-017- :: redux

[subject_e0057]

[A few taps of the pen proceed the entry, idly dotting before the words begin to appear-- though they look more like a list jotted down out of memory than anything else initially, with certain words scribbled out and some emphasized.]

age-shifting, laser tag, bottles, ants, goggles, steaks and flowers?, costumes, dreams, gravity, cars

Comments

[extantlaw]

Distractions.

[subject_e0057]

So something to preoccupy us from... what exactly? Rising up? Helping one another? Or seeing the true problem?

In a way, they could almost be seen as pleasant distractions. Many of them are lighthearted and tend to make us look away from the oftentimes depressing nature of the Sphere.

[extantlaw]

Of all three, I suspect. It is difficult to pursue consistency of either thought or action in an unstable environment.

[subject_e0057]

When it's impossible for us to settle or get our bearings, it's impossible for us to focus on anything less basic, I suppose? It's reminiscent of the hierarchy of needs.

If people lack food, or shelter, or anything of the like, they can't be expected to bypass these important needs and look to discovering the reasoning behind the physicality of things.

...A man missing an arm won't stop to consider how the muscle has been torn, if the bone was cut cleanly or snapped, or the exact volume of blood he's lost-- instead, he'll focus on saving his life at the moment, stopping the bleeding or reattaching the limb.
Oftentimes I wish Praise's analogies weren't so...unsightly, but he makes a point.

[extantlaw]

His analogies may be unsightly, but they are nonetheless accurate. You have only to observe how little knowledge is gained, or knowingly shared; look at the parts of the Sphere that remain in disrepair despite a sizeable workforce that could carry out those repairs over time. And consider how little curiosity is demonstrated over the origins of memory crystals... or indeed the validity of any memories gained from them.

Instead we are pushed from one event, or death, or disappearance to the next, with no time to plan ahead or to share information. Certainly, there is a possibility that these things occur by chance, but given the artificiality of this place in its entirety, I find that unlikely.

[subject_e0057]

...I sincerely hope that our memories gained are valid. We tend to feel that they're correct, that they intuitively feel right... but we could simply be the blind grasping for anything at all to hold to, be it a rope or serpent.

So somewhere in the design of this place, these events have been set up to keep us going, to keep us questioning and never settling. We can't focus on bettering ourselves, instead only on surviving and grieving our losses.

...It would take a much more detached person to be able to really excel here.

[extantlaw]

We have no way of knowing, without the full knowledge of our pasts to compare them against. Some we can validate in comparison with further revelations, or those of others, but the rest...

Perhaps they are true... perhaps elements are true... or perhaps they are memories that are not ours - merely the product of something we were once told or dreamed of.

And yes, that is my belief. Although it has yet to be proven with evidence other than the circumstantial.

[subject_e0057]

..Especially if we're so desperate to find something that is ours, a memory that belongs only to us, we jump to conclusions. It's a dangerous line to tread.

Circumstantial evidence is really all we have, sadly.

[extantlaw]

The removal of our memories is a situation exactly designed to trigger such desperation. In those circumstances, I think it is in our interests to be wary of the information that we are given to fill the void.

At present. But that does not mean there is nothing more to be found. perhaps we simply need to try harder.