Sunday 19 July 2020

Yet

"'But think of the countless world lines intermeshed throughout the continuum as a spiderweb. A touch on one strand trembles through many. A disruption somewhere changes the configuration of the whole. You have learned that causality does not work exclusively from past to future; it can double back on itself, can even annul itself. There are occasions when we know only that the web is troubled, not where or when the source of the disturbance lies; for that source perhaps does not lie in our yet, our reality. We can only try to trace it back up the threads -' He broke off. 'Enough. I do not mean to frighten you.'
"'I don't scare easy, sir.' This could do it, though."
-Poul Anderson, The Shield Of Time (New York, 1991), PART THREE, 31,275,389 B. C., p. 135.

Observations
(i) I have quoted this passage before. See The Source Of A Disturbance.
(ii) It is fascinating for its sense of mystery and menace and its use of the word, "yet," as a noun.
(iii) We can see routes into other "yets" from our timeline.

If I had applied for a particular job in 1976, then I would probably have got it but our lives would have been changed in ways that I was not ready for yet. I value understandings gained since that turning point and also the existence of our granddaughter who would not otherwise have been born.

Understandings
Philosophical: the relationship between being and consciousness (idealism versus materialism);
Spiritual: the meditative development of consciousness (Zen).

Ironically, in the job that I did not apply for, I would have taught about philosophy and religion but feel that I have learned more about both since.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I still think your definition of "Spiritual" is too limited. Most people understand as either the seeking of God or contemplation of God.

Ad astra! Sean