The check engine light on your dashboard flashes red. Ohh, the worst feeling. Instantly, your heart drops. You grip the steering wheel tighter. You turn down the radio and start listening for weird clunks, completely convinced the car is about to just explode on the shoulder of the road, even though the car is driving exactly the same as it was. 10 seconds ago. Exactly. But what if there's absolutely nothing wrong with the engine? What if the sensor itself is just hallucinating? I mean, your car is perfectly fine, yet your entire reality inside that cabin has shifted from total safety to, well, imminent disaster.

Yeah, the physical world hasn't changed at all, right? That your perception of it has been entirely rewritten by a single false signal. And you sitting right there listening to this, you probably know exactly what that panic feels ...