Apathy
Stranger: I had a strange dream last night.
Socrates: Tell me.
Stranger: I opened the door of my 14th floor loft. I did not turn on the lights, took off my socks on started walking towards the north-side window. I walked for about 1 hour when I realized that my feet were bleeding.
Socrates: I am sorry, I don't get, how could you walk for 1 hour towards the window?
Stranger: Well, this was a dream.
Socrates: And how did you know that an hour went by?
Stranger: In dreams you just know these things, they are obvious. Its like gravity in real life, you just know it.
Socrates: Ok, go on.
Stranger: My feet were bleeding because of the broken glass that covered the entire floor of my apartment. The odd thing was that I did not feel any pain. I noticed that I am bleeding by pure accident.
Socrates: Did you look down at something?
Stranger: No, in fact, I looked up. You see the entire ceiling of my apartment is covered with a mirror. I happen to look up and saw the reflection of my bleeding feet.
Socrates: That must have been a terrifying image.
Stranger: Belive it or not, I was not scarred at all. I turned around and went to the kitchen. Opened the fridge and got a bottle of Magic Hat #9.
Socrates: Is that a beer?
Stranger: Yes, and damn good one. It has this sweet berry texture to it. At any rate, I was sitting in the kitchen drinking cool beer and looking at my bloody feet. Right in the middle of the bottle it occurred to me that I was walking for one hour, but never reached the north-side of my apartment.
Socrates: Aha, so this seemed strange even in a dream!
Stranger: Yes, and so I woke up.
Socrates: You woke up?!
Stranger: Yes, I did.
Socrates: But this does not make any sense? Your dream, what was happening to you? You could have stayed in it and find out?
Stranger: You know, I think I could if I was younger, but I no longer have any control over my dreams.
Socrates: I have no idea what you mean by this.
Stranger: When I was young, I was in complete control of my dreams. For example, I could be sleeping and something bad would be going on, like somebody would be chasing me. In my sleep I would say to myself: 'Nothing to worry about, this is just a dream'. I used to think that it was kind of cool that I have such control over my dreams. Those days I could stop the dream and wake up any time I wanted to.
Socrates: So why didn't you stay in this dream?
Stranger: I told you, I can no longer control when I wake up, I am not aware of myself any more during sleep.
Socrates: Why do you think that is?
Stranger: I think that is because my mind is fading away.
Socrates: What do you mean by this?
Stranger: I mean that the logical or self-aware part of my brain is shrinking with age.
Socrates: And what is this experience like?
Stranger: It feels quite normal. Most of the time, I am not self-aware. I do not question why I am, I do not seek the truth. I simply exist. In the rare moments that I do become self-aware, I get scared and go back to the un-aware mode.
Socrates: Interesting, I never realized that.
Stranger: Me neither, until I experienced it. When I was 24, which is 10 + 14, I thought that all my life I will be seeking the truth, figuring out complex systems. I was pumped and excited back then.
Socrates: So what happened?
Stranger: Chemistry. Biology. Evolution. You name it. I am not even 1/2 the man I used to be. It is strange, but you can not fight it. You are simply no longer you. You are a different person, with a vague memory of what you were before.
Socrates: But you said that you remember yourself when you were young? How can you ignore that memory, those images and drives?
Stranger: I do not have a choice. 'Me' today is a different 'me'. I have a different chemistry. I do not have the passion and the drive that I used to have.
Socrates: So its all about chemistry then?
Stranger: I guess so. Although I think that Passion beats Chemistry. But then Chemistry beats everything else. Its a strange equation of life.
Socrates: Speaking of equations, why did you say before: 'When I was 24, which is 10 + 14'?
Stranger: Because I live on the 14th floor and because 14 are the first two decimal digits of Pi.
Socrates: Are you crazy?
Stranger: I am not to judge.
Socrates: Tell me.
Stranger: I opened the door of my 14th floor loft. I did not turn on the lights, took off my socks on started walking towards the north-side window. I walked for about 1 hour when I realized that my feet were bleeding.
Socrates: I am sorry, I don't get, how could you walk for 1 hour towards the window?
Stranger: Well, this was a dream.
Socrates: And how did you know that an hour went by?
Stranger: In dreams you just know these things, they are obvious. Its like gravity in real life, you just know it.
Socrates: Ok, go on.
Stranger: My feet were bleeding because of the broken glass that covered the entire floor of my apartment. The odd thing was that I did not feel any pain. I noticed that I am bleeding by pure accident.
Socrates: Did you look down at something?
Stranger: No, in fact, I looked up. You see the entire ceiling of my apartment is covered with a mirror. I happen to look up and saw the reflection of my bleeding feet.
Socrates: That must have been a terrifying image.
Stranger: Belive it or not, I was not scarred at all. I turned around and went to the kitchen. Opened the fridge and got a bottle of Magic Hat #9.
Socrates: Is that a beer?
Stranger: Yes, and damn good one. It has this sweet berry texture to it. At any rate, I was sitting in the kitchen drinking cool beer and looking at my bloody feet. Right in the middle of the bottle it occurred to me that I was walking for one hour, but never reached the north-side of my apartment.
Socrates: Aha, so this seemed strange even in a dream!
Stranger: Yes, and so I woke up.
Socrates: You woke up?!
Stranger: Yes, I did.
Socrates: But this does not make any sense? Your dream, what was happening to you? You could have stayed in it and find out?
Stranger: You know, I think I could if I was younger, but I no longer have any control over my dreams.
Socrates: I have no idea what you mean by this.
Stranger: When I was young, I was in complete control of my dreams. For example, I could be sleeping and something bad would be going on, like somebody would be chasing me. In my sleep I would say to myself: 'Nothing to worry about, this is just a dream'. I used to think that it was kind of cool that I have such control over my dreams. Those days I could stop the dream and wake up any time I wanted to.
Socrates: So why didn't you stay in this dream?
Stranger: I told you, I can no longer control when I wake up, I am not aware of myself any more during sleep.
Socrates: Why do you think that is?
Stranger: I think that is because my mind is fading away.
Socrates: What do you mean by this?
Stranger: I mean that the logical or self-aware part of my brain is shrinking with age.
Socrates: And what is this experience like?
Stranger: It feels quite normal. Most of the time, I am not self-aware. I do not question why I am, I do not seek the truth. I simply exist. In the rare moments that I do become self-aware, I get scared and go back to the un-aware mode.
Socrates: Interesting, I never realized that.
Stranger: Me neither, until I experienced it. When I was 24, which is 10 + 14, I thought that all my life I will be seeking the truth, figuring out complex systems. I was pumped and excited back then.
Socrates: So what happened?
Stranger: Chemistry. Biology. Evolution. You name it. I am not even 1/2 the man I used to be. It is strange, but you can not fight it. You are simply no longer you. You are a different person, with a vague memory of what you were before.
Socrates: But you said that you remember yourself when you were young? How can you ignore that memory, those images and drives?
Stranger: I do not have a choice. 'Me' today is a different 'me'. I have a different chemistry. I do not have the passion and the drive that I used to have.
Socrates: So its all about chemistry then?
Stranger: I guess so. Although I think that Passion beats Chemistry. But then Chemistry beats everything else. Its a strange equation of life.
Socrates: Speaking of equations, why did you say before: 'When I was 24, which is 10 + 14'?
Stranger: Because I live on the 14th floor and because 14 are the first two decimal digits of Pi.
Socrates: Are you crazy?
Stranger: I am not to judge.
posted by Alex Iskold at 10:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home