10 questions about 13th floor.

1. Geography – Douglas Hall’s apartment may have looked familiar as it is still a popular filming
location, having appeared in over 80 movies, commercials, and music videos; Where is the
house, what is its name, and who designed it? Partial credit will be awarded for partial answers
a. Ennis House, 2607 Glendower Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027; Frank Lloyd Wright;
2. What years did each of the 3 realities take place in? Partial credit for partial answers.
a. 1937, 1999, 2024
3. In May of 1937 there was a famous zeppelin disaster in which 35 of 97 passengers & crew died.
What was the name of the zeppelin? For an extra half point, where did they bury the survivors?
a. The Hindenburg; you don’t bury the survivors.
4. A horse walks into a bar and the bartender asks the horse if it would like a glass of French wine,
the horse replies, “I think not,” and poof it disappears. Why?
a. You see this was a philosophy joke, and I probably should have started with that, but
that would be putting Descartes before de horse.
5. As a response to Descartes above mentioned preposition; Philosopher Nick Bostrom, in 2003,
posited what has come to be known as the simulation theory of our universe. What is the basic
3-point argument behind this hypothesis?
a. “If it is at all likely that any human civilization ever develops the ability (and desire) to
create a believable simulation populated by believable consciousnesses, then it is
statistically more likely that we live in one of those simulations than that we are the
original creators of them. If we therefore do NOT believe that we are a simulated mind
within a virtual reality, then we have no reason to believe that our descendants will ever
attempt (or be capable of) creating such a thing effectively.”
6. The quote I think, therefore I am from Rene Descartes’ Principles of Philosophy opened the
movie; what was the original Latin phrase from which it was translated?
a. Cogito ergo sum
7. What band famously used an image of the above disaster as their debut album cover art.
a. Led Zeppelin 1969
8. The movie 13th floor was an adaptation of a 1964 novel named “Simulacron-3” which is notable
for popularizing a now ubiquitous sci-fi/video game term, which ironically did not actually
appear in the movie at any point? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
a. Virtual Reality
9. “A blessing incisor” is an anagram for the first words spoken in the voiceover of the movie.
a. Ignorance is bliss. For the first time in my life, I agree.
10. In contrast to the Matrix watched last week, which better emulates Descartes’ idea of the “Brain
in a vat” reality where you are a real thing perceiving only illusions, 13th floor posits not merely
the idea of living inside a fabricated reality, but that your own conscious experience is itself a
fabrication meant only to emulate what your creators believe to be real. Of the two, which is a
more disturbing existential prospect? Being lied to, or being part of the lie?