Suppose there was a person you knew (and I’m only just saying this for the sake of the argument you understand, not to offend anyone) who was totally unconscious whilst making out the whole time that they knew everything and that they knew all about reality and what it was, and so on and so forth. And not only this but they even manage to convince everyone around them that they really do know what they’re talking about and that they are 100% reliable in everything they assert and that they can be completely trusted in this regard (i.e. in regard to what reality was all about, and so on). Know anyone like that? Perhaps you do, perhaps you do. I get a funny feeling that we all know someone a little bit like that! So the point I’m getting at here with all this is to ask you a question, and the question is this: “What is the best way to deal with such a person?” What should one say when meeting such a person and what should one not say? And if you happen to have a good friend who is completely unconscious in this way, would it be a good idea to try to point out their predicament to them and explain to them that whilst they are convinced that they know all about reality, and are in fact very great experts on the subject, the actual truth of the matter – in stark contrast – is that they don’t even know the slightest little thing about reality and that, moreover, if they ever came across it – ‘by accident’, so to speak – they would certainly crap themselves on the spot? Would it be your duty – as a friend – to point this out to them? You must excuse me if I take a little break at this point to grin like a complete fool. You must excuse me if I take a break whilst I cackle like a totally insane maniac! I ask you to bear with me just for a moment. All of this is just my little joke, you see. I do like to make a little joke from time to time! Humour is the best medicine after all – isn’t that what they used to say? When I was young and innocent and didn’t know anything about the ways of the world I used to leaf through old copies of the Reader’s Digest and this is what it said. It said that laughter was the best medicine. Perhaps you used to leaf through old copies of the Reader’s Digest too when you were younger? In which case you will know what I mean. Somehow I suspect that no one actually does this anymore, no matter how young and innocent they might be! No indeed they probably don’t because these are different times we live in – very different times! I feel quite nostalgic about the way things used to be – I had my whole life ahead of me that back then, which can often be the case when you are only a small child. I had my whole life ahead of me and I didn’t know what was lying in store for me. I didn’t know that one day I would be a famous nonentity. Known far and wide for being completely unknown. Fame of course can be a fickle master – we all know that. We are all famous in our own minds, naturally. Some of us are infamous. Some of us are legendary heroes, and – in stark contrast – others of us are notorious criminals and wrongdoers. Some of us are celebrated whilst others are persecuted. The joke is starting to wear a little thin at this stage and I’d be the first to admit it. It’s time to give it up. It’s time to move on to something else. Everyone is looking in me in that meaningful way, as if to say “Give it up now would you? It’s all starting to wear a little thin at this stage…” I’ve never been very good at taking a hint however. I wouldn’t know a hint if it walked up and punched me in the face! Indeed I wouldn’t. My head is filling up with thoughts now, as I sit here. It’s filling up and then it’s overflowing, like a toilet cistern that’s broken and won’t turn off. None of these thoughts mean anything of course! None of them mean a damn thing and that’s the funny thing about it!