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We're all just lost at sea
Wednesday, 22 March 2006
Picture this.
You wake up to find yourself aboard a huge old sailing ship. You can't remember who you are, or where you were before. You can't even remember what your name is.
The other people on the ship tell you not to worry, because the same thing once happened to them too. They just awoke and there they were, without any memory of what had happened to put them there.
Nobody is sure exactly how long the ship has been at sea, but it has been a very long time. You can't seem to find anyone who was aboard when it last left port. It's just been sailing along, with nothing but ocean around as long as anybody can remember.
Sometimes the sea is rough and everyone has to fight just to keep the ship afloat. Sometimes all is calm, and everyone sits with their legs dangling over the sides watching the sun reflect off the never-ending water.
You spend your first few days asking every person on the ship questions. How did I get here? Where is this ship going? Why can't I remember anything that happened before?
Many of the crew give you answers, often with great conviction. But these answers vary, and seem inconsistent. You come to the conclusion that nobody knows for sure.
Rumors of land are everywhere. Wide-eyed seamen talk of exotic countries filled with fruit and animals and jungles and rivers. But the ship just sails on and on, without a hint of land ever appearing. Not even the bottom of the ocean makes an appearance, no matter how long you stare into the deep blue water.
Fortunately, there are plenty of supplies aboard. Enough to last all of you a thousand lifetimes. A huge store below deck has all sorts of nutritional food and water, and no matter how much you take, it never seems to run out. You only have to put in the effort to fetch what you need.
After a time, you join in the everyday business of running the ship - raising and lowering the sails, cleaning the decks, repairing leaks in the hull, and so on. This can sometimes be a drag, but it can also be a satisfying diversion.
You also find there are a number of interesting amusements to prevent you from getting too bored. There's drink, and stories, and games, and gossip. Anyone who can come up with an intoxicating new amusement is rewarded with the love of everybody aboard. Occasionally, you're happy just to lie on the deck at night and look up at the stars scattered across the dark sky.
Sometimes, people die on the ship. Most are given a simple funeral service before having their bodies thrown overboard.
Sometimes, new people appear on the ship seemingly from nowhere. It always happens in a place where no-one is looking. A person simply walks out of an empty room, or will be there in the morning when everyone wakes up. At first, they never understand where they are or remember how they got there. They're even more confused than you.
Still the questions nag at you: What is this ship? Why am I on it? Is there some purpose to this voyage?
These questions bother other crew members also. They come up with all sorts of theories to answer them, sometimes believing so strongly that they will murder to defend their ideas.
From time to time, the uncertainty drives somebody crazy and they throw themselves overboard, never to be seen again. Often, great fights break out about which course the ship should follow, and what it was you were all supposed to be trying to achieve.
But none of this seems to matter at all to the ship. It just keep sailing on through the endless ocean, with never a hint of land in sight.
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