Post by shawnhartnell on Mar 29, 2015 1:52:37 GMT -6
Noob?
Well, first thing's first: Welcome to the Cult. If you're as weird as the rest us are, then you've likely found the right place. With that said....
All new members are recommended to read "The Call of Cthulhu" by H.P. Lovecraft either as your first Cult-related reading or one of your first.
This short primer will help you get the most out of reading it by introducing you explicitly to the important ideas which it illustrates implicitly.
Let's start with something as scientific as something which looks like a mathematical equation but isn't (just for fun). A mathematical pseudo-equation which precisely expresses what "Call of Cthulhu" is really about.
METANOIA + FEAR + DOOM = TERROR OF THE SITUATION
Metanoia means "change of mind." In general, it's used to describe a deep, meaningful and significant change of mind which changes how you perceive and think about yourself and the world.
In the Matrix, the red pill represents metanoia. After Neo takes it, he suddenly learns that everything he thought about himself and the world was wrong.
Metanoia by itself doesn't necessarily mean that the change of mind is negative -- another extreme illustration is the change which happens in people after they experience an NDE.
Also, metanoia can happen in degrees of intensity from "I'll never look at tacos the same way again" to psychosis inducing revelations followed by unholy yet unintelligible gibbering. Anything which gives you a new basis for how your perceive or think about something is metanoia. A celebrity who 'reinvents themselves' must be able of causing metanoia in their fanbase or otherwise their old public image will stick around. [1]
If you add fear and doom to metanoia you get the main theme of the story -- terror of the situation. One moment you're driving along a bridge and the next you realize part of it's collapsed because you're screaming your head off in midair a second or two before your certain doom. The moment, just after you realized the bridge was out and just before hitting the ground you would be experiencing the terror of the situation. Well, almost.
The terror of the situation includes the implication that you can do something to avoid doom. Scrooge experienced the terror of the situation with the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come. Another example would be waking up one day and realizing that your alcoholism will kill you if keep drinking.
Both metanoia and the terror of the situation come as a shock. The difference between the two is that metanoia is entirely mental -- while the terror of the situation is a kind of metanoia where previously unseen and very real consequences are realized.
The terror of the situation can also be realized after the situation is over -- it's called dodging a bullet.
[1] Two words: Miley Cyrus.
Well, first thing's first: Welcome to the Cult. If you're as weird as the rest us are, then you've likely found the right place. With that said....
All new members are recommended to read "The Call of Cthulhu" by H.P. Lovecraft either as your first Cult-related reading or one of your first.
This short primer will help you get the most out of reading it by introducing you explicitly to the important ideas which it illustrates implicitly.
Let's start with something as scientific as something which looks like a mathematical equation but isn't (just for fun). A mathematical pseudo-equation which precisely expresses what "Call of Cthulhu" is really about.
METANOIA + FEAR + DOOM = TERROR OF THE SITUATION
Metanoia means "change of mind." In general, it's used to describe a deep, meaningful and significant change of mind which changes how you perceive and think about yourself and the world.
In the Matrix, the red pill represents metanoia. After Neo takes it, he suddenly learns that everything he thought about himself and the world was wrong.
Metanoia by itself doesn't necessarily mean that the change of mind is negative -- another extreme illustration is the change which happens in people after they experience an NDE.
Also, metanoia can happen in degrees of intensity from "I'll never look at tacos the same way again" to psychosis inducing revelations followed by unholy yet unintelligible gibbering. Anything which gives you a new basis for how your perceive or think about something is metanoia. A celebrity who 'reinvents themselves' must be able of causing metanoia in their fanbase or otherwise their old public image will stick around. [1]
If you add fear and doom to metanoia you get the main theme of the story -- terror of the situation. One moment you're driving along a bridge and the next you realize part of it's collapsed because you're screaming your head off in midair a second or two before your certain doom. The moment, just after you realized the bridge was out and just before hitting the ground you would be experiencing the terror of the situation. Well, almost.
The terror of the situation includes the implication that you can do something to avoid doom. Scrooge experienced the terror of the situation with the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come. Another example would be waking up one day and realizing that your alcoholism will kill you if keep drinking.
Both metanoia and the terror of the situation come as a shock. The difference between the two is that metanoia is entirely mental -- while the terror of the situation is a kind of metanoia where previously unseen and very real consequences are realized.
The terror of the situation can also be realized after the situation is over -- it's called dodging a bullet.
[1] Two words: Miley Cyrus.