Moving Finger
Created | Updated Apr 1, 2004
Hey!
Over here...
Someone finally noticed me.
I'm the writing between the lines.
You're a smart kid, obviously.
Not many people can see me.
They get lost in all that other stuff.
They read it all.
Maybe they do believe it, yeah.
I really don't know.
There are means and there are ends.
If you live by the means, then read it all.
By all means.
If you seek the ends, then cut to the chase.
That's what I'm about.
I set the headlines.
Only they're invisible headlines.
The distilled message.
You want an example?
OK... where are we?
Oh, yeah.
The seal-guy's stuff.
Lots of it.
Two hundred thousand words and counting.
You want to know what it says?
It says 'I could have done something else, you know'.
Yep.
That's all.
That, and a whole load of rhetoric.
Not convinced?
OK, let me find another one.
Here we are.
Someone'll write this, someday.
It's a due diligence report by a major accounting firm.
Thirty thousand words, this time.
It's supposed to be straight and punchy, would you believe?
They're going to charge a quarter of a million dollars for it.
Still harder to believe, yeah?
Let me summarise.
'Don't touch this guy with a borrowed bargepole'.
OK?
Pay attention, will you?
If you were awake, you'd have spotted that the 'borrowed' was superfluous.
Economy is important.
It is with the message, anyway.
You want to suggest one of your own?
That's cool.
Put one up; anything you like.
I'll distil it.
The Gospel According to St John?
Give me a break.
One of seal-boy's ancestors, I shouldn't wonder.
No, I'm not stalling.
Sure I can do it.
You ready?
It says 'There must be some point here. This'll do'.
What are you scowling at?
That's what it says all right.
Truth?
What are you talking about?
Look, you still don't get it, do you?
That's not what I'm doing at all.
I don't extract the truth from words.
I don't even subscribe to the theory.
Truth and lies.
Good and evil.
There are absolutely no absolutes.
Those things don't exist, stupid.
Listen.
Are you going to make an effort to think for yourself?
What is it with Homo Sapiens?
You developed a mind.
You climbed out of the pack precisely because you learned how to work things out.
And yet you act like you need others to tell you what to believe.
Stop arguing.
Shut up and concentrate, you idiot.
Respect for the law, you say.
You want me to take that point first?
Law is there to tell you which of your behaviours might hurt someone else.
It tells you what not to do, not what to do.
Big difference.
Think about it, please.
The world is full of consciousnesses, all rubbing up against each other.
You owe it to your neighbour to respect the boundary.
That's all.
Or else there'd be anarchy, right.
And, as you clearly realise, anarchy isn't a code for decent living.
No.
It's only the foundation of a code for decent living.
You don't realise any such thing?
I grant you it's a tricky one to grasp.
If you happen to be pious and educated, that is.
Well, work on it for yourself, OK?
Yes, for yourself.
No, that's not a cop-out.
You're looking for truth again, aren't you, you silly child?
Get this.
Once and for all, there is no truth.
There is only perception.
What seems like truth to you looks like mendacity to someone else.
Now you're confusing truth with fact.
Fact is the critical mass of perception.
If enough perceptions align, you get an effective reality.
Something you can rely on, for certain purposes.
You get the picture?
You won't die today.
Fact.
You won't die tomorrow either.
Again, fact.
And so on.
But where's the truth in that?
You think all this sounds vaguely familiar?
That's good.
Socrates, you say?
Some other people would mention Kierkegaard, or Nietzsche, or Sartre.
And you might all be right.
Quite possibly.
I haven't the slightest idea.
Aha!
Now you're thinking sharper.
I must have the slightest idea, because I'm between their words too.
Conceded.
But it's still irrelevant.
Those are all alien thoughts.
It's only your perception that counts.
Why?
Because that's all there is in your universe.
It's obvious, isn't it?
Philosophy is no big deal, you know.
It's just the practice of attempting to relate perceptions.
Which is the same thing as storytelling, only with pretentions.
Don't overrate the philosophers.
There are differences between their lines, sure.
But they're small compared with the enormous triviality of the pursuit.
I think you're starting to get the hang of this.
We could talk about politics, or about journalism, if you like.
But you see the point now, yeah?
Or the lack of it.
You know we can dismiss those things.
They're utterly without consequence.
There is nothing between their lines at all.
Which only leaves religion, right.
The Big One?
If you say so.
Let's get the magnifying glass out.
You're actually a bit scared of this St John guy, aren't you?
Ever occurred to you how dead he is?
He's so obsolete that he wouldn't have dared open your curtains.
Name any sacred creed you choose.
Before you revere it as a benchmark for living, remember this.
It was written by a backward peasant.
He could never have understood the world you take for granted.
Not exactly the credentials of a prophet, are they?
So.
You're ready for the passing-out test?
It's not too difficult.
There are only three questions.
Two of those are a cinch.
Easy ones first, OK?
Number one.
Who's the Messiah?
Right.
You're getting this now.
'Messiah' does indeed mean exactly that.
A saviour sent to lead people according to the will of an external God.
So you're quite correct.
It's just a human fancy.
No such thing exists.
The Christ is a false concept.
They've never existed, singular or plural.
Moreover, they never will exist.
Simplifies things a bit, doesn't it?
Quite a few excuses for inequality have disappeared along with that one.
Question two.
(Don't worry.
It's not much tougher than the last one).
We've dispensed with the idea of an external God, OK?
So where IS God?
In you.
Right again.
Inexpressable, ineffable, and absolutely of you.
The creative force that made you.
Part of you, but not all of you.
There may be no trinity, but there is a duality.
The other half of you is Free Will.
You say you need more than that?
Really?
Think again.
Think hard, and be content.
If you search for anything else, you'll only invent things.
We have enough deities already, thank you very much.
So here comes the last question.
This one's a little bit harder, I admit.
You won't answer this one by simply fabricating a supreme being.
What's the writing between THESE lines?
That's your answer?
Hmm.
You know, I quite like that.
Good one, Monsieur Descartes.
There might be hope for this species yet.
