profitism

Cohesion. There was a nifty definition. “Physics The intermolecular attraction by which the elements of a body are held together”. No, no, more to do with a description. Or something. Was it important, having to do with reality at all. Is it what the body does; something it does very well, it makes sense of nonsense. Is everything nonsense. Are you just the eye in a cyclone, something around which molecules can structure themselves like so much debris…

I’m not sure I got it, that book Valis by Philip K. Dick, maybe it’s about not getting it. Not getting what. There’s this thing about what reality is, is it what it is. I mean generally speaking, people seem to have got it down pat. Apparently we actually haven’t got it down pat at all. What happened to Philip and what he writes about in Valis kind of has to do with that. But I got that. Maybe what I didn’t get was what all the hype was about. Was there hype. Did someone say the book was worth a read. Worth reading or worth buying. Well, it’s available online, pretty much for free, I guess it’s worth a read if you have the time.

There were a couple of lines I enjoyed to read, like “What we have here is a Zen paradox. That which makes no sense makes the most sense.”. Maybe the uncertain bit involves whether it dented my worldview at all, or gave me enough to go on so as to prove a useful guide in the event of finding myself in a similar dilemma, or even being in hot pursuit of warping that deceptive reassurance inherent to our physical (or physiological) composure; that which pertains to just what constitutes reality. I know, I know, thems exist that might wonder why you might want to mess with that. It has something to do with not being satisfied with it, feeling it probably interferes with learning anything constructive about that which is “beyond” here.

It would make sense that a default reality construct would be one that most resonates with physical (or physiological) survival. Of course “beyond” here is not the realm of physical (or physiological) survival. That might be “why you might want to mess with that.”. Sure thems exist that feel the tools they employ to navigate reality being as successful as they are entail being adequately equipped to deal with anything beyond here. For others this logic might be a bit faulty.

Maybe the issue is not that a default reality construct is merely that, a default, implying it is something that can be changed, improved upon maybe. Maybe the issue is a limited perception of what can be gained from that, even if it involves any progress made learning anything about that which is beyond here, beyond life. Not enough can be gained from learning about that, to warrant messing around with how you perceive the universe works.

“prove a useful guide” Valis did not. In a way I get the feeling the hype about it is not from it being a really fantastic piece of literature, or that the “science-fiction” like concepts in it (if that is what they are) are so awesomely mind boggling, neither that the storyline or plot are complex or deeply satisfying. Maybe it’s more to do with the semi-realness of the events and in being real, are quite incredible. I didn’t feel particularly persuaded though, of any massive impression these events left on Philip, it felt like it was partially left up to me to feel as impressed.

There’s enough in the book to be intrigued though, enough to create a bit of curiosity about the other books Philip wrote, the other two books in particular which apparently make up a Valis trilogy. Or to do some mucking about on the internet, find a bunch of stuff to flesh out the book, flesh out the author. You might stumble on some kind of link to another two people this way, being Robert Anton Wilson and John C. Lilly. I picked up Roberts Cosmic Trigger after Valis, and so far it seems to feel like a bit more of a rewarding read.