Clearly I have been reading to much analytical commentary by way of TVTropes.
I was watching the Rifftrax for Terminator Salvation, and it got to the point where John Connor strings a wire between two wrecked cars in order to trip up and capture a motorcycle drone. The Rifftrax guys, in their way, said the Connor's next capture would involve a rock face and a terribly convincing painting of a tunnel.
And today I thought about that.
You see, when Wil E. Coyote sets his trap for the Roadrunner, he is completely aware of all of the variables in the equation: 1 30-foot wide flat rock face, solid. 1 bucket, paint. 1 reasonable facsimile of a tunnel. Roadrunner thinks it's a tunnel, runs into rock face, gets roasted with parsnips. This equation is based upon quantitative fact. He has measured the wall, calculated the speed and acquire all the paint he needs (though in one bucket. Hmm). The result should be a foregone conclusion.
But then something happens.
The Coyote, seeing the Roadrunner's cloud of dust approaching, hides and watches. The Roadrunner heads straight for the tunnel. He does not hesitate. He does not slow down.
And he runs through the suddenly-real-enough tunnel.
Now Wile E. is faced with a quandary.
The Roadrunner is a creature of purpose, of linear focus. It follows its path, never deviating unless it must, and then returning quickly to its original direction. At that speed, there is no time for doubt, no time for uncertainty
He knows the tunnel is not real. He created it only moments ago. He knows it conceals a rock face, and with it, pain and suffering. But he has just witnessed something that he is unable to measure, and flies in the face of what he believes. He also knows that his physics-defying quarry is getting farther away by the minute.
Should he reject his world of science, reason, and rationality and believe?
He makes a decision, and trusts to belief, having for once in his science-based life, faith to take a leap. He runs full-tilt at the tunnel...
....and smacks straight into the rockface.
Thus the agnostic is punished for his doubt, his fence-sitting. Had the coyote believed in his heart that he could travel through the tunnel, he would have. Perception and idea shape reality. Something about it not being a spoon (but then again, soup).
So yeah! Tune in next week, when I discuss Wile E. Coyote not falling down until he looks down and sees the ground and how it's a metaphor for Vatican II.
6 comments:
Or, Y'know, it's just a funny cartoon and there's no reason to break it down so much.
Ooh. Perception shaping our reality. This all sounds like something Meshuggah would write a song about*. Except without the references to Looney Tunes episodes.
*No, really - if one were to create a database of words that every single Meshuggah song is comprised of, the words "Reality" and "Perception" would appear more frequently than "the"
Craig: Ah, but that';s the myth of the auteur. What the creator meant with the work is irrelevant: each person creates their own experience with the object based upon their own lives and thoughts. What the creator intended is merely one way to view something.
Ted: Or like the White Stripes and the word "Girl".
To borrow from your words.. Ever wonder why it's called a 'myth' :D
As.. Someone somewhere said, why insist on searching for meaning where there is none? Would you follow a road you know leads nowhere?
(Actually, of all things, I think that's Zen, or something closely related to Buddhism - if not Buddhist itself)
Heh heh.. Friputhi
Craig, you're basically telling Lucas that what went through his brain after contemplating a thing did not happen. Congratulations.
Lucas: ...and like Robert Plant and the word "Baby". Or Jeff Martin and the word "Soul"
Craig: The "myth" part is that the creator believes the myth that he/she controls their work once it's in the world. And they don't. That's why it's a myth.
And to quote another Buddhist-y type guy: "All things have purpose, and through purpose, meaning, large and small alike".
Ted: Or the 5678s and "Woo hoo".
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