The Stanley Parable (Book edition)
But Stanley just couldn't do it. He considered the possibility of facing his boss, admitting he had left his post during work hours, he might be fired for that. And in such a competitive economy, why had he taken that risk?
All because he believed everyone had vanished? His boss would think he was crazy. And then something occurred to Stanley: Maybe, he thought to himself, maybe I am crazy. All of my coworkers blinking mysteriously out of existence in a single moment for no reason at all? None of it made any logical sense. And as Stanley pondered this he began to make other strange observations.
For example, why couldn't he see his feet when he looked down? Why did doors close automatically behind him wherever he went? And for that matter, these rooms were starting to look pretty familiar, were they simply repeating?
No, Stanley said to himself, this is all too strange, this can't be real, and at last he came to the conclusion that had been on the tip of his tongue, he just hadn't found the words for it. I'm dreaming! he yelled, This is all a dream!
What a relief Stanley felt to have finally found an answer, an explanation. His coworkers weren't actually gone, he wasn't going to lose his job, he wasn't crazy after all! And he thought to himself, I suppose I'll wake up soon, I'll have to go back to my boring real life job pushing buttons, I may as well enjoy this while i'm still lucid.
So he imagined himself flying, and began to gently float above the ground. Then he imagined himself soaring through space on a magical star field, and it too appeared! It was so much fun, and Stanley marveled that he had still not woken up. How was he remaining so lucid?
And then perhaps the strangest question of them all entered Stanley's head, one he was amazed he hadn't asked himself sooner: Why is there a voice in my head, dictating everything that i'm doing and thinking? Now the voice was describing itself being considered by Stanley, who found it particularly strange. I'm dreaming about a voice describing me thinking about how it's describing my thoughts, he thought!
And while he thought it all very odd and wondered if this voice spoke to all people in their dreams, the truth was that of course this was not a dream. How could it be? Was Stanley simply deceiving himself? Believing that if he's asleep he doesn't have to take responsibility for himself?
All because he believed everyone had vanished? His boss would think he was crazy. And then something occurred to Stanley: Maybe, he thought to himself, maybe I am crazy. All of my coworkers blinking mysteriously out of existence in a single moment for no reason at all? None of it made any logical sense. And as Stanley pondered this he began to make other strange observations.
For example, why couldn't he see his feet when he looked down? Why did doors close automatically behind him wherever he went? And for that matter, these rooms were starting to look pretty familiar, were they simply repeating?
No, Stanley said to himself, this is all too strange, this can't be real, and at last he came to the conclusion that had been on the tip of his tongue, he just hadn't found the words for it. I'm dreaming! he yelled, This is all a dream!
What a relief Stanley felt to have finally found an answer, an explanation. His coworkers weren't actually gone, he wasn't going to lose his job, he wasn't crazy after all! And he thought to himself, I suppose I'll wake up soon, I'll have to go back to my boring real life job pushing buttons, I may as well enjoy this while i'm still lucid.
So he imagined himself flying, and began to gently float above the ground. Then he imagined himself soaring through space on a magical star field, and it too appeared! It was so much fun, and Stanley marveled that he had still not woken up. How was he remaining so lucid?
And then perhaps the strangest question of them all entered Stanley's head, one he was amazed he hadn't asked himself sooner: Why is there a voice in my head, dictating everything that i'm doing and thinking? Now the voice was describing itself being considered by Stanley, who found it particularly strange. I'm dreaming about a voice describing me thinking about how it's describing my thoughts, he thought!
And while he thought it all very odd and wondered if this voice spoke to all people in their dreams, the truth was that of course this was not a dream. How could it be? Was Stanley simply deceiving himself? Believing that if he's asleep he doesn't have to take responsibility for himself?