what the sferics told Mondaugen

[Wolfe, Skip]

I always thought along the same lines: The world is everything, that's all,
folks.

Zap Comix version:

Flakey Foont: But what does it all mean, Mr. Natural?
Mr. Natural:  It don't mean shit.
----------------------------------------------------------------

>>What is the global or local significance of the mysterious message decoded
>>by K.Mondaugen . . .
>>namely, "DIE WELT IST ALLES, WAS DER FALL IST":
>>the world is everything that is the case . . .

I always took it to be analogous to the statement about poetry by John 
Ciardi or Robert Frost (or somebody -- I forget who) that goes something 
like "a poem does not mean, it _is_."  In other words, life, or existence, 
or whatever Mondaugen is looking for answers to in the sferics, doesn't have 
an easy answer that can be arrived at through analysis -- it just has to be 
experienced as received.  There might be some resonances in the theme of 
Westerners' reliance on science (analysis) to solve all problems & answer 
all questions vs. a more mystical/intuitive approach (I guess this is more 
prominent in _GR_, but I think it's in _V_ too).  I'm trying to remember 
exactly what happens with Mondaugen at the end of his chapter (haven't 
gotten there on the re-read yet), but doesn't he mellow out a little -- 
become more accepting/less rigorously scientific?  I'm wondering if seeing 
how the experience changed him can give us a clue to the meaning of the 
"message."  Also, by the time he reappears in _GR_ he's developed kind of a 
mystical bent, hasn't he?  (Appalling how one forgets these details -- time 
to read the book again, I guess.)

     Skip