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the thirteenth floor
As the photos on the following pages show, people who want to log on to this computer program stretch out on a bed, and the program's data is then transferred to their brains. Whoever connects to the system acquires a virtual personality back in 1937. When the data is loaded into his brain, for example, Douglas Hall-a wealthy businessman and successful company executive in 1999-become a bank cashier named John Ferguson, living in the year 1937. Once the data is loaded, anyone connecting to the system suddenly finds himself in the 1937 environment, with everything-buildings, cars, clothes-of authentic 1937 vintage. When people enter this simulated world, what surprises most is that both of their lives seem similarly real. In both, they feel the coolness of water and air blown by the wind and experience the same fears and excitement in the situations they encounter. As the film progresses, people connected to the system begin to realize that the life in 1999 Los Angeles, which they thought was real, is itself a specifically designed program! Everything they thought to be real up until then-their companies, jobs, cars, computer systems, families, friends-are actually imaginary. In reality, the year is 2024, and all the events projected as their "real lives" are part of a simulation. The film's most amazing aspect is that the characters connect to a simulator-within-the-simulator and live lives that, in these successive virtual environments, all have stunningly convincing similarities with reality. The stills on the opposite page show Douglas connecting to the simulation and the transfer to him of 1937 banker John Ferguson's personality.
Douglas Hall - John Ferguson consciousness transferring User: Douglas Hall Scanning Complete Preparing user for download into simulation. Program link: John Ferguson Aligning user to program Ready for download. Mr. Grierson, 117 West Whinston, Pasadena. Consciousness Transferring Transference beginning. Download complete. Even though Douglas's body is motionless, once connected to the simulator, he finds himself alive in the year 1937 as a bank cashier named John Ferguson. Even though every detail appears perfectly realistic, the old-fashioned cars, the people he meets, his own clothes and physical appearance-everything is part of a vision created in his brain by artificial signals.
Because of 1937 John Ferguson's weird behavior, his bank manager tells him that he looks appalling and should take a break. But 1999 Douglas Hall, deeply affected by the realistic quality of his computer-generated life, is proud of designing such a system. Douglas Hall : I think I look pretty good. Simulations and Misleading Reality As pointed out extensively in the previous chapters, things we perceive as the "external world" are only the effects of electrical impulses on the brain. The blue sky when you look out the window, the soft chair you are sitting on, the scent of the coffee you drink, the ringing of the phone, even your body-all are your brain's interpretation of electrical signals. Were it possible to send the required electrical signals with the aid of a computer, just as in this film, you could have experienced the same feelings with the same degree of authenticity. As you've seen, artificial stimulation can create a living, convincing world inside our heads, with no need for an external physical reality. With the help of simulators, we can now recreate some aspects of our lives realistically. With a special glove, for example, it's possible to feel the sensations of stroking a cat, shaking someone's hand, washing your own hands under a tap, or touching a hard object-without these actions taking place physically. More sophisticated systems let you feel that you're playing golf, skiing, driving a race car or flying an aircraft. In reality, none of these environments exist. This shows absolutely that humans experience sensations only in their brains and are not interacting with the "originals." In The Thirteenth Floor, computers create virtual lives, indistinguishable from real ones. Through the simulation machine, characters in the film connect to different times and environments where they live just as in their "real" lives. In the following dialogue, Whitney, one of the system's designers, explains the simulation they are working on to detective McBain: Detective McBain : The whole thing's a giant computer game? Whitney : No, not at all, it doesn't need a user to interact with it to function. Its units are fully-formed, self-learning cyber beings. Detective McBain : Units? Whitney : Electronic, simulated characters. They populate the system. They think they work, they eat... Let's just say that they're modeled after us. Right now we have a working prototype: Los Angeles, circa 1937. Detective McBain : Why '37? Whitney : Fuller wanted to start by recreating the era of his youth. You see, while my mind is jacked in, I'm walking around experiencing 1937. My body stays here and holds the consciousness of the program link unit.
As you can gather from this dialogue, in the simulated environment there is no reality whatsoever, only artificial signals. There is no need for eyes to see, ears to hear, or no body to feel. Someone stretched out on the bed can feel himself somewhere else in a different time, simply by some data being transferred through the computer. Our books on this subject offer some explanations:
The same basic process applies to our other senses. Cells in the tongue convert different flavors into electrical signals, scents are transmitted by cells in the epithelium in the nose, feelings of touch (hardness, softness etc.) by receptor cells under the skin; and sound by a special mechanism in the ear. All are then forwarded to be perceived in the relevant areas of the brain. If you are drinking a cup of tea, special cells under your skin convert the warmth of the cup into electrical signals sent to the brain. Likewise, when you take a sip, the tea's strong scent, sweet taste and the brownish color are all converted into electrical currents transmitted to the brain. When you put the cup down onto the table, the sound of its making contact with the tabletop is received by the ear and sent to the brain as an electrical impulse. All these perceptions are interpreted by separate sensory centers in the brain, in conjunction with one another. As a result of these interpretations, you think you are drinking tea, while everything is really taking place in your brain's sensory centers. You go wrong in thinking your perceptions are for real, because you have no proof whatever that they exist outside your skull. Were there any complications in your optic nerves, vision would instantly disappear. Likewise, if there were a problem with your auditory nerves, the sounds you believe you hear outside of you, would cease to exist. (Articles-II, "Splendid Science Beyond Matter," pp.112-113) There is No Light Outside
In light of some recent discoveries, scientists have come to an interesting conclusion: In reality, our world is in utter darkness, because today it is known that "light" is a wholly subjective term. In other words, it's an experience taking place in the brain. There is no light outside, really. Light bulbs do not emit light, neither do your car's headlights, not even our biggest known light source, the Sun. Our experience of light is produced by photons reaching the retina at the back of our eyes, where cells convert them into electrical signals that we come to perceive as "light." If the cells of our eyes perceived photons as heat, we would never have terms like "light," "darkness," or "color" and therefore, would look at objects only in terms of "warm" or "cold." In The Thirteenth Floor, upon Douglas Hall's return from the artificial but realistic environment of 1937, he has the following exchange: Whitney : How's the lighting? Textures? Douglas Hall : Colorization needs work, but the units don't notice. Whitney : What are they like? Douglas Hall : They're as real as you and me.
The "reality" depicted in the film is in fact true. By means of artificially created signals, quantities like color or light can be experienced quite realistically. Some examples from our books on this subject explain:
The light we know and understand does not reside outside our brains. Light, as we perceive it, is also formed within our brain. What we call light, supposedly in the outside world, consists of electromagnetic waves and energy particles called photons. When these electromagnetic waves reach the retina, only then does light, as we experience it, come into existence.
Consequently, light comes about as a result of the effects caused in us by some electromagnetic waves and particles. In other words, no light outside our bodies creates the "light" we see in our brains. There is only energy; and when it reaches us, we perceive a bright, colorful world. (Matter: The Other Name for Illusion, pp.27-28) Just as with light, the experience of colors forms in our brains too. When photons from the Sun hit an object, it reflects these in photons of different wavelengths. Reaching the eye, the retina converts them into electrical impulses. Carried to the visual center in the brain, they are interpreted as colors. But these are personal, specific interpretations within ourselves; there is no light and no colors in the real world. A defect in our eye, or the different eye structures in other creatures, will convert the photons into different electrical signals, resulting in our perceiving the exact same object in a wholly different way.
Starting from the time we are born, we deal with a colorful environment and see a colorful world. But there isn't one single color in the universe. Colors are formed in our brains. Outside, there are only electromagnetic waves of different amplitudes and frequencies. What reaches our brains is the energy from those waves. We call this "light," although this isn't the bright and shiny light we know. It's merely energy. Our brains interpret this energy by measuring the different frequencies of waves, and we see "colors." In reality, the sea is not blue, the grass is not green, the soil is not brown and fruits are not colorful. They appear as they do because of the way we perceive them in our brains. Both color and light exist in our brains. We do not actually see a red rose as red simply because it is red. Our brain's interpretation of the energy that reaches our eye leads us to perceive that the rose is red. (Matter: The Other Name for Illusion, p.28)
Flowers That You Smell in Your Brain Most people believe that they smell the scent of a flower with their noses. Like all our other senses, smell too is an interpretation of the brain and works in a similar way. After entering the nose, a flower's scent molecules are converted in the epithelium into electrical signals. These signals reach the brain's olfactory center, where they are perceived as the scent of a daisy, rose, or some other flowers. Were the relevant signals sent to your brain by artificial means, you could smell these scents without the flowers themselves. In The Thirteenth Floor's simulated environment, scents are perceived in a perfectly realistic way. . Mr. Grierson, a bookstore keeper in 1937, is a virtual character crafted to resemble the elderly Hannon Fuller, who connects to the simulator and uses this person's body to spend time in Mr. Grierson's virtual environment. He listens to 1930s music, watches the dances of that era and acquires a social circle there. As one of the program's requirements, when he leaves the system, the body he's been using continues its old life. Therefore, Mr. Grierson-bookstore keeper in the virtual year of 1937-can't quite remember what he experienced, or else considers his memories to be only products of his imagination. In one exchange of dialogue, he says: Mr. Grierson :When I wake up, I even have a perfume smell all over me. Douglas Hall : Real or imagined?
To Feel that Your Experiences are Real, You Don't Require the Existence of the "External" World In the late 19th century, people who faced a movie screen for the first time believed the objects they saw on the screen to be real. They began to panic when they saw a train racing towards them. Much more convincing effects are achieved today by means of special glasses which create holograms (3-D view). People wearing these glasses, believe the imaginary scenes they're watching are real, respond with fear and excitement. Even though they're well aware that they're interacting with a virtual environment, they can't help becoming absorbed in the recreated environments of this new technology.
The Thirteenth Floor points out how technology can mislead. In the virtual year 1937, a character named Ashton reads a letter he wasn't supposed to, written by Hannon Fuller, one of the system's founders. When Ashton finds out that his entire life until then was not real, that he lives in a virtual world, first he thinks it's all a joke. Later, when he sees that this environment, created specifically for him, comes to a predetermined end, he goes berserk. But none of his actions can change the reality that he is living in a virtual environment. Becoming aggressive, he furiously demands that Douglas Hall, one of the system's founders, tell him the truth. The following dialogue takes place between them: Ashton : When I read it, I thought it was a gag. The world's a sham. Fat chance! But I'm not stupid, Mr. Hall. I watched you and Ferguson do the old switch-er-oo. And all that stuff about going to "the ends of the earth." Douglas Hall : What stuff?
Douglas Hall :Why would Fuller write about the limitations of the simulation? I know them. Ashton : I'm asking the questions now. I want to know why... Now I want you to show me what is real. Is this real? Is that real blood? When Ashton discovers that his environment is actually virtual, he refuses to acknowledge it. To prove his point, he even shoots Douglas in the leg and asks him if the blood flowing from the wound is real. But when someone gets injured, because the blood from his leg, the pain and fear he feels, are all perceptions. Therefore, nothing changes. The fact of someone experiencing pain or fear can't constitute evidence for the existence of an external, material world. The same is true for us. We can't prove that material equivalents exist for the perceptions we experience in our brains because we can never step outside of our brains. It's impossible for us to tell whether these perceptions derive from some artificial source, or if they have a material existence in the outside world. Some people who disagree, without pondering this subject, say things like, "Step in front of a truck, and you'll understand whether or not matter is real." But even when the truck runs us over, still we live in our brains: The sensation of being run over, like the vision of the truck and the anxiety of trying to escape it are all brain-based perceptions. Likewise if someone strikes you, the blow of his hand, the sensation of pain on your face and the reddening of the skin are all experienced in the brain. Some passages from our books are in line with the subject:
Reply: . . . Those who say this kind of thing ignore the fact that not only sight, but the other senses like hearing, smell and touch, also happen inside the brain. That's why they say, "I may see the knife in my brain, but the sharpness of the blade is a fact. Just look how it has cut my hand." However, the pain in that hand, the warm wet blood, and all the other perceptions are still formed within the brain. That a friend witnessed the incident changes nothing, because the friend is also formed in the same visual center of his brain as the knife. The speaker could experience the exact same feelings in a dream-the way he cut his hand with a knife, the pain in his hand, the image and the warmth of his blood. In that dream, he can also see the friend who saw him cut himself. Yet his friend's existence doesn't imply the physical existence of what he sees in his dream. What if someone came up in that dream and said, "When you cut your hand, what you saw is just perceptions. That knife isn't real, nor are the blood and the pain. They are just events you're witnessing in your mind"? The person would not believe him and would object. He might even say: "I am a materialist. I do not believe in such claims. There is a physical reality in everything I see now. Look, can't you see the blood?" (Matter: The Other Name for Illusion, pp.183-184)
We can never prove that the perceptions we observe in our brain have material correlations. Those perceptions may well be coming from an "artificial" source.
First, imagine that we remove your brain from your body and keep it alive artificially in a glass tank. Next to it, let us place a computer that can produce all kinds of electrical signals. Then, let us artificially produce and record in this computer electrical signals of the data related to some physical setting, such as image, sound, odor, hardness-softness, taste, and body image. Finally, let us connect the computer to your brain with electrodes that will function as nerves and send the pre-recorded data to your brain. As your brain (which is literally you) perceives these signals, it will see and experience the corresponding setting. From this computer, you can also send electrical signals related to your body to your brain. If we sent to your brain the electrical correlates of senses such as sight, hearing, and touch that you perceive while sitting at a table, your brain would think of itself as a businessman sitting in his office.
This imaginary world will continue so long as the computer keeps stimulations coming. It will never become possible for you to understand that you consist of nothing but your brain. This is because what is needed to form a world within your brain is not the existence of a real world but rather the stimuli. It is perfectly possible that these stimuli might be coming from an artificial source, such as a recording device or a different source of perception. In the following dialogue, Douglas's connection to the simulation gets disrupted, returning him to real life. In the virtual world, his friend Whitney-in the person of Ashton-is trying to kill him. In the virtual world, Douglas experiences fear so realistic that upon returning to real life, he's out of breath. Still trying to defend himself, he even punches Whitney. Douglas Hall : He tried to kill me. Whitney : Who? Douglas Hall : Ashton. He found out his world isn't real. This is a mistake. This whole project, this experiment. We are screwing with people's lives! Whitney : Now you're talking crazy. I know you just had a bad trip... Douglas Hall : "Bad trip?" These people are real. They are as real as you and me. Whitney :Yeah, that's because we designed them that way. In the end, they're just a bunch of electronic circuits. As this scene dramatizes, it's possible to live in an unreal world, believing it to be the real life. Douglas, despite being one of the system's designers, and despite his friend's reminding him that the people he encountered were the sum total of electronic circuits, still has trouble believing his experience wasn't real. While engaged in this argument about the emulation of reality by a system they designed, they themselves live in an artificial environment. But they aren't aware of this, and so believe their world to be real. Many passages in our books touch on the possibility of creating the impression of reality by artificial stimulation:
Dreaming Within a Dream
Towards the end of the film, viewers are surprised to learn that the characters who designed the system, living a virtual life when they connect to it, are really with their bodies in 2024. The life of Douglas Hall, who believes himself to be living in Los Angeles in 1999, is itself a dream. He's living a fantasy inside a fantasy. This can be compared to dreaming within a dream. Even though a dream has no material reality, yet we can experience realistic feelings and even think that we are sleeping and waking as a part of our everyday lives. We can even tell our dream-friends about very realistic dreams we dreamt in our dream. Consequently, it's possible to experience an artificially created fantasy in which we realize it to be so. Douglas, facing such a situation, can't overcome the shock of this reality. Douglas Hall : How many simulated worlds like this are there? Jane Fuller : Thousands. Yours is the only one that ever created a simulation within the simulation. Something we never expected! Your Body is an Image Formed in Your Brain People think they're interacting with their real bodies, because they can touch it, provide for its needs, and feel pain. Just as with all other "outside" objects, our own body is a perception too, and we can never reach its material reality. The pain when we cut our finger is a perception, as is stilling hunger with a decent meal. It too is a perception. Artificial stimuli can provide the same feelings of satisfaction without us having to eat a meal. For this reason, we can never be certain about the physical reality of our bodies. It's the soul who feels the touch, the pain, and who reads this book. Consider this subject from another perspective: The book appears to you at an approximate distance of 30 centimeters. You see walls around you, and your being seated on a chair at a certain height from the floor creates the impression that you're located somewhere inside a room. In reality, this environment is an illusion created by your mind. Because of this mistaken belief, you have the sensation of living in the world. Actually, the opposite is true: everything is inside of you. In the accompanying photos, the virtual character Ashton, who has just learned the truth, is seen speaking with Douglas. Ashton is experiencing the shock of discovering that for all those years, he has lived an illusion he thought to be reality. But Douglas, who created that virtual system, shares his feelings because he is part of yet another virtual environment.
Ashton : What are you talking about? Douglas Hall : It's all smoke and mirrors. Just like your world. We're nothing but a simulation on some computer. Ashton : But the letter said… Douglas Hall :Everything was fake? The letter was meant for me. Fuller was talking about my world. Ashton : So what are you saying? You're saying there's another world on top of this one?
Douglas Hall : That's right. Ashton : I don't understand. Douglas Hall : Fuller found out about it. These characters realize they've been living in a virtual environment with illusionary bodies, without the existence of a material reality. Nothing they ever saw or experienced was real. In another scene, Douglas explains, "None of this is real. You pull the plug. I disappear. And nothing I ever say nothing I ever do will ever matter." When these characters discover that they're part of a virtual reality, they realize that everything they've ever experienced happened outside of their control, determined by whoever developed their virtual world. Our own situation is very similar to theirs. God controls everything in the world we live in; He has created every detail therein as part of our trial. Someone who realizes that everything he sees and hears is in fact a perception in his mind God has created, trusts in the infinitely merciful and compassionate Creator of us all, instead of suffering from sadness, fear, or panic. It's appropriate to remind the reader of the some passages from our books on this subject: All the events that cause people difficulty and anxiety in their lives actually "happen" in their brains. Someone who realizes this will show patience in the face of whatever happens to him. He will know that God has created everything for a good purpose, and will maintain trust in Him. (Matter: The Other Name for Illusion, p.119) … God gives everyone the impression that he can change things, making his own choices and decisions. For example, when a person wants a drink of water, he doesn't say, "If it is my fate, I will drink," and sit down without making a move. Instead, he drinks a predetermined amount of water from a predetermined glass. But throughout his life, in everything that he does, he thinks he's acting according to his own desire and will. The person who submits himself to God and to the fate He created, knows that everything he does is according to the will of God, even despite his sense that he's accomplished it all himself. Other people mistakenly assume that they've done everything with their own intelligence, under their own power. (Matter: The Other Name for Illusion, pp.146-147)
…Everything in heaven and Earth is God's and a manifestation of God. God is the only absolute Being. The other beings whom He has created are not absolute beings, but appearances. All the individuals observing the appearances that God has created are all spirits from God. When people grasp the secret of this great knowledge, they will attain great conscious clarity, and the haze enshrouding their spirits will lift. Everyone who understands it will freely submit to God, love Him and fear Him… Those who understand this amazing fact will view things from a different perspective and embark on a totally different life. (Matter: The Other Name for Illusion, p.103) NEXT: HARSH REALM |
As
in The Matrix, this movie's subject is the amazing similarities between
the real and virtual worlds. In the year 1999, the lead characters, Hannon
Fuller, and his business associate Douglas Hall, create a computer
generated virtual world on the 13th floor of a Los Angeles office building
that recreates Los Angeles as it was in 1937.
Despite
the fact that Douglas is the designer of this system, he is amazed by his
appearances and the realistic environment he is in, as the movie still
below demonstrates. Spending a long time in front of a mirror, he even
observes his hair, moustache, and the color of his skin.
The brain is
insulated from light;the inside of the skull is absolutely dark.
Therefore, the brain itself has no contact with light . . . You can
watch a burning candle at length. However, your brain never has direct
contact with the candle's original light. Even at the moment you
perceive the candle's light, the inside of your brain is pitch dark. We
watch a colorful and bright world inside our dark brain. (
Below
are some passages dealing with this subject from our books:
As
this scene shows, the units in the virtual environment perceive smells
realistically, via computer-generated data transmitted to them, without
the existence of any perfume in the real world. Some passages from our
books explain this matter:
This situation is also
true for our lives: We believe in the real world because of the perfectly
realistic appearance. 
Ashton : I did exactly what
the letter said. I chose a place I'd never go to. I tried to drive to
Tucson. I figured, whatever, I've never been to the countryside. And I
took that car out on the highway. I was going over 50 through that desert.
After a while, it was the only car on the road. It was just me, the heat
and the dust. I did exactly what the letter said. "Don't follow any road
signs and don't stop for anything. Not even barricades." But just when I
should've been getting closer to the city. Something wasn't right. There
was no movement, no life. Everything was still and quiet. And then I got
out of the car. And what I saw scared me to the depths of my miserable
soul. It was true. It was all a sham. It ain't real. 
Douglas
Hall : No, Ashton... I'm just like you. Just a bunch of electricity.
