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The Solipsistic Version

Notes on a story about a solipsistic universe. A character on their quest to find out what reality is made of meets a figment of his own imagination that explains to him how it all works.

• There is only You, and the rest of the world and the people in it are literally figments of your imagination. Including the figure who is delivering this speech to the reader.
• You're God, and you've always existed, and will always exist, and will always be conscious and knowing of everything. So you do "this" thing, you become a mere mortal living in your universe that doesn't remember he's God and feels like a tiny little thing that's afraid of death.
• You do it because you get bored, or lonely, or whatever. You're an all-powerful creator of worlds but have nobody to share it with. You can make your creatures bow in awe of your power, but you fully know you're pulling their strings to say that. But you become one of them and forget that you're pulling all their strings, and you have companionship and learning and can have surprises and have fun.

Crazy ideas to fit in / Q&A's:

• Religions:
  • Don't really matter. Even if you go full atheist.
  • If you do search for meaning: the universe literally SCREAMS spirituality in your face.
  • Besides religions, tons of outside paths to the exact same enlightenment and connection to spirit. Self-help books, motivational speakers, and even the crazy ones like astrology and witchcraft -- all appeal to one person or another, so no matter who you incarnate as you have a path that will call you to your spirit if you ever want it.
  • And if you're having a great life and never seek the spirit? That's fine too! Every go-around through life is just another dream you're having.
• Try and work all sorts of ways how TV and movies and every story ever told is talking about the same stuff.
  • Simulation theory as in The Matrix or Westworld
  • "Row, row, row your boat!" ... "life is but a dream!" - God telling himself that since the very beginning of his currently life.
  • Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan being about thoughts create reality or happy thoughts make you fly, etc.
  • Generalize all the "hero's journey", "good vs. evil" tropes that make up almost every story ever told.
  • Say it's all some Truman Show type way of reality screaming in your face what it's all made of the same stuff, but subtle so you don't notice it unless you go looking for it.
• Could have a reference to The Egg:
  • Character is like "so do I play through every part eventually" (are all the humans he sees either his past lives or future lives and he will be them one day living in the same story but from their point of view that time)
  • Narrator would be like, "no need. You make up the world anew every single time. You'll make it look like the last time but might tweak a few things, invent new ideas of how buildings should look or what social customs should be."
  • So no long-term Earth that outlives your currently live, you have a different Earth every time like a random new dream.
• The other people in your dream, they're there to teach you things you already know but don't have access to right now.
  • You see people of every profession and sport, so you know those are possible things to do in this life if you want to.
  • Libraries and science books are how God stores up his knowledge over the eons... he comes up with new ideas each life and his accumulated ideas are exposed in the form of libraries and teachers in his incarnations, so he can "remember" the parts of the universe he wants to research this lifetime.

Reincarnation?

• Either: you don't. After each life you come back to "God Mode" and have full memory, knowledge and everything of who you were before you started this life. Nothing to worry about and you can play around or do another life again.
• Or: you do reincarnate by default, a la the Buddhist way. You immediately go from human life to next human life (or w/e), until you finally decide enough is enough and 'wake up' to being God.

And after death/escaping the reincarnation loop?

• You don't have to die again. If you fully awoke during your lifetime, your reality would transition into "heaven" directly; you'd have your full God Mode powers and be able to reshape your reality or do w/e you want without having to endure one more painful death.
• But this is a blessing and a curse. Once it "clicks" for you and you're God, reality becomes the thing that can't be unseen. You'll have FULL knowledge that every flap of a bird's wing is under your direct control. The illusion will be up. That feeling of loneliness or the panic of the memory that you've always been conscious and have no choice not to be conscious will set in.
• If you can come to terms with that, you may have a pleasant time. But so far you've been reincarnating frequently to escape from your true nature.

Q&A's

Q: What if I got lost? Or was having a bad life?

A: If life is going horribly you'll inevitably call out for help. the universe will always respond and show you a path to reach your spirit.