Dimensions of Thought – May 21, 1997

Dylan further discusses the properties of the physical reality, how his thoughts are the most powerful creator.

Time, Space and Thought

“Within the known limits of time… within the conceived boundaries of space…. the average human thinks those are the settings of existence…Yet the ponderer, the outcast, the believer, helps out the human.  "Think not of 2 dimensions,’ says the ponderer, ‘but of 3, as your world is conceived of 3 dimensions, so is mine.  While you explore the immediate physical boundaries of your body, you see in your 3 dimensions – L (length), W (width), & H (height).  Yet I, who is more mentally open to anything, see my 3 dimensions, my realm of thought – Time, Space, &  THOUGHT.  Thought is the most powerful thing that exists– anything conceivable can be produced, anything & everything is possible in your physical world.’  After this so called ‘lecture’ the common man feels confused, empty, & unaware.  Yet those are the best emotions of a ponderer.  The real difference is, a true ponderer will explore these emotions & what cause them.  Another… a dream.”

The universe is approximately 13.8 billion years old, which makes the outer boundaries twice that in light years.  Yet beyond the physical boundaries of the universe, the thoughts we can think appear limitless.  The language of mathematics allows us to write ‘infinity to the power of infinity’.  The mind can think thoughts that cannot really exist outside the mind.

Dylan’s prose expresses once more an important aspect of quantum science, as explained earlier, namely that the observing mind induces the result of its own measurement.  While this may be true when we observe the behavior of electrons and photons, it does mean that an underlying ‘real’ reality does not exist.  Reality is an illusion that helps observing minds make logical sense of how one thing leads to another.

But some scientists express a bigger concern.  As science digs deeper in the world of atoms and particles, will there ever be an end to new scientific discovery?  Or do scientists them induce new layer of reality simply when they ask new questions?  For example, we now know that atoms are made of protons and electrons, and they themselves are made of quarks.  The problem is that reality may be a sort of onion having infinite layers, in which case science will never be able to answer what the universe is made of and will have to admit defeat.  

However, if the science could really be the cause of its own measurements, then the human mind that invents such science truly is the creator of its surroundings.  Have we built the world we live in by collectively dreaming it up? Do we give birth to a new answer when we pose an original question? 

It appears to me that thought is the most powerful thing that exists. The thinking mind can imagine abstract, infinite realities that we cannot communicate with words or images. 

Quantum mechanics takes a toll on the senses of even seasoned scientists, because of its implication that real reality does not exist.  But others emphasize that we should embrace the ideas of quantum science: “Someone who has learned to accept that nothing exists but observations is far ahead of peers who stumble through physics hoping to find out ‘what things are’.”

Dylan’s passages once again echo Heraclitus’ thinking.  Compare “Thought is the most powerful thing that exists […] physical world.” with Heraclitus: “Of all the worlds yet spoken, none comes quite as far as wisdom, which is the action of the mind, beyond all things that may be said,” and compare “After this so called lecture the common man feels confused, empty and unaware […] what caused them. ” with “Many fail to grasp what they have seen, and cannot judge what they have learned, although they tell themselves they know.”

God Complex

“I think, too much, I understand, I am GOD compared to some of those unexistable brainless zombies.  Yet, the actions of them interest me, like a kid with a new toy.”

Not cogito, ergo sum – I think, therefore I am – but cogito nimium, intelligo
– I think too much, I understand.

Compare the first sentence of this statement with Heraclitus:  “Those unmindful when they hear, for all they make of their intelligence, may be regarded as the walking dead.”

With great intellect comes great arrogance.  While it is not healthy to look down on people so much, in such a misanthropic manner, both Heraclitus and Dylan Klebold generally felt incapable to communicate their ideas to their peers, which became the cause of their social reclusion.

When Dylan calls others “brainless zombies”, it is simply a mental revenge on the school bullies that cast him out.  In terms of intellect, he felt socially and emotionally as far removed from Average Joe as “God” to “un-existable, brainless zombies." 

Jade Vega wrote in her ‘applied final project’ titled Dylan Klebold and Schizotypal Personality Disorder: "This is one of several instances in Dylan’s journal where he not only demonstrated odd thinking, but odd speech, as well.  He used several words which were not real, in addition to using words in inappropriate contexts.”  But Klebold’s “un-existable, brainless zombies” are simply a reference to the humanoid enemies in the computer game Doom, and they are coincidentally called ‘zombiemen’, Former Humans or Former Sergeants. 

The odd adjective “un-existable” refers to people who, in Klebold’s view, are like primitive animals who live in the three dimensions of space, but never in the three dimensions of “Time, Space and Thought”.  They do not have the overdeveloped mind that burdens Dylan, that makes him question everything about the world around him. 

What bothers most about Vega’s interpretations is that by her measure almost every philosopher would have to suffer some personality disorder.  The oddest thing about Klebold’s writings is that he manages to express highly abstract ideas using the limited vocabulary available to him – limited because of language, not because of Klebold. 

This gem of a book can be purchased on Amazon and you will be able to read the rest which includes Eric’s philosophy. I highly recommend it!

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