157 visions of the future // I am not late; my timing was quite intentional, I assure you.
Believe it or not, most people will knowingly press a button that will inflict pain on someone else for no reason other than because they were told to. Some people will even do it without being told and for no reward. Should it really surprise anyone, then, that such a device that seems to come from a figure of some power and authority and with rather encouraging language attached to it, entices so many?
This part of the note stuck with me: "We know what rests in your heart, Citizen. Choose wisely."
What does that mean? I don't know, either. Who are these mysterious givers of boxes, and how can they presume to know my heart or anyone else's? Perhaps it means that we are being watched and judged, or perhaps - and I find this more likely - we do not require observation and have been judged already.
This brings to mind another quote: "No harm will come to you if you do. No harm will come to you if you do not."
What is harm, anyway? Are curses a form of harm, according to the language of this note? Observations of my surroundings are inconclusive. Perhaps these words are meant to be taken in spirit rather than literally, and the author means to say, "no harm will come to you as a direct consequence of your choice" but I find that unlikely. Perhaps the true intention is, "we will not punish you, regardless of what you choose." That is quite different from promising a complete lack of harm, isn't it?
Pay attention to words, most of all unspoken ones, as they bind us whether we choose to acknowledge it or not. I do not know what this note says, but I do know what it doesn't say. It does not free us from the consequences of our choices, and most importantly does not state that our victims (where applicable!) will not come to know at whose hands they suffered. After all, if our benefactors already know what rests in our hearts, why would they give us these boxes if not to prove it to ourselves and those who know us?
This part of the note stuck with me: "We know what rests in your heart, Citizen. Choose wisely."
What does that mean? I don't know, either. Who are these mysterious givers of boxes, and how can they presume to know my heart or anyone else's? Perhaps it means that we are being watched and judged, or perhaps - and I find this more likely - we do not require observation and have been judged already.
This brings to mind another quote: "No harm will come to you if you do. No harm will come to you if you do not."
What is harm, anyway? Are curses a form of harm, according to the language of this note? Observations of my surroundings are inconclusive. Perhaps these words are meant to be taken in spirit rather than literally, and the author means to say, "no harm will come to you as a direct consequence of your choice" but I find that unlikely. Perhaps the true intention is, "we will not punish you, regardless of what you choose." That is quite different from promising a complete lack of harm, isn't it?
Pay attention to words, most of all unspoken ones, as they bind us whether we choose to acknowledge it or not. I do not know what this note says, but I do know what it doesn't say. It does not free us from the consequences of our choices, and most importantly does not state that our victims (where applicable!) will not come to know at whose hands they suffered. After all, if our benefactors already know what rests in our hearts, why would they give us these boxes if not to prove it to ourselves and those who know us?