Reflective Letter

Dear Reader,
This essay and multi-genre compilation explores the ideas surrounding the possibility of the universe existing in a manner so foreign and and disconnected with the ways that humans perceive and understand reality, that the differences are too great to span, preventing humans from reaching the theoretical pinnacle of scientific advancement and understanding. This may seem like a dire and altogether depressing topic, but it doesn't need to be that way! This project simply educates you about one of a number of possible interpretations of reality, and even if it's correct, the inability for a person to reach godlike intelligence hardly invalidates the idea of existential or altruistic fulfillment.
Each of the genres about this subject illustrates the events of the novel either from the blissfully ignorant perspective of the public, or the from the despairing perspective of those few who survived the harrowing events at The Mountains of Madness. Via reading the genres and the associated quotation, one can gain a better understanding of the motivations and fears of Dyer and Danforth, caught in unthinkable horrors, yet bound to silence for the good of humanity.

Thank you,
James Williamson

Genre 1: Article: The Straight Scoop

"Every incident of that four-and-a-half-hour flight is burned into my recollection because of its crucial position in my life. It marked my loss, at the age of fifty-four, of all that peace and balance which the normal mind possesses through its accustomed conception of external nature and nature's laws. Thenceforward the ten of us … were to face a hideously amplified world of lurking horrors which nothing can erase from our emotions, and which we would refrain from sharing with mankind in general if we could" (Lovecraft 744).

Miskatonic Team Return From Revolutionary, Costly Expedition!

This past Thursday, the Miskatonic University Antarctic Research Team has successfully landed in American port after their sensational journey. Nearly one year after they set out to explore the last frontier on Earth, the expedition has brought back the precious research information and troves of rare and unique fossils. Preliminary cataloging has found the diversity of recovered specimens to indeed live up to the jubilant transmissions sent just over two months ago. But these large advances in biology, paleontology, and geology do come at a great cost. The treacherous cold and gales of the antarctic took the lives of all but a portion of the expedition team and its equipment in a single disastrous storm. Despite this setback, the team of explorers persevered and recovered all the excavated research materials without further incident. Despite this, plans are already being laid for a new expedition to the icy continent in order to pick up where the Miskatonic team left off, and continue the noble scientific mission to finally understand that lifeless continent on the bottom of the world.

Arkham Herald daily edition.

Expository Essay: You Can't Handle the Truth!

You Can't Handle the Truth!

H.P. Lovecraft's famous novel, At the Mountains of Madness, throws the commonly held goal of the pursuit of knowledge into question. With the terrible and disastrous knowledge of the elder ones, human life and survival is threatened. Those who knew of their existence tried to do everything they could to prevent this knowledge from being discovered, until the Narrator and protagonist is forced to speak in order to prevent a second expedition to the Antarctic. This idea that there is knowledge too difficult or dangerous to know is not new, being as old as history itself. But in this work the idea is proposed that there is knowledge that is impossible for humans to comprehend and not go mad, which is supported by fields of philosophy and advances in scientific theory. One of these theories goes so far back as the fifth century BC, with a Greek named Zeno.
In ancient Greece, Zeno proposed several paradoxes of motion which all come to the conclusion that movement itself is an illusion, and that the true reality that humans experience is wholly unavailable in terms of what humans can access with their senses. One of these paradox speaks about moving towards a door. In order to reach this door, one must first reach halfway between oneself and the door. And before one can reach halfway, they must reach halfway to the halfway point. This recurses until one is put in the position of having to move halfway between the two smallest resolutions of space, which is by definition impossible. This thought experiment illustrates one of the numerous aspects of motion and a person's perception of reality that are skewed or in question of its truth. This situation lends validity to the idea that there are concepts relating to the nature of reality and existence which are another plane of thought which is unexceptionable by the restricted minds of humans and their sensual perception.
Another school of thought relates to metaphysics and transcendental idealism as proposed by Emmanuel Kant. This cosmological theory purposes the true existence of the objects that are encountered in life, but that one's perceptions and interactions are with the imperfect and not fully encompassing phenomena. These phenomenal projections of the self existent noumena are different for every different perspective that a person could have. This theory, as a rectification of empiricist and rationalist views, necessarily proposes that the true form of reality is inaccessible by perceptions made from within the same dimension of existence. If this cosmological theory is true, then the endeavor to fully understand the universe will ultimately be an exercise in futility. These theories are also getting new scientific support in the form of String Theory.
String Theory is one of the leading explanations for what quarks and all matter are themselves comprised of. This theory successfully incorporates all currently known data on particle physics. The major issue with this theory is that due to the infinitesimally small size of the energy strings, the theory is unfalsifiable. This means that if String Theory is indeed true, then a necessary component of reality and existence will be by definition imperceivable by all means of observation. This along with the philosophical backing promotes a very real possibility that our universe presents an inherently imperceivable existence
At the Mountains of Madness plays upon the humans' inherent fear of the unknown as the basis for the horror aspects of the story. Although Cthulhu and the elder ones may not exist, the fact that the reality one lives may be one of a number of different situations in which ultimate understanding of the universe is an impossible task is a very real possibility. The world that may seem to be so real and common could actually be so foreign and alien in nature that it becomes impossible for the limitations of the human condition to overcome.

Sources:

H.P. Lovecraft: The Complete Fiction. By H.P. Lovecraft, with an Introduction by S.T. Joshi. New York, NY: Barnes & Noble, Inc.; 2011; ISBN 978-1-4351-2296-3; leatherbound, 1120 pages.

Grier, Michelle. "Kant's Critique of Metaphysics." Stanford University. Stanford University, 29 Feb. 2004. Web. 22 May 2015.

Greene, Brian. "Why String Theory Still Offers Hope We Can Unify Physics."Smithsonian. Smithsonian Institute, 15 Jan. 2015. Web. 22 May 2015.

Dowdon, Bradley. "Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, n.d. Web. 22 May 2015.

Genre 3: Collage: The Alien Reality

"The doubts and horrors around us—which we did not reveal—made us wish only to escape from this austral world of desolation and brooding madness as swiftly as we could" (Lovecraft 749).

The Alien Reality:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1_ohtFn2mIPdFAydm85aVBjc3M/view?usp=sharing

Genre 2: Obituary: "Poor Lake"

"Even in the midst of our distress, utter bewilderment, and soul-clutching horror, we scarcely went beyond the truth in any specific instance. The tremendous significance lies in what we dared not tell; what I would not tell now but for the need of warning others off from nameless terrors" (Lovecraft 745).

In memory of Prof. Lake:
August 18, 1894 - January 24th, 1931, age 37

Proffesor Lake of the Miskatonic University Biology Department passed last month while abroad on the groundbreaking Miskatonic expedition to the Antarctic, due to tragic environmental conditions. He will be remembered as a devoted and brilliant scientist on the verge of many new discoveries in paleontology, who also never let work get in the way of his family. He is survived by a wife and son. Memorial service to be held at St. John's Episcopal church this Sunday at 2:30 pm.

Blog Response: Alex D./Thus Spoke Zarathustra

This post is in response to Alex D's March 4th blog post (posted here for the convenience of Mrs. Romano):
I personally find Nietzsche to be a very interesting philosopher and theorist. Perhaps you could do research into his ties with other philosophers and writers, such as Dostoevsky, Kierkegaard, or Ayn Rand. All three of these writers relate to him in different ways, in terms of interpreting human nature, creating one's own moral code, and rejecting the influence of society upon one's morality, each respectively. I think that it would be fairly easy to find reliable sources on all these thinkers, as well as delve into how Nietzsche profoundly impacted modern philosophy.

At the Mountains of Madness: Post 2

At this point in time I have now completed H.P. Lovecraft's most famous novel, At the Mountains of Madness. I can now say that I am set upon the course of researching the idea that there are concepts and ideas that the human mind simply is unable to comprehend or fathom. I have reached this conclusion due the way that Danforth reacts to the horrors he is witness to. He is simply driven mad from his inability to rectify the knowledge he has gained with his human perceptions. This is primarily seen in how he gains a single glimpse at what is called a mirage, what exactly it is is never revealed. Due to this, he loses his sanity and ability to cope with the incomprehensible knowledge or insight he has experienced. With this series of events, it seems that Lovecraft is asserting that it is possible that there are some truths which are simply impossible to comprehend. Although this works focuses on the existential horror that this could produce, I think I will focus my research more towards the scientific or established philosophical. What first comes to mind is on of Zeno's paradoxes of motion which assert that motion is actually an illusion that cannot be a physical reality. I'm not sure I truly agree with the philosophical position that is being forwarded by this novel, but I do think that it is an interesting topic to look more into. In terms of possible scientific inquiries, I will try to look for some form of theory or argument that science is unable to experimentally prove. This will most likely found in either the grandest of scales in astronomy and physics, or at the smallest of scales in chemistry and particle physics.
Overall, I very much liked this novel. I am generally not enthused by the horror genre, but in this case I found it's unique buildup and expansive mythology to be quite intriguing and effective at creating immersion. With this in mind, I would certainly recommend this to any individual looking for leisure reading.