we've already brought up the possibility of us being computer programs ourselves, and hypothetically some random deity scribbling in a book.

Zylo, you can fake signals, that's what the placebo effect is all about, that and advanced neurological manipulation if you want it to be realistic.

I don't think I'm a robot or a program.

I don't feel like a computer program.

Also, remotely relevant:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_room

Also, reality is a concept created by our brains.

There's no color, only different frequencies of electromagnetic radiation.

In other words, it's important to understand when talking about reality
philosophically, you have to mention that we really do live in our head.

Everything we know, experience, and see is created by our brains.

@Zalo: Link: Brain-cells from rat drive robot.
- A similar study would give the rat Serotonin when it did the task correctly, making it feel good.

@Foa: The placebo effect only exists because one believes there is some type of 'reality', a single truth. What I'm... trying to say is that no matter how you look at it, neither the sugar pill or the medical one exist without the -belief- that it is. I don't mean "mind over matter", I mean if you were to take the real pill, and magically certain parts of your nervous system shut down so that you felt no effect, then it's irrelevant.

Feel, touch, smell, hear, taste. The five senses. Take these away and reality becomes a very different thing.

Let's change the example, (to change the sense) have you ever watched the Punisher? Specifically the part where he's torturing the man with a cold Popsicle stick, making him believe his flesh was burning? Think about this, but not solely the fact that it was fake, but of the actual act. Take away the experiment, and actually put the welder to his back. The pain is the emotion that gives him his definition of reality.

While I'm having a difficult time trying to word this, I hope you understand what I'm trying to get across.

Edit: "Nothing is true" Reading back, I can find the words: On the nervous system comment, I mean these are the primary pens that help you draw reality. Emotions, senses, and thoughts. Nothing is above the fact that it's still your drawing, and that nobody else will be able to see it, only try and draw their own understanding of what yours is. Everything is held accountable by this rule.

It doesn't make the world less real to us if it's simulated.
And the reason we think sugar is good is because our brains reward us when we eat things full of energy. Even if it's bad for us.