"Everything is true in some sense, false in some sense, and meaningless in some sense."

[triadruid]

Aha. Got it now.

Comments

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

Which bit made you get it?

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

LOL - that icon needs a cupcake for context. Still really funny.

Anyway, I slogged my way through the chapter on Brain-Washing (which seemed largely accurate, but too full of screeds for my liking) and had settled for the 'fact' that I was a Rational Robot and would never get RAW's enlightened genius. Okay, fine, great, as David Tennant would say...

Then I got to the Holistic Neurosomatic Circuit, in which he talks about faith healing and immortality, and left-handers ruling the world. I was ready to throw the book into the wall at that point, but again, I'm a greyface and I accept that. But the bit about Hassan i Sabbah being a secret Illuminati Master I'm *pretty* sure he was strictly pulling out of his ass reality tunnel... the following chapter was more of the same. We also get the dreaded "of course..."

Chapter Thirteen (introduction to Metaprogramming) I probably read too close after the previous, and was still tuned out, especially by his simultaneous ridiculing of history/worship of collective experiences like the Fatima miracle.

Chapter Fourteen, though, finally talks more directly about reality tunnels and observational bias. And he finally admits that what he's saying may sound like nonsense, rather than taking it as self-evident (a really obnoxious trait in a teacher/lecturer, as we saw with P.B. Ellis). Talking about how much more we understand the universe today than we did 1500 years ago, and presumably how much less than we will in 1500 years, allowed me to check back into his ideas.

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

Of course, after I connected it to the phrase in my title, I realized that was probably from the Principia, not Illuminatus! (originally), so I pulled back a bit on my credit-giving. :P

pulling out of his...

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

ass reality tunnel

*splorfle*

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

And it is, of course, from the Principia.

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

Ah. I thought the "reality tunnel" pieces came earlier in the book than that. When you're done with it, I should re-read it. It's been a while.

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

Also, Cupcake for Context would be a great emo band.

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

Oh, he discusses reality tunnels all the way through, but this is the first place I really bought what he was talking about at this level of complexity. "Family/culture of origin" reality tunnel stuff I totally buy.

[spottylogic.livejournal.com]

[Chanted response] Oh, hail Eris!

ohhi. :)

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

(you should check out the alt text on this icon...)

Re: ohhi. :)

[spottylogic.livejournal.com]

That's beautiful! :) And a terrible pun, you shouldn't do that, people get hurt with puns like that :(