THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS IN PUBS

ST PANCRAS

THE UNKNOWN

1 THE BOAT

Marie and Faye met at a meetup recently and got chatting.

They realised that they had a lot in common:

Both recently lost their jobs.
Both have moved out of their old homes and are staying, temporarily, with friends.
Both of them are in undefined ‘situationships’.
Both are unsure about their next steps in life.

The third person on their table, Annie, commented:

“Wow, you guys are really in the same boat!”

But as Maria and Faye continued talking, they realised that they were having very different experiences of this boat:

Maria:

“I feel so free. Like there’s nothing tying me down. The whole world has opened up to me as things have dropped away. I don’t know what’s coming next, but I’m excited to find out. Anything is possible!”

Faye:

“Oh man, I feel the complete opposite. I’m so stressed. I just want to have some certainty in my life. If I knew where I was going to be living, I could find nearby jobs, things might get clearer with my relationship. Or, if I knew how things were going with the relationship, then I could decide whether or not I wanted to move in with him, and then that might impact what kind of job I look for.”

Annie:

“Hmmm…maybe you’re not in the same boat. Maybe you’re in similar boats. The difference between your boats might be your personality? Or something else?” [Annie turns to you] “What do you think?”

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:

Are Maria and Faye in the same boat? Or different boats? If different, what is different?
Why do you think Maria is thriving?
Why is Faye struggling?
Who do you think you are most like?
Who would you rather be?
Are there any advantages to being like Maria? What about Faye?
Are there any drawbacks to being like Maria? What about Faye?
Why do some people try to create more certainties in their lives while others leave things open-ended?
Is it written? Or can people change?

SOURCE: BA THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS IN PUBS Group Member

2 NEVER ENDING NOVEL

A group of writers, The Infinite Collective, have announced that they have been working on a totally new approach to the novel.

Together, they’ve built a fictional world and created a series of characters. At regular meetings, they co-create plot lines, and then they take it in turns to write chapters.

So far, they’ve written 250 chapters between them. They plan to start releasing one a week from Friday.

But the really revolutionary bit: they plan to continue, forever. The youngest writers are 18 and 16, and they aim to recruit new collaborators every 5 years with a view to continuing indefinitely.

Critics have given mixed reviews:

“Fantastic! I hate that moment when your favourite series is finished and you know the ending. This will enable us to stay in the fictional world forever! You’d just get to keep discovering things”

“I may be in the minority, but I’m one of those strange people that likes to read the last page of a book first. Reading this novel would feel pointless to me. There’d never be any resolution or catharsis or closure.”

“It’s like The Simpsons or Coronation Street, but in novel form. TV shows have been doing this forever: creating new plot lines, new mysteries to be solved, new drama. It will be interesting to see if it translates well to written fiction or if people get bored.”

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:

Would you like your novel open-ended? Or do you prefer it to have an end?
Do you think this novel will catch on (assuming the writers are all excellent)?
What makes a book gripping?
Can something be gripping indefinitely?
Are you a last page reader? Why?/Why not?
How important is mystery to your enjoyment of a story? What about life?
If you could know the story of your life, would you want to?

SOURCE: BA, THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS IN PUBS group member

3 MORE THAN THIS

It’s nighttime and the train has pulled into a tiny station in the middle of nowhere.

Apparently its the highest altitude station in the whole of the USA.

Before it stopped, the driver made a surprising announcement:

“Folks, it’s a perfect night for stargazing and we’re in the perfect place. I’m going to turn off the train lights when we pull in so that you have a clear view up above. The stationmaster is going to do the same. Get on out to that platform and take it all in.”

A few minutes later, muffled against the cold and looking skywards, you listen to a whispered conversation between two fellow travellers:

Jack:

“There must be something behind all this. This universe, I mean. Just look at it.” [pause, sigh] “But I don’t think we humans will ever understand it.”

Frank:

“Why are you so sure there’s something bigger?”

Jack:

“For the same reason I believe in something like a soul. We’ve got to be more than just brains and blood and muscles, and all that material stuff. I just don’t think our tools of discovery will ever be able to figure out what that magical bit is.”

Frank:

“So you think there’s more stuff out there that science will never be able to discover?”

Jack:

“Yeah”

[long pause]

Frank:

“I guess I disagree. It’s impressive and all, but I just can’t believe in something there’s no evidence for. I kind of wish I could, but I can’t. I think scientists will work it all out before long.”

Jack:

“That would be such a shame. No more mystery. No more wonder.”

The whistle blows and the train and station lights come on. You re-embark and continue on your journey.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:

What are your thoughts after listening to this conversation?
Whose perspective resonates with you the most?
1. Jack - who believes there’s something bigger out there
2. Frank - who only believes in things proven by science
If “it” was discovered, would you want to know about it?
Would knowing take away from experiences of wonder, or enhance them? Or not make any difference at all.
How do you feel in scenarios like these:
- looking up at the stars
- looking down on the planet from a plane
- noticing the beauty of nature: a sunrise, a leaf, a cloud, the ocean
What do you think about souls?