Hark, Facets

Psychology is, in many ways, a very dynamic field.  As our understanding of the brain is augmented, honed, we discover, daily, that many of our fundamental notions of it are completely unreliable, and that very alien concepts and tendencies may be the law of the land, so to speak.

The most celebrated researcher into the machinations of the human mind needs as much introduction as Einstein in the height of his popularity.  He is a household name, this Dr. Mathieu Strawson.  His theories have revolutionized the field, and their impacts have been wide-ranging ever since they were first published, in April of 1993.  There is not a household in the developed nations which has not benefited from his ideas, which gave us better treatment, bordering on cures for all manners of psychopathic illness and memory disorder.

The following is an excerpt from the journal of Dr. Strawson, dated May 16th, 2004.


---

Consider a single mind, expressed in many bodies.  Consider this single mind as capable of partitioning itself among these bodies, which march about their days unaware of their true nature as the limbs of a far greater being.  Consider, then, what this means.

Conventional terror cells work in much the same way, save that they are aware of their true nature.  These men and women integrate into a society and bide their time.  Their goals are known; they wish to inspire fear, and disrupt the flow of power.

But what of this single mind, of many bodies?  What does it desire?  Do even its parts know?  They might not.  They might not be aware of their connection with each other, their singular identity.  This identity we shall name "the Collective".  The Collective may be able to expand itself, to integrate more bodies.  More minds.  No, that's not quite right; if a mind becomes one with the Collective, it may simply cease to exist, being replaced with a perfect facsimile, which thinks of itself that it is the same as it has always been.  All the while, such an integrated body's original mind is no more.  There is only the singular will of the Collective, which may move the body and its neurons as easily as you might move your arms and legs, or twitch a finger.  You do not suppose that your limbs and digits possess sentience, do you?  So it is with the Collective and its various instruments.

What might happen, if such an entity were to exist?  An invisible pathogen, ripping through the population.  Killing everyone you know.  You, even; you wouldn't know, after all.  Even now, you could be sitting there, reading this, thinking your precious little thoughts, feeling your intricate little emotions, supposing yourself to truly exist, to breathe of your own accord, to make choices independent of outside influence, and all the while you are nothing but a Facet of the Collective.  A single gem, this Collective would be, its various planes completely unaware of each other, and yet, they are whole and together, bound as one.

And what if you were not such a Facet?  Would you know of the Collective?  Only if it wills it.  Every Facet may be entirely unaware, completely incapable of telling you.  Or perhaps they are all aware.  Perhaps they all are perfect actors, never breaking part.  Perhaps they watch you, endlessly.  For what purpose?  Who knows?  Only the Collective.

The only way to be sure, one way or the other, is for the Collective to reveal itself.  To will that you be aware of its presence.  And what would be the purpose of this?  If you were not a Facet, why would the Collective make itself known to you, who were rejected as one of its many bodies?

Probably not to talk.

And if this Collective stirred, if it willed that its Facets approached you, what would you do in the presence of something so fundamentally inhuman?  What if you knew without a doubt, when it revealed itself, that you could never know who is a Facet and who is not, even yourself?  What if you knew that, whatever your reaction may be, it could simply be the will of the Collective that you, its Facet, behave as such?

Maddening, yes?  What would you do?

---

The May 16th, 2004 entry is the last Dr. Strawson wrote, to the knowledge of the authorities; it was discovered, along with the rest of his journal and personal notes, on the floor of his Manhattan apartment, which appeared to have been broken into.  Nothing was stolen.  Dr. Strawson's whereabouts remain unknown.