grady@ucbvax.ARPA (Steven Grady) (05/05/85)
Mankind (slight future) has a disease in which we perceive time as flowing the wrong way. We got this mind illness just a generation or two ago (ie about 50 years in the future)... When viewed from the correct perspective, life seems very different: Matter coalesces from nothing into a human being, and slowly goes through a cycle, from needing to be taken care of, to being fully dependent, to being dependent again, to finally finishing your life by giving nourishment to your mother.. Universe is similarly optimistically oriented: from heat comes order, meaning, all coalescing, until finally coming together in a huge mass of brilliance and energy. None of this depressing entropy stuff... The most interesting thing I remember is that for a couple days after I could perceive the world in this time-reversed form as well as our standard way... I'd like to read this book again -- any help would be appreciated. Steven Grady (...ucbvax!ucbdali!grady; grady@ucbdali.Berkeley) "[Too many brilliant quotes from SF to select one here]"