This is certainly a cerebral article. I'm no philosopher but I think I understood most of it. (I'm still having a hard time wrapping my mind around an "epistemically perverse situation" even though you explained it.)
I'm glad you'll be getting around to The Eternals later and, I'm assuming, Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, so I will save my thoughts on those until you discuss them. You've obviously seen seasons 1 and 2 of Loki, but I'm wondering whether or not you saw the first and/or second season of What If... (I only saw the first). I ask because you emphasize the idea of Ultron winning, which is the plot of the final two episodes of the first season. You also cover the notion of nexus events, which reminds me of the Doctor Strange episode in which he prevents the "fixed point of time" of his beloved Christine dying but, in doing so, destroys his universe. I don't really think they're necessary for you to watch in order to write these articles, but I was just curious.
The Matrix is an “epistemically perverse” situation, Christopher! So is standing in exactly the right spot looking at an Ames room (Google it), or any optical illusion! Epistemically perverse is another way of saying in effect that reality is out to get you, to trick you, that all your best efforts to understand reality are doomed to go astray.
The history of thinking about epistemically perverse situations goes back to Plato’s cave (a thought experiment that imagined people living in a cave viewing shadows of puppets on the wall and mistaking the puppet-shadows for real things). A famous example was proposed by Rene Descartes, who imagined minds in the grip of a powerful evil spirit, an evil genius or demon, capable of producing illusions indistinguishable from reality. This led him to his famous first principle, “ Cogito, ergo sum” or “I think, therefore I am,” i.e., I am conscious, I am aware of knowing, and therefore I exist. From there he proceeded to reason toward the existence of a good God, and then concluded that a good God would not allow us to languish in an epistemically perverse situation, and therefore what we perceive as reality is not an illusion projected by a powerful evil spirit.
While I’ve read many “What If…?” comics, I have not seen the Disney+ series, and that is certainly the biggest hole in my treatment here! That said, I suspect the writing on What If…? was not rigorously governed by considerations like “Which possibilities would the TVA never allow to happen?” That would be a boring show!
Thank you for the clarification. I know about Plato's cave and The Matrix, but I never heard that "epistemically perverse" expression before. And yes, the premise behind the What If... show is that it takes place because He Who Remains was killed and the multiverse is "roaming free."
Just so you know, the TVA and He Who Remains are never mentioned on the What If... show (that I can remember). The idea of the multiverse "roaming free" is implied. A cosmic being called a Watcher (Jeffrey Wright) sees all the stories and narrates them. The characters only interact with him in a few episodes. The stories are standalone except for the season 1 finale in which they're all pulled together. I really enjoyed the show but didn't watch season 2 because I don't get Disney+ anymore.
I thought one of the more palatable multiverse stories was Starz’s Counterpart starring JK Simmons. I can only recommend it with caution because of the adult content but I thought the story was great. A multiverse with different post hoc outcomes as a result of a quantum accident that copies/twins the ex ante solo universe. It’s still a spiritually chilling one but not as fraught with the idea that there’s a separate universe for every action and omission—including the course the ladybug walks—which is beyond bonkers.
This is certainly a cerebral article. I'm no philosopher but I think I understood most of it. (I'm still having a hard time wrapping my mind around an "epistemically perverse situation" even though you explained it.)
I'm glad you'll be getting around to The Eternals later and, I'm assuming, Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, so I will save my thoughts on those until you discuss them. You've obviously seen seasons 1 and 2 of Loki, but I'm wondering whether or not you saw the first and/or second season of What If... (I only saw the first). I ask because you emphasize the idea of Ultron winning, which is the plot of the final two episodes of the first season. You also cover the notion of nexus events, which reminds me of the Doctor Strange episode in which he prevents the "fixed point of time" of his beloved Christine dying but, in doing so, destroys his universe. I don't really think they're necessary for you to watch in order to write these articles, but I was just curious.
The Matrix is an “epistemically perverse” situation, Christopher! So is standing in exactly the right spot looking at an Ames room (Google it), or any optical illusion! Epistemically perverse is another way of saying in effect that reality is out to get you, to trick you, that all your best efforts to understand reality are doomed to go astray.
The history of thinking about epistemically perverse situations goes back to Plato’s cave (a thought experiment that imagined people living in a cave viewing shadows of puppets on the wall and mistaking the puppet-shadows for real things). A famous example was proposed by Rene Descartes, who imagined minds in the grip of a powerful evil spirit, an evil genius or demon, capable of producing illusions indistinguishable from reality. This led him to his famous first principle, “ Cogito, ergo sum” or “I think, therefore I am,” i.e., I am conscious, I am aware of knowing, and therefore I exist. From there he proceeded to reason toward the existence of a good God, and then concluded that a good God would not allow us to languish in an epistemically perverse situation, and therefore what we perceive as reality is not an illusion projected by a powerful evil spirit.
While I’ve read many “What If…?” comics, I have not seen the Disney+ series, and that is certainly the biggest hole in my treatment here! That said, I suspect the writing on What If…? was not rigorously governed by considerations like “Which possibilities would the TVA never allow to happen?” That would be a boring show!
Thank you for the clarification. I know about Plato's cave and The Matrix, but I never heard that "epistemically perverse" expression before. And yes, the premise behind the What If... show is that it takes place because He Who Remains was killed and the multiverse is "roaming free."
Oh, that’s fascinating—now I have to watch at least some What If…? for an upcoming installment of this series!
Just so you know, the TVA and He Who Remains are never mentioned on the What If... show (that I can remember). The idea of the multiverse "roaming free" is implied. A cosmic being called a Watcher (Jeffrey Wright) sees all the stories and narrates them. The characters only interact with him in a few episodes. The stories are standalone except for the season 1 finale in which they're all pulled together. I really enjoyed the show but didn't watch season 2 because I don't get Disney+ anymore.
I thought one of the more palatable multiverse stories was Starz’s Counterpart starring JK Simmons. I can only recommend it with caution because of the adult content but I thought the story was great. A multiverse with different post hoc outcomes as a result of a quantum accident that copies/twins the ex ante solo universe. It’s still a spiritually chilling one but not as fraught with the idea that there’s a separate universe for every action and omission—including the course the ladybug walks—which is beyond bonkers.