WEBVTT - Ep4 | Desert Reflections 0:00:06.440 --> 0:00:11.119 Introquest created by Michael Freiberg, a production of iHeartRadio and 0:00:11.240 --> 0:00:20.920 Astro Media Listen with headphones for three D audio. Today 0:00:21.040 --> 0:00:24.040 is another fine day out on the Azrael Desert. The 0:00:24.160 --> 0:00:27.880 sun's shining right over the dunes, the sands sliding gracefully 0:00:27.920 --> 0:00:30.760 beneath our feet, and the three of us taking ample 0:00:30.800 --> 0:00:33.600 progress along the main route to the mold Layer. It's 0:00:33.600 --> 0:00:36.360 almost as if the heat waves melting right off our backs. 0:00:37.400 --> 0:00:40.840 And who knows what great adventures lie ahead. Run ins 0:00:40.920 --> 0:00:46.640 with desert bandits, skirmishes with giant scorpions, shifting sands, barren 0:00:46.680 --> 0:00:51.360 waste Land's core, even a chance encounter with umbra. Bring 0:00:51.400 --> 0:00:54.160 it on. There's nothing the three of us together can't conquer, 0:00:55.640 --> 0:00:58.560 and I'll have you back home an imperiod before you 0:00:58.600 --> 0:01:05.280 can say why, what's wrong? Logo? Do you have to 0:01:05.400 --> 0:01:08.040 narrate out loud each and every step of the way. 0:01:09.000 --> 0:01:11.479 I was only attempting to boost group moral and improve 0:01:11.560 --> 0:01:15.240 disposition given the intense heat wave. Maintaining a positive attitude 0:01:15.240 --> 0:01:18.240 in times like these is critical to overcoming hardship's experience 0:01:18.240 --> 0:01:22.600 along a lengthy and difficult mission such as ours. Yeah, well, 0:01:23.200 --> 0:01:25.400 it's bad enough for short on supplies and running low 0:01:25.440 --> 0:01:27.759 and water. But now serious and I have to listen 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:31.119 to you drone on and on while the sun beats 0:01:31.120 --> 0:01:33.240 down on us. Do you have any idea what kind 0:01:33.280 --> 0:01:37.520 of torture that is well? Actually, in regards to our 0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:40.360 bleak water productosis, I believe I've come across a solution. 0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:43.360 I've spotted an oasis on the map ahead, about a 0:01:43.440 --> 0:01:45.680 day's worth of travel from here, and only a short 0:01:45.720 --> 0:01:48.440 distance off the main route. Before you interjected, I was 0:01:48.480 --> 0:01:50.720 about to suggest we had there to refill our canteens 0:01:50.720 --> 0:01:55.200 and take respite from the desert sun. Okay, let's that 0:01:55.320 --> 0:01:58.680 course for the oasis. In the meantime, it's vital we 0:01:58.760 --> 0:02:02.080 can serve energy heat wave doesn't let up. I fear that, 0:02:02.160 --> 0:02:05.120 out of all of us, you logo won't make it 0:02:05.160 --> 0:02:08.840 through the night. How do you suggest we've asked the 0:02:08.840 --> 0:02:15.600 time wow of silence? Yeah, yeah, a moratorium on talking, 0:02:16.200 --> 0:02:22.399 silence for a change, at least until sundown. Okay, silence 0:02:22.720 --> 0:02:25.800 until sundown. We can use the time to reflect on 0:02:25.840 --> 0:02:28.520 our journey. If either of you need inspirations, just think 0:02:28.520 --> 0:02:30.160 of the reward that awaits us at the end of 0:02:30.200 --> 0:02:44.440 the mission. Now onward we go A reward and end 0:02:44.440 --> 0:02:51.400 of mission imperial good, but opals funny How people think 0:02:51.400 --> 0:02:56.440 Opal value Opal? Can we eat or drink or used 0:02:56.480 --> 0:03:01.640 to fight Opal just shiny rock, and people trade food 0:03:01.880 --> 0:03:09.359 water weapon for Opal ha silly Yes, sir me take 0:03:09.400 --> 0:03:12.880 best sword yourself sword. You spend hundred hours making in 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:17.120 fiery pick with old hands, and here for a sword. 0:03:17.120 --> 0:03:24.960 Take rock. Yes, rock is shiny ha if serious trade 0:03:25.040 --> 0:03:29.680 rock for sword, serious youth sword take back rock outsmart 0:03:29.840 --> 0:03:35.360 dumb merchant, merchant whoever rock for brain? And people look 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:39.440 down on serious for way he talk. Ah. People fools 0:03:39.640 --> 0:03:50.120 value rock like Opal. Now moonbop moon pop not Opal 0:03:50.240 --> 0:03:59.120 have value? Moon pop delicious filled with gooey bindleberry jam 0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:04.840 mmm mmm. No one fight when half Moonbop in belly. 0:04:06.640 --> 0:04:19.760 Everyone loved Moonbob. We're serious that moonbop ah m ah, 0:04:22.800 --> 0:04:27.240 but Moonbop non't have value, only stupid rock half value 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:31.719 and foolish people honor trade with Opal because agreed to 0:04:31.880 --> 0:04:39.120 with handshake oh and sacred handshake, join hand with strangers, 0:04:39.160 --> 0:04:42.680 shake up and down that mean bond of kin. That 0:04:42.920 --> 0:04:47.920 foolish as trading Opal and nature bear no shake paw 0:04:48.040 --> 0:04:54.440 with wolf respect honor signal without words or motion, but 0:04:54.600 --> 0:05:01.000 people know what symbol people want. Confused, create silly rules 0:05:01.040 --> 0:05:08.359 to follow, make feel smart, murmur same how people go 0:05:08.480 --> 0:05:13.279 live in small box and village away from nature, build 0:05:13.320 --> 0:05:17.320 bi gate like cage to keep out world, worship gold 0:05:17.400 --> 0:05:20.839 idol that look like self, but that no real life. 0:05:21.839 --> 0:05:27.640 This year outside real life, they think with opals, they 0:05:27.720 --> 0:05:33.000 buy wisdom, but they go buy true knowledge here away 0:05:33.040 --> 0:05:39.320 from village cage, have everything we need and free sunrise, 0:05:40.279 --> 0:05:47.960 sun fall, simple, where life meant to be only fool 0:05:48.120 --> 0:05:53.719 challenge mother, nature, father time, and in end time and 0:05:53.960 --> 0:06:04.360 nature make fool of all even serious go against nature, fall, 0:06:04.440 --> 0:06:12.159 prey to illusion, worship, false spirits, Aha serious, no belonging desert, 0:06:12.240 --> 0:06:17.920 un journey and far away land serious belong free in 0:06:18.040 --> 0:06:23.080 open field, serious even work for Opal and Opal no 0:06:23.320 --> 0:06:32.440 have value, all illusions. All will come to end one day. Serious, 0:06:32.480 --> 0:06:38.120 settle and make new home, return to green lands, live 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:47.480 simple life outside with nature, but serious no for now 0:06:47.680 --> 0:06:55.200 ether needs serious and serious o ether serious life and 0:06:55.480 --> 0:06:59.760 end when journey over serious spent, share of opal on 0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:23.000 bucketful of moonpop, moon pop, moonpopum sorry, moon pop on mind, 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:27.720 back to desert, silence, stare up at sky that's better. 0:07:29.280 --> 0:07:42.880 M Finally, some overcast skies on the horizon, little cloud 0:07:42.880 --> 0:07:46.400 cover would be welcome relief from this relentless sun. Maybe 0:07:46.440 --> 0:07:51.520 our luck's looking up after all. That one. The puffy 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:55.120 v shaped cloud floating over head. The shape looks familiar, 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:59.760 the way it's gliding across the sky, almost lifelike. That's it, 0:08:00.280 --> 0:08:04.360 the Phoenix, the mythical bird of regeneration and rebirth. That's 0:08:04.360 --> 0:08:06.600 what it looks like. I can see it clearly on 0:08:06.680 --> 0:08:10.400 the fur feathers and outstretched wings, the aquiline beak extending 0:08:10.440 --> 0:08:13.360 from its raised head in the center. How it's sourced 0:08:13.400 --> 0:08:17.160 seamlessly through the air, rising to reach the sun itself, 0:08:17.600 --> 0:08:20.520 only to burn out and be born again. The cloud's 0:08:20.600 --> 0:08:22.960 vapors even look like billowing pillars of smoke from here, 0:08:23.400 --> 0:08:25.440 as if the ashes of the Phoenix are still burning 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:29.400 hot in the day's sky. And that cloud in the 0:08:29.440 --> 0:08:33.360 distance such imposing stature. It practically rises out from the 0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:37.160 azure and suits straight into the ozone, stretching onto heights unknown. 0:08:37.880 --> 0:08:40.200 It's the shape of a castle's central watch towel. But 0:08:40.520 --> 0:08:43.800 what good is that? What could one possibly be keeping 0:08:43.840 --> 0:08:46.640 lookout for? All the way up there? Those heights unreachable 0:08:46.679 --> 0:08:49.800 by man. Even eagles wouldn't dare. The only use of 0:08:49.840 --> 0:08:52.640 tower that tall serves is to spy on the stars themselves. 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:57.120 The sad thing is, we'd build it if we couldn't 0:08:57.920 --> 0:09:00.000 vain enough to think us equals worthy of a glimpse 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:03.439 their secrets. Have we learned nothing from the childish hubrists 0:09:03.440 --> 0:09:06.920 of those who have come before us? The cycle continues. 0:09:07.480 --> 0:09:11.040 The higher we build, the farther we fall, struck down 0:09:11.120 --> 0:09:13.800 by the light of the stars, doomed to repeat our 0:09:13.840 --> 0:09:19.360 inevitable fate. Come on, either, stop building castles in the sky, 0:09:19.440 --> 0:09:22.439 get your head of the clouds for once, focus on 0:09:22.440 --> 0:09:26.120 what's important and lies ahead. Use this time to reflect. 0:09:28.720 --> 0:09:30.840 What is it about clouds that make us see objects 0:09:30.840 --> 0:09:33.839 in them? Do they even have a true shape? Are 0:09:33.880 --> 0:09:36.400 they merely blank slates upon which we project our deepest 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:39.520 wishes and desires, only then to see them go poof 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:43.160 into a puff of air? Easy, come, easy go, I guess. 0:09:44.040 --> 0:09:46.800 The silver lining is that, at least for a moment, 0:09:46.880 --> 0:09:48.680 we get to possess that things will never have in 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:53.599 this life, and better that than ever at all, that 0:09:54.440 --> 0:09:58.000 large round one looming at the edge. It can't be 0:09:58.160 --> 0:10:03.400 no swear air so clearly, the figure of a face, 0:10:03.520 --> 0:10:07.600 the delicate features, soft eyes, puffy cheeks. Button knows it's 0:10:07.640 --> 0:10:10.240 almost too perfect for this world. The face in the 0:10:10.240 --> 0:10:16.920 cloud my mother's mother. She looks so peaceful up there, 0:10:17.840 --> 0:10:20.839 not going anywhere, and just drifting wherever the wind takes her, 0:10:21.920 --> 0:10:26.880 and smiling down at me from above. Why did the 0:10:26.920 --> 0:10:29.920 stars have to take you so soon? Mom? It's just 0:10:30.000 --> 0:10:34.760 a child. He needed you, your gentle touch, your soothing voice, 0:10:35.440 --> 0:10:40.400 your warm compassion. How cool this world can be? First, 0:10:40.559 --> 0:10:43.880 father slain, leaving you behind with no one by your side. 0:10:44.440 --> 0:10:49.240 Then after childbirth, you gave your life for mine. Not 0:10:49.320 --> 0:10:51.480 a single day passes where I don't wonder how things 0:10:51.559 --> 0:10:54.520 might have been different only you were still here when 0:10:54.520 --> 0:10:56.920 I was growing up. What kind of life we could 0:10:56.960 --> 0:10:59.760 have had together, you and me in a little house 0:10:59.800 --> 0:11:02.640 on a small plot of land. We wouldn't have had much, 0:11:03.080 --> 0:11:05.920 but we wouldn't want for much either, And time i'd 0:11:05.960 --> 0:11:08.680 learned to be strong like you, I'd even become a 0:11:08.679 --> 0:11:11.360 great hunter. Every day you'd wait for me to come 0:11:11.400 --> 0:11:13.720 home with a daily catch, and would have a big 0:11:13.800 --> 0:11:17.880 feast to send off the night, celebrating life and giving thanks. 0:11:17.880 --> 0:11:21.360 We had each other. Maybe instead, under your watch, I'd 0:11:21.360 --> 0:11:24.319 become a great scholar, a man of letters. I'd make 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:27.040 you proud. I'd secure us room and board in an 0:11:27.080 --> 0:11:29.880 ivory tower and some far off land, and spend my 0:11:29.960 --> 0:11:32.400 day studying the meaning of life and learn why bad 0:11:32.400 --> 0:11:35.600 things happen to good people. Or I'd give up the 0:11:35.640 --> 0:11:38.400 material world altogether and become wise in the matters of 0:11:38.400 --> 0:11:41.280 the heart and soul, and show us the true way home. 0:11:41.760 --> 0:11:44.440 No matter how the story unfolds, we'd have our time 0:11:44.480 --> 0:11:50.760 and the sun together as mother and son. But of 0:11:50.800 --> 0:11:54.040 course that mad Tyr and Nakasha back home, had to 0:11:54.080 --> 0:11:57.280 take our life away. She contended father to death, and 0:11:57.360 --> 0:12:01.040 that killed you. Still in the room, I felt your heartbreak. 0:12:01.400 --> 0:12:07.120 I felt umber possess you, possess us, And I'll never 0:12:07.160 --> 0:12:09.760 forgive myself for taking from you what you could not 0:12:09.880 --> 0:12:20.080 have yourself life. I guess I'll never know the whole truth. 0:12:20.840 --> 0:12:24.400 Just left a piece together, tattered tales and dreams. I 0:12:24.480 --> 0:12:27.800 guess that's for the best life of pain and suffering, 0:12:28.360 --> 0:12:32.200 worse than peaceful death. If only there was a miracle cure, 0:12:32.320 --> 0:12:34.840 in a way to turn back time, If only I 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:37.240 could start over, I'd find a way to save you 0:12:37.800 --> 0:12:42.160 or trade your life for mine? Now while I have 0:12:42.280 --> 0:12:47.080 left or fading memories, and this amulet the painful reminder 0:12:47.120 --> 0:12:51.560 of what was taken from me, my mother, what took 0:12:51.559 --> 0:12:56.840 her away Umbrah and I returned to free Imperia. Tell 0:12:56.880 --> 0:13:00.120 me will there be anything left to save? Either way? 0:13:00.000 --> 0:13:04.400 I'll see you soon, so tired of fighting. In the end, 0:13:04.720 --> 0:13:08.040 I'll be the one to sing to you. Don't be sad, 0:13:08.600 --> 0:13:11.800 don't be blue. I'm the bird who will worry for you, 0:13:12.920 --> 0:13:18.240 and it'll carry us both to sleep. I know it's 0:13:18.240 --> 0:13:20.960 a foolish thing to ask, but if you can somehow 0:13:21.040 --> 0:13:23.080 hear me up there, Mom, can you send me a 0:13:23.120 --> 0:13:25.960 sign to let me know you're listening. A single tear 0:13:26.040 --> 0:13:28.280 drop rain down from your clouded face on this hot 0:13:28.360 --> 0:13:31.680 day would be more than enough, some proof so I 0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:34.600 know you're still here, watching over me from high above, 0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:37.800 before you float away and I lose you again forever. 0:13:46.880 --> 0:13:55.120 Are you okay? Something in my eye? I'm good, I'm good. 0:13:55.200 --> 0:14:11.280 I'm good. Let's just keep moving. I always viewed these 0:14:11.280 --> 0:14:14.359 travel days as a pleasant yet unfortunate drain on productivity, 0:14:14.760 --> 0:14:16.800 But now that we've cut the idle chatter, I suppose 0:14:16.840 --> 0:14:19.400 I'm finally free to focus my mind on more substantial matters. 0:14:19.640 --> 0:14:23.000 Let's see where to begin. Maybe I'll remap our route 0:14:23.040 --> 0:14:25.920 to optimize travel time based on prevailing wind patterns. By 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:28.360 re orienting our trajectory to travel with the winds at 0:14:28.360 --> 0:14:31.120 our backs and eliminating trudging against headwinds, we could reduce 0:14:31.160 --> 0:14:33.720 air friction caused by dragon saves several minutes an aggregate 0:14:33.720 --> 0:14:37.520 travel time. On the other hand, that's rather inconsequential in 0:14:37.560 --> 0:14:39.840 the grand scheme of things. We'll get there. While we 0:14:39.880 --> 0:14:46.920 get there, Surely there's a cause more deserving of the 0:14:46.920 --> 0:14:51.560 attention of my unbridled intellectual brain power. I know. Perhaps 0:14:51.600 --> 0:14:54.080 all mo over the theorem, I've been tinkering with the 0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:57.960 deterministic theorem of quantum mechanics. If you could isolate the 0:14:58.000 --> 0:15:00.720 initial stage of a quantum system down to the atomic level, 0:15:00.920 --> 0:15:03.600 then theoretically you could track the development of the system 0:15:03.640 --> 0:15:06.200 over time. All you'd have to do is work out 0:15:06.240 --> 0:15:08.440 the position and momentum of the atoms during the system's 0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:15.480 initial conditions state, which is technically impossible unless you interpret 0:15:15.480 --> 0:15:18.320 the system as a series of waves instead of particles. Then, 0:15:18.640 --> 0:15:21.360 utilizing a wave function, you can capture the complete information 0:15:21.360 --> 0:15:25.840 of all possible probabilistic momentum and position potentialities, effectively transforming 0:15:25.960 --> 0:15:29.320 the probabilistic function into a model that's intrinsically deterministic. And 0:15:29.360 --> 0:15:32.200 once you solve for the beginning and end state superpositions, 0:15:32.360 --> 0:15:39.400 the opportunities for practical applications are endless. I'm thinking reconstitution, intensibility, teleportation, 0:15:39.560 --> 0:15:46.560 who knows what else, eurega. But again, on the other hand, 0:15:47.880 --> 0:15:51.760 successful implementation of these applications would require overcoming the impediments 0:15:51.760 --> 0:15:55.080 of widespread coordination and the lobbying of key personnel, and 0:15:55.520 --> 0:15:58.280 upon universal acceptance of my theorem, I'd be viewed as 0:15:58.280 --> 0:16:01.160 an acclaimed pioneer in the field, expected to make countless 0:16:01.200 --> 0:16:04.080 appearances and accept a multitude of awards. I'm not ready 0:16:04.120 --> 0:16:06.480 for that level of commitment, at least not just yet. 0:16:09.000 --> 0:16:12.640 There are infinite possibilities for what I can accomplish. I've 0:16:12.640 --> 0:16:14.880 never had so much concentrated time to think and be 0:16:14.920 --> 0:16:17.720 alone with my thoughts. I can't wait to unlease this 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:21.840 newfound mental energy on the world. That is, once I 0:16:21.840 --> 0:16:27.520 identify a topic suitable for study, where to begin, something weighty, 0:16:28.200 --> 0:16:32.000 something meaningful yet manageable, really there's nothing too big or 0:16:32.000 --> 0:16:34.080 too small in scope, as long as it's of the 0:16:34.200 --> 0:16:37.680 utmost importance. I bet there's some mystery that's been right 0:16:37.720 --> 0:16:39.760 in front of us the entire time, just waiting to 0:16:39.760 --> 0:16:42.040 be solved, that once we see it will be in 0:16:42.160 --> 0:16:43.920 odd how we could have ever missed it in the 0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:48.680 first place. But what could that be? I know, I'll 0:16:48.680 --> 0:16:51.640 start by analyzing the very desert environment we've been traversing. 0:16:52.600 --> 0:16:55.360 What's out here with us in these sands? Any moment 0:16:55.400 --> 0:17:02.200 now it'll come to me, think logo, Think ah, what's 0:17:02.240 --> 0:17:06.119 the use? There's nothing out here but sand, miles and 0:17:06.240 --> 0:17:10.000 miles of insignificant sand. Who even knows where the desert 0:17:10.040 --> 0:17:12.919 begins and where it ends, or how many grains of 0:17:12.960 --> 0:17:16.840 sand are even in this place? Surely that number is incomputable, 0:17:17.520 --> 0:17:20.320 though maybe if the base counting unit was larger than 0:17:20.359 --> 0:17:23.040 a singular grain, that problem could start to be addressed. 0:17:23.359 --> 0:17:26.200 A better inquiry than is how many handfuls of sand 0:17:26.320 --> 0:17:31.040 is this desert comprised of. That's certainly a non inconsequential 0:17:31.080 --> 0:17:34.280 improvement as far as solving this dilemma goes. And I 0:17:34.280 --> 0:17:40.760 don't say that lately. They're a handful of sand much 0:17:40.800 --> 0:17:46.280 more reasonable. Huh. It does also beg another perplexing question, 0:17:46.960 --> 0:17:50.480 how many grains of sand make up one handful? Clearly, 0:17:50.520 --> 0:17:52.199 the amount of sand in my hand is greater than 0:17:52.200 --> 0:17:55.159 a singular grain, no doubt about that. The heft, shape, 0:17:55.160 --> 0:17:58.080 and volume all make that very clear. I'd venture it's 0:17:58.080 --> 0:18:00.840 even ten thousand times greater number than the amount of 0:18:00.880 --> 0:18:03.840 a singular grain. But say I were to remove one 0:18:03.880 --> 0:18:06.480 grain of sand from the pile, that leaves nine thousand, 0:18:06.560 --> 0:18:09.920 nine hundred ninety nine grains of sand remain. Or set 0:18:09.960 --> 0:18:12.840 another way, these nine thousand, nine hundred ninty nine grains 0:18:12.880 --> 0:18:16.640 of sand now comprise the handful, an irrefutable deduction, now 0:18:16.960 --> 0:18:19.119 bold as I may be. If I were to remove 0:18:19.200 --> 0:18:22.240 a second grain from this pile, I'm left with nine thousand, 0:18:22.280 --> 0:18:25.200 nine hundred ninety eight grains of sand, categorically still by 0:18:25.240 --> 0:18:29.600 all counts and measures, a handful of sand. Hypothetically speaking, 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:33.080 and strictly, as an exercise, dare to take away one 0:18:33.160 --> 0:18:36.680 more grain of sand, nine thousand, nine hundred ninety seven 0:18:36.680 --> 0:18:39.520 grains now remain. If nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety 0:18:39.520 --> 0:18:41.320 eight grains of sand were a handful, and you're removed 0:18:41.320 --> 0:18:43.680 a single grain from the pile, no material amount of 0:18:43.720 --> 0:18:46.879 information has been lost. Therefore, I propose that nine thousand, 0:18:46.960 --> 0:18:49.719 nine hundred ninety seven grains must also be classified as 0:18:49.720 --> 0:18:53.080 a handful. Deriving the base level axiom, the rule is 0:18:53.119 --> 0:18:56.439 as simple as follows. A handful of sand minus a 0:18:56.440 --> 0:18:59.840 single grain remains a handful of sand. Taken to its 0:19:00.000 --> 0:19:02.359 logical extreme. If I were to keep removing grains of 0:19:02.400 --> 0:19:04.480 sand one by one from the pile, then that must 0:19:04.480 --> 0:19:08.280 mean a single grain of sand is equal to a handful. 0:19:09.400 --> 0:19:13.399 How can that be? It's, by definition a logical contradiction. 0:19:13.680 --> 0:19:17.200 The very foundation of deductive reasoning has been shattered. At 0:19:17.240 --> 0:19:20.560 what point on an infinite continuum does one definite article 0:19:20.600 --> 0:19:23.560 give way to another? If no single point exists, then 0:19:23.560 --> 0:19:28.159 the ramifications are limitless. Day becomes night, past merges with future, 0:19:28.280 --> 0:19:31.880 and life is death. Then the only conclusion that follows 0:19:32.080 --> 0:19:34.440 is that every part of a system, at every level, 0:19:34.680 --> 0:19:37.920 is equal to the entirety of the system itself. Consider 0:19:37.960 --> 0:19:41.120 the implications on a cosmic level. If one can't distinguish 0:19:41.200 --> 0:19:43.280 between a grain of sand and a handful of sand, 0:19:43.520 --> 0:19:46.320 how can one make sense of the universe Applying the 0:19:46.359 --> 0:19:49.000 same handful to grain principle. The universe is made up 0:19:49.040 --> 0:19:51.560 of galaxies, which in turn are comprised of solar systems, 0:19:51.560 --> 0:19:54.720 which themselves consists of planets that are populated by civilizations 0:19:54.760 --> 0:19:58.919 that divide out into societies made up of people like us, 0:20:01.760 --> 0:20:06.040 made up of us. That means we are the universe 0:20:06.119 --> 0:20:10.119 experiencing itself. It's all here in these grains of sand. 0:20:10.280 --> 0:20:13.160 The answer in the palm of my head. The entire 0:20:13.320 --> 0:20:19.480 universe is nothing but a logo. Sorry, the sand in 0:20:19.560 --> 0:20:22.800 my hand made me sneeze sand hand? What are you 0:20:22.880 --> 0:20:28.360 talking about? The desert sandy universe of the cosmic continuum 0:20:29.000 --> 0:20:31.919 or never mind? You should be using this time to 0:20:32.000 --> 0:20:35.240 think and reflect. Stop playing with sand and find something 0:20:35.240 --> 0:20:39.159 more meaningful to occupy your mind. Sure ether, I'm working 0:20:39.160 --> 0:20:42.000 on it, and like the eye on your amulet, I'll 0:20:42.080 --> 0:21:00.479 keep my eyes open for inspiration. My amulet, the eye 0:21:00.520 --> 0:21:03.920 of imperiod. What do I make of it? How is 0:21:03.960 --> 0:21:06.240 it that the one thing keeping me safe from umbra? 0:21:06.840 --> 0:21:09.000 It's the one thing holding me back from seeing through 0:21:09.040 --> 0:21:12.320 the lines and finding out the truth. It can't be right, 0:21:12.400 --> 0:21:15.080 can it? How would I think that? That's crazy? Talk? 0:21:15.720 --> 0:21:19.480 Complete another nonsense. Those words must have been umbres they 0:21:19.520 --> 0:21:24.000 have to be serious, and Logo could read my thoughts 0:21:24.040 --> 0:21:26.679 right now, they'd want me can find They knew how 0:21:26.760 --> 0:21:29.159 much I longed to return to Umbers in a realm. 0:21:29.600 --> 0:21:32.680 How learning I find her call, They'd think I'd lost 0:21:32.720 --> 0:21:35.800 it for sure, Uther has finally gone off the deep end. 0:21:36.600 --> 0:21:41.720 Now I must be wrong. Why does it feel so right? 0:21:43.040 --> 0:21:45.119 How come? Every time I take off my amulet and 0:21:45.240 --> 0:21:47.520 enter the intra, I feel like I'm on the verge 0:21:47.520 --> 0:21:50.800 of learning some great truth, discovering an unknown insight into 0:21:50.840 --> 0:21:54.760 our existence, and gleaning a deeper meaning of life. But 0:21:54.840 --> 0:21:58.320 I never quite get there, do I? Sure? Sometimes I 0:21:58.359 --> 0:22:01.199 feel close, like it's only barely out of grasp, that 0:22:01.240 --> 0:22:03.560 if I could just reach down deep enough, I could 0:22:03.720 --> 0:22:06.720 nearly touch it. But the end, it always slips through 0:22:06.720 --> 0:22:09.880 my fingers and they come up short, and I'm left 0:22:09.960 --> 0:22:13.760 chasing shadows, with no real form, void of any realization 0:22:13.840 --> 0:22:16.719 or new awakening, with nothing to show for my troubles 0:22:16.720 --> 0:22:21.199 but regret and disillusion, and worse, the vague feeling that 0:22:21.280 --> 0:22:27.760 I'm slowly losing some part of me. And yet some 0:22:27.880 --> 0:22:33.280 part of me, some crazy, twisted, messed up part of me, 0:22:33.960 --> 0:22:37.000 knows that it's simply because I haven't gone far enough, 0:22:37.960 --> 0:22:41.000 but I'm nowhere near the limit. I have to keep 0:22:41.040 --> 0:22:44.960 pushing past the brink and journey into the deepest recesses 0:22:45.160 --> 0:22:48.400 and darkest corners of my mind. And only by traversing 0:22:48.440 --> 0:22:50.600 the depths of my soul will I one day reached 0:22:50.680 --> 0:22:53.359 the bottom and break through to the other side, and 0:22:53.440 --> 0:23:00.560 there will find it, that undeniable truth, finally crystallized, something 0:23:00.840 --> 0:23:03.600 to make sense of it all, to reveal to me 0:23:03.680 --> 0:23:07.320 my true self and make me whole and give meaning 0:23:07.359 --> 0:23:12.000 to my life. But these days I can't shake the 0:23:12.080 --> 0:23:14.520 feeling that I'm not going in the right direction anymore, 0:23:15.680 --> 0:23:18.760 like I'm just a tourist in my own body, simply 0:23:18.800 --> 0:23:22.840 passing through. I'm traveling through this desert. My mind is 0:23:22.880 --> 0:23:25.879 flying through hyperspace, and I don't know if I'm getting 0:23:25.880 --> 0:23:28.080 any closer to where I was heading, or if I'm 0:23:28.119 --> 0:23:31.800 just falling further and further into this bottomless black pit 0:23:31.840 --> 0:23:36.040 of self. And I don't know anymore if I want 0:23:36.119 --> 0:23:41.560 to know which way is up. Maybe that's just how 0:23:41.600 --> 0:23:44.439 the world is. There are some things we'll never know, 0:23:45.160 --> 0:23:47.679 and though we look for answers, we're destined to always 0:23:47.720 --> 0:23:53.280 be searching, finding nothing but endless questions and did things 0:23:53.320 --> 0:23:57.720 get so bad? Where did I go so wrong? Why 0:23:57.840 --> 0:24:00.919 is this happening to me? What did I do to 0:24:00.960 --> 0:24:04.040 deserve any of this? How come this is my life? 0:24:05.760 --> 0:24:11.719 But there's nothing there, no answer, no purpose, no meaning, 0:24:12.800 --> 0:24:16.399 no end. On the other hand, there are things in 0:24:16.440 --> 0:24:19.680 life we somehow intuitively know, even if we can't understand 0:24:19.680 --> 0:24:22.359 why we know them, Like how a newborn cries at 0:24:22.359 --> 0:24:25.040 the sight of a predators shadow despite having never seen 0:24:25.080 --> 0:24:31.639 its face before. Fear primal, fear of the unknown, the 0:24:31.880 --> 0:24:37.040 dark silence, oblivion of what lurks just beneath the surface. 0:24:37.520 --> 0:24:43.120 It's instinctual. Or how about love, how an infant comes 0:24:43.160 --> 0:24:45.400 out of the womb knowing it's safe in the arms 0:24:45.400 --> 0:24:48.440 of its mother. We may never find answers for these 0:24:48.480 --> 0:24:52.199 unprovable truths, but their knowledge is wisdom we already possessed 0:24:52.240 --> 0:24:56.240 with them. Or maybe the greatest folly of some truths 0:24:57.000 --> 0:24:59.760 is that there's no one to believe them, not even yourself. 0:25:00.720 --> 0:25:02.719 For all I know, this journey i'm one has no end. 0:25:03.320 --> 0:25:06.560 There won't be any milestones of growth or deeper understanding. 0:25:07.160 --> 0:25:10.040 I hope for enlightenment, but will be left in the dark. 0:25:11.160 --> 0:25:13.400 How can I even be so sure that any progress 0:25:13.400 --> 0:25:15.840 I think I've made along the way isn't really just 0:25:15.920 --> 0:25:18.840 me refusing to acknowledge that I've gone down the wrong path? 0:25:19.680 --> 0:25:21.480 Could I accept the truth if it was right in 0:25:21.520 --> 0:25:24.440 front of me? They call Umber the master of delusion? 0:25:25.040 --> 0:25:27.960 But I can't tell any longer where either ends and 0:25:28.200 --> 0:25:33.320 Umber begins. I thought I could explore Umbra's intrat free 0:25:33.320 --> 0:25:36.560 of cost, that I had nothing to lose. But that's 0:25:36.560 --> 0:25:41.040 not true. After all, I have been losing my sanity, 0:25:41.200 --> 0:25:49.399 my health, my faith, myself, and now unlost. I feel 0:25:49.480 --> 0:25:53.000 Umbra's hold over me growing stronger every day as my 0:25:53.119 --> 0:25:56.480 descent into the interest deepens and I fall further and 0:25:56.640 --> 0:26:00.320 further under her command. Is this the unthinkable truth kept 0:26:00.359 --> 0:26:04.479 for myself? That I'm going mad? That maybe I've already 0:26:04.520 --> 0:26:07.560 gone mad? But this truth has always been my destiny, 0:26:07.640 --> 0:26:11.520 hasn't it? Since the day I struggled into existence, born 0:26:11.560 --> 0:26:14.480 to a mother, damned by Umbra and bound to suffer 0:26:14.560 --> 0:26:19.840 myself a tangled web. I've been mortally wounded since birth. 0:26:20.560 --> 0:26:22.240 I'd be lying to myself if I said there was 0:26:22.280 --> 0:26:24.800 any other way for me my whole life. I've known 0:26:24.880 --> 0:26:28.520 it in my whole life. I feared it. It was 0:26:28.560 --> 0:26:30.800 only a matter of time until I lost myself to 0:26:30.920 --> 0:26:35.200 umbra completely. But I'm no longer scared of that time, 0:26:36.119 --> 0:26:40.399 because I fear that moment may have already passed. The 0:26:40.440 --> 0:26:44.119 others have no idea how deep I've fallen. I wonder 0:26:44.160 --> 0:26:47.200 if I really do. For all I know, I could 0:26:47.240 --> 0:26:50.240 be leading serious and Logo farther and farther into the 0:26:50.320 --> 0:26:54.080 dark night of her abyss, taking him straight into her tramp. 0:26:55.359 --> 0:26:57.320 Surely they have better sense than me and won't be 0:26:57.359 --> 0:27:01.520 tricked so easily. Guess I won't know for sure. Well, 0:27:01.560 --> 0:27:05.680 I I suppose the deeper and deeper you fall into umbre, 0:27:06.119 --> 0:27:08.400 the harder it is to distinguish the truth from a lie. 0:27:09.680 --> 0:27:12.840 That's the curse of going mad, isn't it. That's the 0:27:12.880 --> 0:27:16.480 blessing of going mad, isn't it? You can no longer 0:27:16.520 --> 0:27:19.600 tell just how mad you've gone, the paradox of madness. 0:27:19.640 --> 0:27:22.480 The matter you are, the more warp your logic and 0:27:22.560 --> 0:27:25.560 deluded your reasoning, So you convince yourself that you and 0:27:25.760 --> 0:27:30.040 only you, are in possession of some secret, undeniable truth. 0:27:31.480 --> 0:27:35.320 In reality, the truth couldn't be farther away, And who 0:27:35.320 --> 0:27:37.600 can tell you you're wrong. When you're up as down, 0:27:37.920 --> 0:27:41.800 left as right, and black as white, untenable leaps that 0:27:41.840 --> 0:27:45.400 once required mental gymnastics to reach are now level ground. 0:27:46.280 --> 0:27:48.480 From there, you'll ditch your old beliefs in a heartbeat 0:27:48.680 --> 0:27:51.720 and start swearing by the impossible, like the moon is 0:27:51.760 --> 0:27:55.040