Picard...COMPUTER!

An interesting thought occurred to me just recently. What if this planet we inhabit is, ....(goin for broke here) Oh My Gosh, she's lost her marbles......a hologram? Okay, I've gone over the cliff and need to check in with the local shrink. But we can all agree that individually we can touch a tree, touch a person, dip our hands into water, look up at a blue sky and see puffy white clouds sailing by. We see the sun, watch the moon rise at night, smell a rose, pick up an infant, pet a dog. These are all part of everyday life. But what if these images, these physical manifestations were just that? Manifestations? Kinda like a mirage. What if they appeared to be real but actually were just a projection, a figment of our imagination? "Maybe a small piece of undigested meat" says a puzzled Scrooge, from the movie, "A Christmas Carol", as he is being drawn into a realm one can only describe as "otherworldly." I'm generalizing here and certainly am not one to sort out all the details with this. But the scientific community continues to debate how did this planet come into being? Why does it have so many different life forms and is so proficient at sustaining them? I don't believe the scientists will ever figure this one out. But being the curious beings we are, we continue to strive for answers. Definition of a hologram: A 3-dimensional image created by photographic projection. If you are a follower of Star Trek, maybe you remember the Holodeck (check out Wikipedia's definition) in which Captain Jean-Luc Picard calls upon the computer to create (or maybe it's recreate) a scene from the 1940s. People instantly appear, standing by a bar, the bartender mixing drinks, laughter and talking is heard. Picard takes one step forward and instantly finds himself back in the '40s. The present no longer exists...or does it? He's listening to Glenn Miller, smelling the stale smell of the bar room, womens' perfume, cigar and cigarette smoke, and watching people dressed in the clothing of that era. He's even donned some of his own. And then he goes over and mingles. No big deal for Picard, as the Holodeck creates these images all the time. But, doesn't this give one pause for reflection, something to think about? Of course the ship's computer did all this but what about computers we don't know anything about (that do exist) that are so smart that they are actually capable of, in a manner of speaking, being alive? Able to communicate, able to feel, able to think and were created solely for the purpose of projecting images onto other worlds? And in so doing, creating other worlds? Picture a smooth, round billiard ball with someone projecting an image onto it? Wouldn't it be something to find yourself at the present moment, minding your own business, watching your favorite television program and the next second you're propelled away only to find yourself on top of a hill overlooking a valley, pushing away the flora and fauna and peering down upon a herd of dinosaurs? I'm no scientist but aren't we finding out more and more about things we never even knew existed? And that just maybe, anything is possible? I'd prefer to keep an open mind. Because, I believe, right around the corner is coming mankind's most profound experience of all time and that is the affirmation that we are not alone in the universe. We are just one planet among many, with many, many different forms of life inhabiting them. Maybe you believe in reincarnation, Big Foot, that crop circles are a form of extraterrestrial communication, UFOs, and other life forms existing on far away places that communicate through thought, have mastered time travel, as I do. Then why can't we simply contemplate something like this? Maybe scientists are studying this right now, they just haven't told us. Now, wouldn't that be something? Of course, if you do not believe in any of these things, then I imagine it would be very difficult or nearly impossible for you to wrap your brain around what I am suggesting. A "holographic" earth--one minute we're here in this reality and the next minute we're in another. Suddenly, everything, as we know it, has been turned upside down. In the blink of an eye we're some place else, some where else, far far away. It's another dimension, or is it? Maybe we're still in that living room watching our favorite t.v. show.