I really appreciate authors who find ways to avoid this problem without making any sacrifices, e.g. condescending to trite self-awareness, which is the sacrifice I make here in weakness. James Joyce is my favorite example. Your works can't harbor too many delusions if you stick to experiences as they are experienced. Even if those experiences are themselves delusions.
Then again, maybe art imitates life more than it seems, at first.
Finding yourself born in what probably amounts to the fulcrum century of human civilization -- check.
Being amongst a ridiculously small portion of humanity whose behavior may directly shape the future of the cosmos -- check.
Being involved -- however peripherally -- with the advent or the delay of self-improving AI -- check.
Noticing that the sky is empty, as if no interference of other civilizations was sought, for the purposes of a simulation -- check. (Non-simulation status would predict a f...
"If you give George Lukács any taste at all, immediately become the Deathstar." — Old Klingon Proverb
(To be fair, the author was drunk.)
Next chapter: "Analyzing the Fuck out of an Owl"
...
Criticism appreciated.