Thursday, 14 August 2025

Below And Above

In Poul Anderson's The Night Face, the usually sane "Gwydiona," human inhabitants of the planet Gwydion, annually experience insanity and misinterpret their temporary irrationality as (trans-rational) "God." We have discussed the "pre/trans fallacy" before, quoting both Ken Wilber and CS Lewis. We mention the fallacy here again because we have just reread another reference to it by Lewis who remarks that a human being momentarily plunged back into animal consciousness:

"...would have emerged believing that he had grasped the absolute: for the states below reason and the states above it have, by their common contrast to the life we know, a certain superficial resemblance."
-That Hideous Strength, CHAPTER 14, 3, p. 670. 

A profound observation, in my opinion, also relevant to Anderson's Brain Wave. (Also, Glimpse Or Trance.)

3 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Just a small correction, the Gwydiona year is four or five times as long as our Terran year.

Ad astra! Sean

S.M. Stirling said...

The Gwydonians cram all their irrationality and violence into one brief period. Not a good bargain, IMHO.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Mr. Stirling!

I agree, they are in a terrible situation, genetically addicted to the bale fire plant.

It's hard enough, us, coping with our neuroses and proneness to violence and strife in the ordinary way, but better than what the Gwydiona have,

Ad astra! Sean