Heh. So it was a ploy after all.
The closer to Truth a lie is, the more powerful it is.
When you get close to Ultimate Truth, and twist it (or miss the mark) juuuust a little bit, you get one hella powerful lie. Such as this one.
That’s fantastic work there, JED.
Thank you again!!
Translations of the words surrounding Mentl? Though I can sound them out sort-of-phonetically I don’t know enough Hebrew or Yiddish to even make a stab at understanding them. I’ve got a nagging feeling that I *should* recognize them, but ???
Well. that’s the Tree of Life from Kabalah that he’s hanging from, and his position is reminiscent of the Hanged Man from the tarot. If I had to guess, I’d say the Hebrew is the names of the Sephiroth with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet for each of the paths between them.
“One word, Ma’am,” he said, coming back from the fire; limping, because of the pain. “One word. All you’ve been saying is quite right, I shouldn’t wonder. I’m a chap who always liked to know the worst and then put the best face I can on it. So I won’t deny any of what you said. But there’s one thing more to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things—trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that’s a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We’re just babies making up a game, if you’re right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That’s why I’m going to stand by the play-world. I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it. I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia. So, thanking you kindly for our supper, if these two gentlemen and the young lady are ready, we’re leaving your court at once and setting out in the dark to spend our lives looking for Overland. Not that our lives will be very long, I should think; but that’s small loss if the world’s as dull a place as you say.”
—Puddleglum, The Silver Chair
Ah, fate does conspire greatly to insure that this ‘illusion nothing is real’ humdrum phooey is settled fully in this poor magician’s mind. How… Droll actually I thought it’d try to be a little less mundane. But, alas; such creatures are not fated to be intelligent enough to not give us humans power…
17 thoughts on “Through A Glass Darkly – Page 1012”
Loranna
I predict that someone is going to regret this conversation very, very soon – Loranna
Prairie Son
That does seem to be the drift, doesn’t it? Now to see if JED yanks the rug out from under us again.
Someguy
I know I’M ready for six months of Mentl’s sister.
Tom billings
So, a coarsened version of enlightenment, heavily sprinkled with the belief that intellect is able to create a vision of how to behave.
Nope! Not what any good book will teach. Started out well enough, but then turned ugly.
Sounds like college far too much. Especially sophomore years. No, Mentl. This is a user.
Descartes
Very persuasive. Why isn’t everyone a solipsist?
Nandan
Heh. So it was a ploy after all.
The closer to Truth a lie is, the more powerful it is.
When you get close to Ultimate Truth, and twist it (or miss the mark) juuuust a little bit, you get one hella powerful lie. Such as this one.
That’s fantastic work there, JED.
Thank you again!!
Grant
Hard Solipsism? He’s basically a brain in a vat and everything is just an illusion to keep from going mad.
Meh, Mentil should be smarter than that
RBZ
Ordinarily, yes, but he’s been guilt-tripped by something pretending to be his dying father that he didn’t say goodbye to.
Javahead
Translations of the words surrounding Mentl? Though I can sound them out sort-of-phonetically I don’t know enough Hebrew or Yiddish to even make a stab at understanding them. I’ve got a nagging feeling that I *should* recognize them, but ???
InquisitiveRaven
Well. that’s the Tree of Life from Kabalah that he’s hanging from, and his position is reminiscent of the Hanged Man from the tarot. If I had to guess, I’d say the Hebrew is the names of the Sephiroth with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet for each of the paths between them.
myself
reality is perception. perception is reality.
Wookie
Interesting, the hanged man, his head in Malkut, but a foot on Keter. Better turn that around dude!
Archone
“One word, Ma’am,” he said, coming back from the fire; limping, because of the pain. “One word. All you’ve been saying is quite right, I shouldn’t wonder. I’m a chap who always liked to know the worst and then put the best face I can on it. So I won’t deny any of what you said. But there’s one thing more to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things—trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that’s a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We’re just babies making up a game, if you’re right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That’s why I’m going to stand by the play-world. I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it. I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia. So, thanking you kindly for our supper, if these two gentlemen and the young lady are ready, we’re leaving your court at once and setting out in the dark to spend our lives looking for Overland. Not that our lives will be very long, I should think; but that’s small loss if the world’s as dull a place as you say.”
—Puddleglum, The Silver Chair
Oberoten
So if everything is MY illusion? Then *I* am a God!!!
Charon the Fateless
Ah, fate does conspire greatly to insure that this ‘illusion nothing is real’ humdrum phooey is settled fully in this poor magician’s mind. How… Droll actually I thought it’d try to be a little less mundane. But, alas; such creatures are not fated to be intelligent enough to not give us humans power…
Wolf
C’mon, Mentl; *THINK!*
A huge brown hand with red nail (polish) grabs you.
And disappears once you’re where it took you.
Replaced by your father?!?
Uh huh.
Methinks Schuach (sp?) knows he is outclassed, and wants to neutralize you Right. Damned. Now.
How better than to convince you nothing matters at all and get you to go catatonic? Or worse?
Jaibyrd
I love the hanged man from the tarot pose over the Kabbalah tree of life there. Nice.
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