I wondered:

What if I had a choice between two futures.

In one future my prospects were dim and chances of realising my dreams slim.

In the other future I would be a famous rock star, rich and happy.

The catch was in the first future life would be in the Real world.

The second one would be in a virtual reality machine,

What would you do?

Would the phoniness of the second one bother you?

“The phoniness wouldn’t bother me if I was rich,” said my friend,

Why am I holding back?

Because life in the machine would be UNREAL.

Success wouldn’t be on merit, it would be handed to you,

“Success depends on luck, being in the right place at the right time.

Why let what you merit bother you?” said my friend.

“But I would be abandoning the Real World!”

My friend laughed.

“Get with it, if you think it is more real because it was caused by the Big Bang instead of silicon chips, you are fooling yourself.”

Well, what’s it going to be…

“A humdrum life or a life of fame and happiness?”

“What’s holding you back?”

“I think our futures should be a product of our will and effort.”

“I don’t care about will and effort, Im going into the machine,” said my friend.

I stared at him in disbelief as he disappeared into the machine.

My friend was going to be happy just because he would be rich!

I’ll stick with the Real World and work hard for my rewards.

ISN’T LIFE MORE THAN JUST HAVING RICHES?