the ostrich had said.
He knew that he would never be able to look at the world the same way again. But he also knew that he had to keep living his life. Even though the world was fake, it was still the only world he had.
