Was this a mistake?

So here goes another post for the blog. There are a bunch of topics we have been covering throughout our reading with Cat’s Cradle, but I think I tonight’s topic will be about the additional inferences about untruths in Cat’s Cradle and also the astonishing video we saw in class, Did You Know?

In my last post, I spoke mainly on the issue of non existing truth or a meaning to life. I got into the complications of scientific research, and how the research being done cannot be called purely true because there is nothing in the data that states this is so. Then, they use even more science and research as evidence to prove that it really is true. To summarize the post, I stated that there is nothing in the universe that will tell anyone anything about the absolute truth to life. The further I get into the novel, the more they emphasize on this concept of truth. But this time, I am beginning to see more often examples of what is said in the pretext about foma. It states “Live by the foma that make you brave and kind and healthy and happy” with foma meaning harmless untruths (Vonnegut). This can be seen in chapter 85 where John, the narrator, is searching for a term in The Books of Bokonon where he comes across the story about the solar system. It talks about Borasisi, the sun, and Pabu, the moon, creating children which were cold and did not burn, so Borasisi threw them away. They became the planets who keep their distance away from their disappointed father. But Puba decided to leave and stay with her favorite child of them all, Earth. And after this excerpt, it goes on to call it “Foma! Lie!... A pack of foma!” (Vonnegut 191) This was the story written in The Books of Bokonon. Today, people are still unsure about our endless universe and how exactly everything came into existence. The story given by Bokonon is not true, but it gives people meaning and something to believe in. Instead of just accepting that it is just there and it will always be there sort of thought process, this creates an effective way to explain things in simpler means. In postmodern terms, Bokonon’s story would fall under the concept of a local narrative.

There is also a place in the novel emphasizing this concept of truth. In this case, John meets Mona for the first time and tries to introduce himself. She responds by saying “It is not possible to make a mistake” (Vonnegut 203). This statement reveals a lot about this subject of truth and the self individual. I guess you can say that anything believed by the individual himself is subjected to be true, such as Mona’s statement with mistakes. Nothing you do can be called a mistake because an action is an action. An action becomes a mistake when the mindset of the individual, telling himself that what they did was a mistake. It is all in the perspective of the individual alone and what he believes to be true. If he believes that what he did was a mistake, then that is what it is to him. If he does not believe that what he did what he did was a mistake, then so be it. But all in all, he is the one revealing what he believes to be the actual truth. Sorry if this sounds kind of wordy and repetitive.

Well, so much for talking about the Did You Know? video. I guess I got too caught up on this subject of truths again. I did not even get to mention how I am beginning to sense another new dimension to this notion of untruths. I seem to be getting this sense of reality being more complicated than what is in front of one’s own eyes throughout Cat’s Cradle as well. This issue can wait until the next post then. Quote of the day…

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.”
~ Confucius