There is an idea that our consciousnesses are figments of our imaginations or in some way not "real". This is certainly not a new idea (see Solipsism), but the variation that describes a world which is solely for the purposes of the particular mind is newer. It's an idea made famous recently in the film The Truman Show (which I have not seen) involving a character who's life is the subject of a TV show. It's also a similar idea to the central theme of The Matrix movie.
I shared this idea when I was a boy, perhaps more out of paranoia than any philosophical bent. It intrigued me then and still does. It's something I can't believe in, but occasionally I feel that I am the subject of an experiment.
I occasionally play with this idea to amuse myself, for example travelling in a taxi today from The City Inn Glasgow to the office I caught sight of a chap on the pavement who, just as my taxi passed him, scratched his ear. Now, of course, he was only scratching his ear, but it made me smile to imagine that it was some sort of signal to his fellow conspirator, with whom he was monitoring my every move.
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