Calvin and Eco (wandering)

我已經不記得是從什麼時候開始我不再畫長成這樣的杯子。我只記得雖然我很不會畫畫, 但是小時候偶爾我會嘲笑同學畫東西畫成這樣：看起來一點也不像杯子。

但是這樣的杯子其實正是我們對杯子的理解：杯口是圓的, 杯底是平的, 杯子兩邊是平行的。如果要滿足這樣的理解, 杯子只能是畫成這樣, 但是為什麼這樣的畫法是錯的呢？

這樣的質疑在西方藝術史上起源於塞尚, 我也是透過了塞尚, 才開始了解為什麼會有立體派。原來我看畢卡索的畫, 只覺得有一種神奇的感覺, 覺得很屌, 但是說不上來為什麼。看起來好像很簡單, 很好畫, 就只是把你看到的東西改成拼拼湊湊的幾何圖形而已, 但是他又不僅只是幾何圖形。

畢卡索曾經說過：「那不是要表現你所看到的, 而是要表現你所知道的。」如果宇宙是無限維度的, 那無論你怎麼去觀測, 他永遠只是那個維度的投影而已。

所以真實是什麼？

【1984】中的共產黨有一句箴言：「Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.」


Does the past exist concretely, in space? Is there somewhere or other a place, a world of solid objects, where the past is still happening?'

'No.'

'Then where does the past exist, if at all?'

'In records. It is written down.'

'In records. And --?'

'In the mind. In human memories.'

'In memory. Very well, then. We, the Party, control all records, and we control all memories. Then we control the past, do we not?'

'But how can you stop people remembering things?' cried Winston again momentarily forgetting the dial. 'It is involuntary. It is outside oneself. How can you control memory? You have not controlled mine!'

O'Brien's manner grew stern again. He laid his hand on the dial.

'On the contrary,' he said, 'you have not controlled it. That is what has brought you here. You are here because you have failed in humility, in self-discipline. You would not make the act of submission which is the price of sanity. You preferred to be a lunatic, a minority of one. Only the disciplined mind can see reality, Winston. You believe that reality is something objective, external, existing in its own right. You also believe that the nature of reality is self-evident. When you delude yourself into thinking that you see something, you assume that everyone else sees the same thing as you. But I tell you, Winston, that reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Not in the individual mind, which can make mistakes, and in any case soon perishes: only in the mind of the Party, which is collective and immortal. Whatever the Party holds to be the truth, is truth. It is impossible to see reality except by looking through the eyes of the Party. That is the fact that you have got to relearn, Winston. It needs an act of self-destruction, an effort of the will. You must humble yourself before you can become sane.'


面對真實的無限, 是否人只能退讓到自我理解的真實？那是否又會變成像【1984】中的情境呢？

我想這就是所謂「意義」存在的意義吧。追求真實本身, 比真實本身是否能被追求到更為重要, 而那是否是在那樣尺度下的真實, 又跟信念有關。如果沒有人, 那就沒有意義, 因為意義是人們為客觀事物給下的附加條件, 即使意義不存在, 所有的物理定律也不會改變, 地球一樣會轉, 太陽一樣繼續燃燒。但是如果沒有意義, 人類會活不下去, 因為人類總是無法停止思考。無論那樣的思考有沒有意義。