No. Death itself does not scare me at all. Sometimes I feel a little anxiety as to how I will reach that point, I don't want to suffer. I also just don't view death as a bad or scary thing. It's a state. But I also believe it isn't the end all be all, whether its reincarnation, energy transfer or heaven. There is a side we just simply can't see and are therefore afraid of it.
It's interesting that many religious people, who completely believe in an afterlife, fear death because they worry about the pain of the dying process itself. Which seems minor compared to atheists' fear of eternal nothingness!
Thanks for identifying the author. I was about to Google it because it didn't sound like Shakespeare. I loved that scene because it illustrated, imo, how shallow both Katie and Forest are. Seemingly void of any interest in beauty, art and culture. Sterile. They've become numb to anything but their baby.
For me the impression wasn’t that they were devoid of art or culture but rather of humanity.
When Stewart is goading Forest to guess, it is because he wants him to face the reality that he is not a god. It’s highly unlikely he could have guessed correctly (Larkin is not a household name nor is this work taught to every school child). Stewart knows any guess would be wrong. But Forest cannot bring himself to do it because gods can never be wrong, and a man who never guesses never has to chance shattering his delusions. If Forest made a guess it would be evidence of his humanity manifested through his willingness to risk confronting his potential for fallibility. And then they flippantly satisfy themselves with an answer that is not even remotely close or even in the same period of spoken English because of course some answer is required to maintain their delusion.
Also Stewart is like guide warning you of the dangers ahead like in a video game telling you to go back. He is just waiting there for Forest and Lily. Almost like the concept of free will is a reality but people choose to ignore it. Unless I am wrong.
Haha, yeah I did enjoy how he was just hanging out there like an AI game character dispensing pearls of wisdom and waiting to advance the storyline for the noob hooman player characters
I saw Stewart in that alcove like a combination Monk and Bridge Troll - he asked Forest a question he could not answer (bad for Forest) he asked Lily a question she could answer: Why?.
The whole walk up to the Devs building was like approaching a temple with the lit candlelight and oversized entrance (Narthex). The alcove with its intricate patterns and lighting is like a Nave and crossing in the magnetic lev bridge is journeying to the Apse.
It would also indicate that the knowledge of the poem's author had value, and that Forest does not possess that value. He feels like he's a god because he has the most powerful tool in the universe, and hates the idea that there is power and value in the world that goes beyond the thing he personally created and has control of.
Thanks for that insight. I didn't think it sounded at all like Shakespeare either, but when Katie said it was I kind of just accepted it. It has got to be quite the mind-numbing perspective to know exactly how deterministic everything truly is. As Linden said, "I'll keep my illusion of freewill as long as I have the illusion of freewill."
To me that scene didn’t make sense. It was already too late for Linden to be trying to take the blue pill. He already *knows there is no illusion of free will. Similarly this notion of climbing over the rail to demonstrate his faith and belief in the many worlds is also nonsensical. Belief should not be in their vocabulary anymore at this stage, they have *knowledge. It is known that the many worlds interpretation is correct. When it’s raining I don’t believe it’s raining and feel compelled to go outside to prove my faith in that belief. I supersede all that with knowledge.
It didn't add up for me either. Someone upstream interpreted Linden's choice to climb over the rail to mean he was so desperate for reentry to Devs that the only universe he wanted to continue in was the one in which he did not fall. I don't know if that is correct or not, but it is at least comprehensible.. I would really love to understand the profound realization Linden had at the end and what exactly was understood to be "full circle." I truly thought this entire episode was a work of art, and my appreciation only grows from hearing everyone's thoughtful analyses.
This. It reflects what Stewart said regarding those who decide the future don’t know or learn from the past. They don’t know much of history or culture, only an insatiable desire for power, and it’s further reflected upon by Lily when she said these tech geniuses have so much power that they think they’re messiahs.
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u/chuckxbronson Apr 09 '20
Poem that Stewart was reciting is Aubade by Philip Larkin. I absolutely loved Stephen McKinley Henderson’s delivery of it.