The Plato Papers Read Free Page A

certain adherents even in the Age of Witspell.
    echology:
the practice of listening to the sound of one’s own voice, as if it then became of greater importance.
    economics:
an ancient science, devoted to reducing all phenomena to their smallest and most niggardly point. Hence ‘to practise economy’ was synonymous with ‘miserliness’.
    electricity:
a doubtful term but one generally thought to represent the element of fire or heat, as distinguished from moisture and cold. It was, therefore, a debased version of astral magic. In the earlier Age of Orpheus it was supposed that celestial bodies emanated a ‘spiritual and divine light’ which took ‘a gracious passage through all things’ with ‘a reception by each, according to each one’s capacity’. The nature of electricity suggests that this belief was somehow inherited by the people of Mouldwarp in a less holy and reverent form.
    fibre optic:
a coarse material woven out of eyes, worn by the high priests of the mechanical age in order to instil terror among the populace.
    firewater:
an unknown compound, perhaps related to the primitive superstition that there was a fire at the centre of all things. See ‘electricity’.
    flying saucers:
a game for children. See also ‘fast food’.
    free will:
a term of some significance in the Age of Mouldwarp, connected with the belief that individual choice or ‘will’ was of no value in a commercial market; it was therefore supplied free of charge.
    globe:
for many centuries the earth was perceived as a flattened disc at the centre of the universe; at a later date it was considered to be a spherical or rounded object circulating through space. A globe was a model designed to represent this last concept, although its proportions were evidently taken from the laws of geometrical harmony. Thus it resembled the magical orbus of the astrologer.
    GMT:
a hieroglyph discovered on several artefacts. It is believed to encode the ritualised worship of the god of mathematics and technology. See below.
    god:
in the Age of the Apostles, considered to be the supreme ruler of the universe. In the Age of Mouldwarp, a mechanical and scientific genius. In the Age of Witspell, the principle of life reaching beyond its own limits.
    half time:
the circumstance or condition in which events seem to unfold very slowly, believed to represent a concerted effort of the Mouldwarp world to stop before it was too late.
    ideology:
the process of making ideas. The work was generally performed in silence and solitude, since great care was needed in their manufacture. Certain artisans were chosen for this occupation at an early age and were trained in mental workhouses or asylums. They were known as idealists, and were expected to provide a fixed number of ideas to be exhibited or dramatised for the benefit of the public.
    ill wind:
a wind that was sick, having been created by human perception.
    information:

6
    Sidonia:
I believe that you were about to describe ‘information’. May I sit with you, Plato, and discuss the subject?
    Plato:
By all means. Here in the cool and even light I feel sure that we will reach interesting conclusions. We sat here when we were children, debating the existence of light and the eternity of triangles.
    Sidonia:
You knew all the answers.
    Plato:
No. I knew the questions. I always wanted to catch your attention.
    Sidonia:
That was long ago.
    Plato:
Or a long way forward. Have you noticed how before and after have become strangely mingled? But this is idle chatter. You were asking me, were you not, about ‘information’? By all accounts it was a very ancient deity. It conferred power upon those who worshipped it and was thought to have an invisible presence everywhere.
    Sidonia:
But what was the purpose of this god or spirit?
    Plato:
Apparently it had none. Even its devotees did not believe that they could become wiser, or happier, through its ministrations. In many respects it resembled the cults of Witspell which were