Journal #1
Keeping a blog (a real, true blog. Not just updates on concerts and the like) is a tricky thing for a band. Every release, review, concert and passionate exclamation point is taken into consideration by the fan. I tried keeping a, shall we say intimate, blog for a while, but I decided maybe my opinionated attitude wasn’t in the best interest for RS. Well, in the tradition of throwing past resolutions to the wind, I’m gonna take another whack at it.
I finally finished Chapter 5 of The Envaryan Chronicles; The Epistemological Path. While the lyrics came fluidly enough, the music was viciously uncooperative. It’s funny how there are songs that just kind of materialize within a few hours or so, and there are songs that I labor over for weeks upon weeks. In the end I show off the sum of my labor only to be confronted with “Oh yeah. That one’s okay I guess. But that real popish one with the four-on-the-floor beat; that one’s great!” Oh well. At least it’s hit and miss, instead of miss… miss.
After several false starts I settled on a sort of minimalist/retro feel for the track. The chapter is comprised of the simple dialogue between Cinder and Dorie as they are on their way to the house of the Keeper of the Book of Knowledge, making in the first chapter in book one that is less about building the story line and more about a stray idea.
It’s all based off of a theory that I’ve been bouncing around in my head ever since I took my first philosophy class last Fall. My professor was a proclaimed epistemological relativist. We studied the topic with no lack of debate and raised voices, but while I couldn’t quite grasp what it was; I knew something was amiss with the whole theory. I agree that at some level there is a construct that we build within our minds that dictates how information entering our minds is interpreted, and we can never step outside of our minds 9and this construct) to seek truth in pure, unbiased judgment. But then many proponents of this theory go on to say that this reality within your mind is your only true reality, and that mine is different than yours and so what’s right for me may not be right for you. I think this is partially right, but partially so wrong. Now, before you get angry, listen to why I’ve arrived at this conclusion. To accurately convey my theory I’ve created some new terms; intra-reality and inter-reality, although I’m not entirely sure if they’re punctuated correctly. The realities that exists in all of our minds (the intra-realities) are very real, but they only reach so far and are governed by an Ultimate reality: the Inter-reality. Your intra-reality says Chocolate Ice cream is best, my intra-reality says double fudge brownie ice cream is the best, while the inter-reality says that your favorite is chocolate and my favorite is double fudge brownie. Your intra-reality says that the clock on the wall is to the left, my intra-reality says its to the right, but the inter-reality says its between us. Your intra-reality says that a car serves the purpose of getting you places and making you look good in the process, my intra-reality say that a car serves the purpose of being a get-a-way car in my secret other life, while the inter-reality is that we all use our cars for different things but a car is comprised of these components and it was designed with these purposes in mind. We may experience life from the confinement of our intra-realties, but there is nothing within them that is apart from the basis of the rules and finality of the inter-reality. So, how can I prove this without stepping from the translated confines of my intra-reality? I think the answer is simple, but then again it took me months to finally nail this down, so I could be desperately wrong. Cause and effect is something that we can even prove from the restrictions of our own minds. Whether or not a piece of data is corrupted by our minds construct, it’s makeup still effects us in predictable ways. The smell of food makes you hungry, a frightening thought gives you nightmares, the image of a loved one makes you feel all fuzzy. These patterns would not be possible without cause and effect. Therefore, from the confines of our minds we can prove this law. Now comes the part where I knew there was something wrong but couldn’t put my finger on it. How could there be a totally original mass of artificially constructed worlds? There is no original thought! There is no original dream! Our intra-realties had to be based on something. You can’t have corrupted information without a basis for the information in the first place. So saying there is no absolutes is as absurd as saying there is nothing! From our perspective we can’t really prove what this inter-reality is, but we can prove that there is an ultimate reality with rules and absolutes. Even if our intra-realties are based on another intra-reality, there needs to be a concrete cause somewhere. There has to be something that binds these pseudo worlds. Can you imagine something that you’ve never experienced? And I don’t mean like a 4 headed wolf. You’ve experienced a wolf and a head before. Can you imagine something that isn’t based on anything you’ve ever experienced? The answer is no. Something does not come from nothing.
So, wow. That was a lot longer than I’d anticipated. Here’s the lyrics to Chapter 5 if anyone’s interested. I promise not to make it so long next time.
Down this mossy path
So familiar and yet never the same
The moss under foot turns to ash
As the trees burn down and grow up again
Tell me what is knowledge, Cinder
Can it’s purest form be obtained
Or is truth tainted by minds
That can never ever interpret the same
Whatever I may hear
I wanted to, I want to hear
whatever I may see
I wanted to, I want to see
Whatever I may believe
I wanted to, I want to believe
Did we ever want to be free?
To be free
Minds build realities
Twisting facts to fit the frame
Believing in normalities
So familiar and yet never the same
I must take my leave now, Cinder
Down towards the city and my cottage
And you up through the trees to your father
The Keeper of the Book of Knowledge
There’s no original thought
No dream without an experience
All intra-realties are wrought
On the inter-reality basis