I was sitting at lunch today with my little group of friends and somehow one friend (to whom I shall refer as the Doctor, even though she's a lady) and I got on the subject of questions and answers. She just offhand made the comment that every answer leads to more questions, which I connected to class, since Nabokov, brimstone be upon him, has saddled me with referential mania.
Anyway. The connection was thus: if every answer is a form of death, but learning--which is often comprised of answers, especially in basic English classes that deal with commas and i before e and so on--also leads to more questions, then an answer is also a form of rebirth. Ergo learning is a form of immortality. Probably everyone else has already arrived at this conclusion, but for me it was kind of a mindfuck. Also, guess what's now part of my final project...
Anna, you should read Joe Schadt's blog from the other section of this class titled "What I wanted to say about The Magus and what surprised me in For the Time Being". It's pretty similar to what you're saying and, frankly, it kinda blew my mind. It might help you with your final project.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm... yes, quite helpful, actually. Thanks!
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