Reality Check

by David Brin

Do you ever get that sense of deja vu...a feeling that you've experienced something before? As computers get more and more complex, they are able to replicate the nature of reality in ever finer detail. How would we recognize if we were living in a computer simulation – a highly accurate world of virtual reality? Perhaps this isn't your first time...

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, Speculative Fiction

6 pages, Nook

First published June 25, 2011

About the author

David Brin is a scientist, speaker, and world-known author. His novels have been New York Times Bestsellers, winning multiple Hugo, Nebula and other awards. At least a dozen have been translated into more than twenty languages.

Existence, his latest novel, offers an unusual scenario for first contact. His ecological thriller, Earth, foreshadowed global warming, cyberwarfare and near-future trends such as the World Wide Web. A movie, directed by Kevin Costner, was loosely based on his post-apocalyptic novel, The Postman. Startide Rising won the Hugo and Nebula Awards for best novel. The Uplift War also won the Hugo Award.

His non-fiction book -- The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Freedom and Privacy? -- deals with secrecy in the modern world. It won the Freedom of Speech Prize from the American Library Association.

Brin serves on advisory committees dealing with subjects as diverse as national defense and homeland security, astronomy and space exploration, SETI, nanotechnology, and philanthropy.

David appears frequently on TV, including "The Universe" and on the History Channel's "Life After People."

Full and updated at:

http://www.davidbrin.com/biography.htm

Reviews

[Althea Ann]

One possible explanation of the Fermi Paradox (Why, in a busy and ancient universe, have we seen no evidence of other life?)

Perhaps, after achieving a certain level of development, virtual reality is more attractive than any other mode of existence.

[Metaphorosis]

I read David Brin's "Reality Check" right before Eric Liu's "Re: union ". They both deal in ways with human transcendence to a virtual reality, a topic that even in 2000, when Brin's story was published, was not really innovative. Liu, in a longer story, does much the better job of humanizing the topic and the personal choices it raises. Brin's story, by contrast, is a more intellectual exercise that ends up being mildly interesting, but not exactly gripping.

I got them both for free, and they're a decent read at that price, if you're a fan of the author. If not, neither of these stories will convert you, though Liu's story might tempt you to more.

[Leonard Johnson]

Thought providing. I will reread this often.

[Amy]

A very short little what if scenario. No characters or dialogue, just an idea. I love it when Brin writes about this kind of thing: the nature of our existence. Are we living in a simulation? How could you even tell?

[Angie Boyter]

Short but thought-provoking.

3++
This has the kind of intellectual play too rarely found in SF these days. Worth the ten minutes it takes to read it!

[Andrew Simonsen]

Interesting idea, I like the surreal tone. However, as of writing this review (a day after reading), I only remember the basic outline. Compare that to my favorite short story of all time,"The Girl with the Scarlet Ribbon", which I read three years ago (and still remember nearly perfectly), and it's easy to see that this book isn't exactly "revolutionary".

Either way, the Kindle eBook is free on amazon right now, so if you have even the slightest interest in science fiction or philosophy I would recommend picking it up.

[Laurel]

Set who knows how far into the future (perhaps Brin has a clue), this short story is an automatic "reality check" for an individual engaged in finding "drama". Apparently life isn't all too great for self-made immortals.

This is one of the briefest short stories I've ever read, but it loses nothing by that. In fact, it's quite thought-provoking, perhaps intended as a reality check for us as we exist today.

[Brian Bohmueller]

Simulation bound?

Interesting, yet I perceive a flaw, as what creative, future simulation species wouldn't integrate external contact or other adventures to tease away the ennui within a vr bound civilization. I guess the short plays with paradox of hopeful future unrealizable using immersive abstraction and crafted prose, still it feels a somewhat tired attempt to imagine such an ironic deadend.

[Hugh P.]

Very, very short story, but surprisingly entertaining for just how brief it is, and for how it skirts any explanation.

It feels a bit Matrix-y, but there's definitely a suggestion of more. I also appreciated the hints of intellectual property being an important, driving factor.

There's not much more to say without ruining it, and I won't pretend I've been thinking about this story ever since, but it did may me think about some unexpected areas while reading it.

[Michael]

I’m not really sure how to describe this except it is…strange, weird, and even though it was a short story I didn’t finish it and quit halfway through as I wasn’t certain what point the author was trying to make. I would give this one a wide pass.

[Richard Goodrum]

A simple narration. A philosophical conundrum. Wonderfully written.

Easy-to-read. Entertaining. Great world building. Haunting. Original. Page-turner. Realistic. Scary. Tragic. Twisted. Unpredictable. Whimsical. Witty.

[JP]

This has much depth for such a short short story. The reader is immediately immersed, such that they will have to consider their own role within the fundamental questions the narrative raises. It’s fair to the story to let it explain itself rather than try to share anymore here.

[Jason Anthony Peffley]

When I was in high school my friend told me that our lives are just one giant trip for some super advanced alien civilization. They take a hit, and they are transported into our simple lives like some sort of videogame. This story brought back those vibes.

[Alan Lewis]

Short story single.
Our existence is in a reality check.

[Diana Rae]

Cool concept

The best thing is to wonder (here in 2019) if indeed we have another 150 years or so before everything gets boring. May you live in interesting times!

[Katherine]

A delightful musing on Fermi's Paradox, as well as the Simulation Hypothesis. Brin is just so great at thinking about stuff like this.

[Tell Tale Books]

-Gregory Kerkman

[Robert]

Short but interesting retrospective look on reality as a matrix type existence. You have to read in between the lines a bit..but it makes sense, if you do.

[Randolph King]

It didn't develop anything, including interest. I think longer could have been better. Two stars is generous.

[Rickie Allen Higgins]

Very interesting

Totally enjoyed reading this book. Though just a short story I found it interesting. Thank you author for an interesting story.👍

[Dan]

Tells a story of existential proportions.

Robin Chen (allegedly) created a utopia in the twenty-first century.

Filters, machine learning, artificial intelligence…and deification.

Dreams, simulations…followed by ennui.

Finite resources; intellectual property.

Raises more questions than it answers. 😑

[Celtic]

Decent short story (but the eBook was seriously overpriced, cheap though it was, for a ten minute read).

[Ron Courter]

In a way, I suppose, it would be easier and less problematic to explore new procedurally generated virtual worlds than whatever hard to get to nonsense we’ll find past the void of space. Does it matter that it’s not real?

[John]

An extremely short story in which the reader's existence is questioned. It seems to be told from an artificial intelligence's perspective to the human reader, and offers an alternative version of reality, which is akin to The Matrix in a general sense.

It was a really great read in every way for me, except for the perspective. Having the AI "speak" to me just didn't have the impact it sought.

[Kirk]

Interesting concept that's been around for awhile, but I was expecting something that would take longer than 10 minutes to read. This is a -very- short story, like those one would find in the Philip K. Dick story books, or a sci-fi short story monthly. The ending is not handled as well I would have liked.

[Katie]

Don't get

I don't get it. I just don't get this story. hate Amazon requirement of 17 word reviews. Need to drop goodreads and keep log in Excel. I don't get it. I just don't get this story.

[David]

A tasty few sour words

Right from the first page, I had a quiet sense of these few pages taking me somewhere I truly expect we are headed toward. I was delight to discover David Brin had written these few pages back in the beginning of this century.

[Owen]

A decent little short story (6 pages) which takes on the Fermi Paradox, why haven't we heard from anyone yet? Bring is always intelligent and he handles the prose efficiently. The plot itself was minimal, and the solution has been posited in other forms. Still it was not a bad execution.

[Richard]

This is not so much a short story as a fictional essay or letter which examines a number of current topical issues.

There are no answers, just questions, observations and wry comments.

An easy flowing read.

[Claire Fun]

Ridiculously short, but quite sweet.