So much to say, first off, I want to recommend some short fiction to you:
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, by Cory Doctorow.
It deals with a lot of the themes you mention in a very subtle and implicit way. In fact, I think that someone who isn't actively thinking about these ideas would find it a neat and tidy story without raising any mental alarms.
Here's a link to a site where Cory has published it for free:
http://craphound.com/down/?page_id=1625
Second, you touch on a very interesting idea that I've long been wrestling with. The only way to verify our beliefs is through questioning them. I'm really glad you were able to understand that my questions weren't hostility or mockery, but interest. Thanks so much for taking the time to reply.
The problem, as I see it, is that our beliefs are a seemingly infinite mountain before us. Most people are simply content to sit at the base looking up and stare at the beautiful scene in front of them.
Some of us dare to climb the mountain.
On this mountain are a number of absolutely gorgeous plateaus, with beautiful views of the sunsets and fresh cool spring water gathering in polite pools. Most of the climbers are perfectly happy to spend the rest of their days at these respites, and actually become confrontational when it's suggested that there might be more above:
"Look how far we've come. Look how much higher we are than the people below. You have no evidence to suggest that there's anything better above us, so why in the world would you want to leave this place?"
And it's true. They aren't wrong. But for some few, curiousity is stronger than logic.
I'm curious as to how you experienced ego-death, if you're able to relate that story. I've experienced it once for a brief, fleeting moment, but I did use crutches. I remember staring into the sky in my backyard and watching everything recede into a spiral of numbers and symbols, fitting together like clockwork.
I'm extremely interested in literature and literary theory, in addition to the topics you mentioned. Humanity's role as storytellers has always fascinated me, and I think there's truth to be found beneath the lies. Our English and History courses understand this, but I wish someone would find a way to integrate the search for truth in storytelling into the hard sciences. Literary theory suggests that the unsaid is just as important as the written, that language is an imperfect construction and sometimes the most important things can't be captured. You can only give them outlines with your speech and words.
I'd be very much interested in seeing your ideas in fiction, as I think that's a fine medium for conveying truth. Please send me a link if you do write something, and again, thank you for the response.