Center of Gravity
PETER A WATTS
uwattp00 at mcl.ucsb.edu
Sun Oct 1 02:56:28 CDT 1995
as far as the connection between train and rocket, i'm thinking of jules
verne, who as far as I know is the one who came up with the idea of a
'space train', somewhat like a really big railgun, sending a ship on
tracks to the moon. anyway, at least someone has seen the progress from
train to rocket the way you talk about.
what intrigues me even more is where you say that Slothrop becomes
Pynchon here. that's my thinking too. In fact, i think the reason we're
all here reading is that, at one time or another we have all become Pynchon.
He's our hero. our cahthexis in the catharsis/cathexis cycle of
literature and drama. I read every word he wrote and wish It had been me,
'cause I've thought all of this stuff, but have always been to drunk or
stoned or human to say it the right way. not all of us can get that
little bit of god to look down and tell us the words to use, the pictures
to paint.
whoo, boy was that a tangent. sorry. anyway, my heart and mind goes out
to slothrop or anyone who has blurred the line between ego and ideal,
chaotic self and integrated ego of an author or a 'real person' amongst
the fucked-up reality of life and communication (succesful misunderstanding)
that's really here.
kudos to those who have Identified with Slothrop, like me, and thanks for
saying so.
-uwattp00 at mcl.ucsb.edu
"theWORLDcannotBEanalyzedCORRECTLYintoDISTINCTparts;INSTEAD,itMUSTbeREGARDED
asANindivisibleUNITinWHICHseperatePARTSappearASvalidAPPROXIMATIONSonlyINthe
classicalLIMIT...thusATtheQUANTUMlevelOFaccuracy,ANobjectDOESnotHAVEany
intrinsicPROPERTIESbelongingTOitselfALONE;instead,ITsharesALLitsPROPERTIES
mutuallyANDindivisiblyWITHtheSYSTEMSwithWHICHitINTERACTS.moreover...Agiven
object...INTERACTSatDIFFERENTtimesWITHdifferentSYSTEMS,THATbringOUTdifferent
POTENTIALITES,itUNDERGOES...continualTRANSFORMATIONbetweenTHEvariousFORMS
inWHICHitCANmanifestITSELF.
-David Bohm, in _Quantum Theory_
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