(My first complete narrative of a philosophical and fantastic character. Please take a maximum of criticism , be it error or content.)That evening, Professor Klosak gathered friends and colleagues in his laboratory to demonstrate some result of his latest research. And here we are: I am one of the scientist’s friends, a “scribbler” from a regional scientific and research publication — plus a dozen and a half more people, many of whom I saw for the first time, I knew the others only by their names — they were located in a cramped little room in the middle of the tables, shelves, computers, papers, and various tricky equipment — some on chairs, some on office armchairs brought from other parts of the institute, and most on adapted bedside tables and other interior items. Everyone was eagerly watching the professor who was busy with the devices, waiting for when he would begin his story.
Finally this moment has come:
“It's no secret to anyone,” Klossak began without further greetings — that the objective reality that surrounds us consists not only of material phenomena. The Pi number, for example, the Pythagorean theorem, Euler's identity, is a strikingly beautiful correlation of fundamental mathematical constants — indeed, these constants themselves ... emphasis on these words), although not having at the same time a material carrier. Indeed, is it possible to believe that the value of Pi is carved on some stone somewhere in the heart of the Universe, and all the rounded objects of the world turn to this stone in order to coordinate their radius and length? No, there is no such stone. But the number pi exists. There is an objective. So, if human civilization disappears from the face of the Earth, disappears, not leaving behind a single trace, not even a tiny bit of information about discoveries made over thousands of years, and then, after centuries, it will be replaced by a new intelligent life - can it “dodge”? from this basic property, do without the number of pi in its development? I am sure that they will inevitably pass through this and many other discoveries made by people ...
- The above-mentioned concepts relate to the elementary, most basic “bricks” of this non-material part of reality, - the professor continued - but you can go further, because there are much higher-level phenomena: sensations and feelings inherent in living matter, psyche, thinking, consciousness - all this really, and all this we can not "touch". Try, for example, to imagine salt taste as a material object. We can analyze in detail the processes associated with sensing it in living organisms — the entire chain of reactions and signaling — but this very feeling will elude us, remain invisible behind formulas. And the feeling of salinity, and all other sensations — taste, hearing, vision — whatever you like — are not subject to material analysis. What about such “matter” as self-awareness? Can we identify it with any substance? A positive response would only mean the introduction of an additional mediation level, which would not explain anything. Thus, we are dealing with the existence of phenomena of immaterial, non-bodied nature. I call this world the Ideological level of being, since its components exist as ideas, but these ideas are not tied to the “author” - they don’t need a subject for their existence, they don’t need someone who would “spin” them in their head.
At this, our esteemed story-teller made a short pause, apparently getting ready to move on to the main part of the narration, and at the same time giving the audience the opportunity to prepare themselves, having understood what was said. But the story resumed:
- Being engaged in similar reasonings, I asked questions: is it possible to separate the material from the non-material? And in particular, to separate a person from the ideological component of its internal content. Or the person himself to separate from his material - go to the ideal level. It would seem that there is nothing new in such matters - mystics and people of religion have long been concerned with the nature of the human spirit. But it seems to me that such teachings tend to implicitly "materialize" the ideal, introducing the concept of the soul and giving it physical properties, such as, for example, movement and energy. I tried to solve this problem, leaving the ideal purely ideal. And my research is not limited only to the theoretical and philosophical direction, but also have a practical embodiment: now I will show you a device for moving to the Ideological level of being, abbreviated PPrAiB.
With these words, the professor turned resolutely and stepped in the direction of a container-like container that had been behind him all this time.
“But wait ...” someone tried to argue, but Klosak either didn’t hear, or didn’t want to get into the discussion - instead of answering, he opened the stall door and stepped inside. Then he tightly closed the container and, turning his face to the public, with a smile, pressed the trigger lever ...
As it should be in such cases, at this moment a bright flash of light filled the entire space of the container, and those present were immediately blinded by it. When the ability to see returned, we found the container empty. There was silence for a while. Then someone suggested that it was a joke, that Klosak, taking advantage of the light effect, quietly left the laboratory through a secret door in the back of the shower. The most zealous rushed to the container and carefully examined it. Naturally, they found nothing. Others came to the adjacent room - to check the possibility of exit from the other side - there they were met by a blank wall.
... What would it mean? Did the old man really turn into his “ideological” reality? Or was he wrong in the calculations and simply self-destructed, broke up into a stream of photons? But then there should have been energy that would destroy everything for kilometers around!
Nobody knew what to do. Continue the search? Wait? What? The experimenter's return? And who said that his device acts in the opposite direction? Or maybe just leave, as if there was nothing? And then what? All my life to be silent about what happened, and then you will be sent to the mental hospital or worse? But if you keep this secret in yourself, there is still the risk of getting there.
Some skeptics settled on the fact that it was still a joke and left. A couple of people lost their nerves, and they decided to “close their eyes” and move away from the problem - and followed the first ones. The rest tried to put forward explanations of what had happened and options for further actions - all to nothing. Finally, someone called the police, and this turned out to be a nightmarish night and the following months for all witnesses of the experience: interrogations, suspicions, accusations ... In the end, the police gave up and the professors admitted that they were missing “under unexplained circumstances”.
On this, one would consider the adventures ended, but from time to time I still have thoughts about this incident, and inevitably the question arises: where are you, Professor Klosac?