Der Großmann: Introduction What is reality? This is a question that has puzzled many wise men for many ill-spent years. Where does it stop and fiction begin? How thick is that division? Does it even exist? We truly will never know. At least half of your knowledge is only theories, based upon further theories and unproved so called 'common sense', a logic which has no grounds and does not exist with the exception of within our own minds. For example, the world, as we now know it, is round. This is thought common knowledge, a simple thing that everyone knows and can recall in an instant. But is it? How do you know? Have you really seen photographs of our home from space? Can you say for definite that they weren't forged? Has man ever actually been to space at all? There is a photograph said to have been taken on the#moonof the American flag, flapping in the wind... of which there is none on the moon, due to the lack of air on a thinly atmosphered rock of plain natured dust. Why don't we believe in this clear evidence, but place our trust in the other photographs they took? Of course, it is far more likely that the world IS round, and that these photographs are real, along with the broadcasted footage of the#moon(claimed by some conspiracy theorists to be simply a set-up film; captured on Earth in a studio with special effects). But you can't deny, that in actual fact, you know very little for certain. Another example of this is your memory. When did you come into existence? True, the obvious answers are ones such as 'when I was conceived' or 'at birth', but again, this is not certain. How do you really know that you did not come into existence within the past minute, and that all memories that you have of your past were not created and placed there? It's possible that you came into existence within THIS second, and that you simply think you've read this, but really these thoughts were placed there. So if we can't even prove our own existence, what can we say about the boundary of reality and fiction? The answer to this is clear to me: 'Not an awful lot'. And does it really matter? No, this story is not about our own existence, or on our views on existence and reality, but rather what we think. Thought is a powerful thing. We all believe the Earth is round, so it is. It becomes a common fact that exists as much as the air you breath and the food you eat. We believe we existed a day ago, a week ago, a month ago, so it's taken as fact, written down, recorded and just like that, you exist, and nobody doubts it. So how far can this logic be taken? There are reported cases in which it is taken to the extreme; the dancing plague and the monkey man of Delhi. These are said to both be examples of mass hysteria. Mass hysteria is a mental state in which large groups of people believe a certain thing (for example, an infectious illness or, as in Delhi, a mysterious monkey like man being sighted) to such an extent that it begins to have an effect on themselves or their perseption of their surroundings. But ask yourself this; if something is having an effect, doesn't this by definition make it just as 'real' as the Earth's roundness or your existence? It is perfectly possible that if enough people believe in a one particular thing, their combined perseption can ultimately bring that thing into existence. Which brings us back to the story. What do you believe? To be continued in chapter 1....