Are you ready for more metaphysical mayhem? The strange train we’re all passengers on will soon be on its way. But first – a brief respite at the Liminal Waystation.
I hope you’re ready. Because it’s time to dive into the space
Between Here and There
Where are we right now? Where are we going? The minute we begin that journey toward our destination we enter a liminal space. We are neither setting out nor arriving. We are between the two, and whether we recognize it or not, everything is in flux. From hallways providing entry from one room to the next to roads connecting towns to whole oceans dividing coasts – the Liminal reigns supreme.
The space between Here and There can be defined a million different ways. It can be thought of in terms of both time and space. It leads to far more questions than answers. Is this world all there is? Do we pass sometimes into others? Can we find our way back again? Should we? Is the person that returns the same one the sets out? We can’t speak of the liminal without examining the notion of the passage.
Little is known about Zeno of Elea. His contributions to mathematics and philosophy have outlived the details of his life. Among these contributions are his infamous paradoxes. In one such paradox, the Dichotomy Paradox, Zeno argues that to reach a destination, we must first reach the half-way point. To arrive there, we must reach a quarter of the way. This series is infinite. The conclusion is that motion is mathematically impossible. The paradox is that motion surrounds us. The journey is ongoing.
Physics can often accomplish what metaphysics can’t, and it was physics that finally showed that the conditions under which Zeno’s Paradox held true were, simply, put, not the conditions of our world. His argument is spatial, not temporal. In other words, it says nothing about time.
It wasn’t until our mathematical articulation of velocity that we were able to show how motion occurs. This, as most of us know, is the overall change in distance/overall change in time. And velocity is a rate. Constant motion can be interrupted, but that requires an outside force – Thanks, Newton!)
Is your mind blown yet? If you have any brain cells left, take a look at the Quantum Zeno Effect, where the established order is thrown to the wayside and quantum systems have to take on the properties of waves rather than particles to go from one state to another (a prerequisite for certain physical states.)
Getting from Here to There sounds simple on the surface, but it is oh so complex. We’ve spent thousands of years trying to figure it out.
Book Recommendation
Piranesi
by Susanna Clarke
Set in a parallel universe made up of an infinite number of halls and vestibules which triggers a gradual loss of memory and identity in newcomers, Piranesi is a fascinating tale that embraces the liminal The story is told through the research notes of the eponymous narrator, who reconstructs the story of his own arrival as he explores this world.
Check it out today!
Writing Exercise
Nowhere is the liminal more alive than in the notion of the Hero’s Journey. A character who leaves the comfort of home and has not yet arrived at their destination is at the mercy of a slew of forces. There’s an argument that the person who arrives is not the same one that set out. The telling of a story also often has a profound effect on its author.
Write about the journey you went through writing your last piece. What made you want to set the project into motion and how did you know you’d arrived at a conclusion? What did you take away from the experience and were you the same person after you’d penned your last word?
