“There are known knowns; there are things we know that we know.
There are known unknowns; that is to say, there are things that we now know we don't know.
But there are also unknown unknowns – there are things we do not know we don't know.”--United States Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld
I'm not sure if the above quote is an example of Orwellian Newspeak meant to obfuscate the truth or a Buddhist zen koan designed to enlighten through a brain teasing paradox. All I do know is that the quote percolated up through the neural pathways of my mind after reading this quote from mind-bending science fiction writer ( and honorary Gnostic) Philip K Dick.
"Because today we live in a society in which spurious realities are manufactured by the media, by governments, by big corporations, by religious groups, political groups... so I ask, in my writing, What is real? Because unceasingly we are bombarded with pseudo-realities manufactured by very sophisticated people using very sophisticated electronic mechanisms. I do not distrust their motives; I distrust their power. They have a lot of it. And it is an astonishing power: that of creating whole universes, universes of the mind. I ought to know. I do the same thing." |
Now that may seem a little paranoid and seeing as it comes from a man who experienced religious visions communicated to him by an entity he refereed to as VALIS, ( Vast Active Living Intelligence System) one might dismiss it altogether. But considering the fact that I stumbled across that quote while surfing the mother of all alternate realities, AKA the internet, it might not be as crazy as it sounds. I can attest from countless hours spent in the pixelated time-suck of Skyrim that it certainly qualifies as a 'spurious reality.' I mean seriously you can get married or build a house. If only I was that driven and productive in reality.
Which brings me somewhat to my point. I came across the quote on some random site offering the best quotes from science fiction authors that has now once again dissipated back into the electronic ether from whence it came. What I was really doing was distracting myself from starting a novel. In the end I only wrote three paltry sentences, which I fiddled with needlessly, but Dick's quote inspired me. I realized you can either be the Divine Architect of a world of your own choosing or be the subject of someone else's pseudo reality. Now don't get me wrong their are some amazing pseudo realities out there to explore (right now I've been living in the reality of Orphan Black) but as the old adage goes: they're nice places to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. Now to live in a reality conceived from your own creative imagination, that's definitely a place I'd like to call home.
Which brings me somewhat to my point. I came across the quote on some random site offering the best quotes from science fiction authors that has now once again dissipated back into the electronic ether from whence it came. What I was really doing was distracting myself from starting a novel. In the end I only wrote three paltry sentences, which I fiddled with needlessly, but Dick's quote inspired me. I realized you can either be the Divine Architect of a world of your own choosing or be the subject of someone else's pseudo reality. Now don't get me wrong their are some amazing pseudo realities out there to explore (right now I've been living in the reality of Orphan Black) but as the old adage goes: they're nice places to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. Now to live in a reality conceived from your own creative imagination, that's definitely a place I'd like to call home.