Great Derangement: Part 1 Quiz

Great Derangement: Part 1: Stories

• Something inanimate can appear alive, like a carpet pattern resembling a dog's tail, which could lead to a tripped ankle. Similarly, harmless-looking things can be dangerous, such as a vine that is a worm or a snake, or a harmless log which is a crocodile.
• The scene in The Empire Strikes Back exemplifies this. Han Solo lands the Millennium Falcon on what he believes is an asteroid, however he finds himself in the gullet of a sleeping space monster.
• The assumption that planets and asteroids are inert is incorrect in a larger historical context, which the scene reveals.
• A significant number of people believed planets and asteroids to be inert only in a relatively short time frame (less than three centuries historically).
• The understanding of interplanetary objects will evolve significantly in the future, and assumptions made today will be incorrect.

Ecological Refugees

• Ancestors of the author were ecological refugees who migrated from Bangladesh to Bihar, India in the mid-1800s, due to the Padma River changing course and drowning their village.
• The author heard this story from their father during a family trip on the same river in a steamboat.
• The author reflects on the elemental forces that uprooted their ancestors, triggering journeys and migrations which impacted their family's history directly.
• These events shaped their family life, creating a series of journeys that preceded the author's own travels.
• The river stands as a symbol of the forces that shaped their family history and heritage.

Recognition and Knowledge

• Recognition is a process of moving from ignorance to knowledge.
• It does not require the exchange of words, often occurring silently.
• Recognition involves a renewed understanding of something previously known or understood.
• It is often triggered by sudden, impactful events such as a river rising, floods and storms, which forces awareness into action.

Recognition and Disclosures

• The moment of recognition is characterized by the flashing of a prior awareness, which brings about an immediate, but silent change in our understanding of a situation.
• Recognition does not arise spontaneously, but rather requires a prior awareness or existence of a previous knowledge in order to connect to the present awareness.
• This prior, hidden awareness is crucial to the process of recognition.
• Recognition occurs when we grasp or realize a previously known potential within ourselves.

Recognition and Energy

• Recognition is not simply about encountering something new but about understanding the pervasive presence of energy and power, which interconnects everything within and without ourselves.
• The concept can also apply to non-human beings, such as an environmental event or disaster.
• Recognition occurs when we realize the energy that surrounds us—which is both inside (and potentially disruptive) and outside ourselves.

The Climate of Recognition

• Climate change poses unique challenges for contemporary writers.
• It is a difficult issue to convey from the perspective of serious fiction.
• The challenges are not just about a lack of information but rather result from the prevailing narrative structures that are not currently suited to addressing this complex issue.
• The way literary fiction typically represents the events of the world, in contrast to science writing, often fails to encompass the full severity of the present era's climate crisis.