Re: "these seemingly benign questions might be a test - from the programmer of the supercomputer" A question that comes to mind reading this is: So? What is my reward if I answer the way that satisfies the programmer?

but... you ARE a brain in a vat... your skull. And you ARE experiencing a 'virtual reality', filtered by your senses, which are sampling only a small section of the physical world.

Ha, we dont even exist, its a long story, perhaps you could put it up on your site, it gos by the "if a tree falls in a forest" thiory, "if thers nothing to exspearence anything,dose anything exist?" its an intresting quistion, if you can poke good holes in this feal free, but it made me think.

Isn't this just a modern day spin to Descartes'thesis?

when I first heard this, it was a mad scientist manipulating the brain, haven't times changed!