Metaphor

A few days ago I mocked the idea that we are all just objects in a computer simulation by comparing it with the idea that we are just characters in a book, but those who know me may remember that I have stated that I am a character in a Dostoevsky novel -- probably Stepan Trofimovich Verkhovensky.  Of course, the difference is that I am using a metaphor, just like when we say that an acquaintance's life is a soap opera.  The poor, silly philosopher was in dead earnest.