CoL49 (6) Either ... or ...

[Dave Monroe]

On Sat, Jul 11, 2009 at 9:29 AM, <kelber at mindspring.com> wrote:

>>  She had heard all about excluded middles; they were bad shit, to
>>be avoided." (ibid.)
>
> Clumsy wording or profundity?  How do you avoid something that isn't there?  But maybe that's the essence of paranoia.  Fallopian's explanation, that Oedipa's whole quest had been set in motion as a prank on Inverarity's part, is something that Oedipa had avoided looking at.  It falls between the 0 (there's just America out there) and the 1 (there IS a Tristero at work).  Along with Oedipa, we don't want to believe Fallopian.  In fact, I don't believe him.  Surely it's a case of getting Oedipa to ask the wrong questions.  So examining excluded middles can actually be harmful, if it deters you from examining the stark truth.
---
Well, my qustion is, rather, ARE these either/or, mutually exclusive
states?  Recall the old caveat, just because you're paranoid, doesn't
mean They're NOT out to get you ...