MODES OF THOUGHT IN ANTERRAN LITERATURE
c667, 2nd year classics
file: 106
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Papers shuffle. A KNOCK on the door.
PROFESSOR
Yeah? Come in.
RAQUEL
Hey, do you have a second?
PROFESSOR
Yeah, yeah. Come on in.
RAQUEL
Ok.
PROFESSOR
I thought the last class was really good. I think the kids are kind of getting engaged.
RAQUEL
Absolutely. Yeah.
PROFESSOR
I love seeing that. What do you got?
RAQUEL
Yeah... Well, its just that the focus of my thesis has been changing...
PROFESSOR
I thought you were pretty locked on Rah ?, and the West Wall complex?
RAQUEL
I was, yeah but I’m thinking lately that maybe a thesis on Anterran philosophy of language-- well... You know, premodern has always been my main focus.
PROFESSOR
Ok.
RAQUEL
And there’s not much of an audience on a treatis on Anterran philosophy yet because you know there’s just not as much information about the discovery out there right now. one really knows about the discovery.
PROFESSOR
Mhm.
RAQUEL
So I’m going back to the idea of Parmenides and Pre-Socratic Epistemology.
PROFESSOR
Ok... That’s am interesting choice.
RAQUEL
And I think Professor Ratermann has more experience in that area- I mean, she practically wrote the book on Anaxagoras. She might as well have Pythagoras tattooed on her neck.
PROFESSOR
Yeah, I mean, she’s, she’s great.
RAQUEL
Yeah.
PROFESSOR
Neck tattoo or no, she really knows her shit.
RAQUEL
Exactly, so I just... I really think--
PROFESSOR
Look, Raquel. I get it, and I hear you. And, first off, just good for you. I really like to hear students advocating for themselves, and you laid out a very clear and concise argument, and that’s not a small thing.
RAQUEL
Well, thanks.
PROFESSOR
I think maybe there’s something missing from your argument, but doesn’t matter. We don’t have to say it. I’d like to make a case for sticking with me and doing the work on the Western Wall Translation. Ok?
RAQUEL
I’ve kind of decided already, so... And--
PROFESSOR
...So then amuse me for a few minutes.
RAQUEL
Ok. Sure.
Dramatic pause, he stands up and walks around. He’s a pacer.
PROFESSOR
You know, Mem Yae’l said “the darkest day was the day when we knew the sun would go behind the mountains.” And I really believe that. You know, the day that we think we know something, that’s the day we refused to learn. And, I really always admired this about you. You seem constantly ready to confront the unknown which is what scholarship is really about. You’re young. You have a long career in front of you and you have that gargantuan brain ready to tackle these problems, but if you go back to pre-socratic epistemology you’re gonna take all that effort and all that work and two or three years of your goddamn life and you’re gonna smash it down into a sheet of paper, and try to wedge that in amongst the other thousands and thousands of pieces of paper that have been written on Pre Socratics and their Epistemology. It is beaten territory. Everyone has covered it.
Beat
PROFESSOR
What we have here, with Anterran Literature, we don’t even know what it is yet. We’re finding whole new ways of thinking, new ways of being, and the sum total of our knowledge- the whole world’s collective knowledge about this subject, it fits in a fucking thimble! The pre-socratics are fine. They don’t need your help. But if the world’s ever going to understand this new line of thought from the most ancient human civilization, it needs people like you that are ready to confront the darkness. This is the work. This is the work, Raquel, that you are born to do.
RAQUEL
God damn it...
PROFESSOR
Right? I’m not telling you something you don’t already know. I... Seriously, I am not trying to convince you to do something you don’t want to do. This is your turf.
RAQUEL
I’ll keep working on the Western Wall project. For now. And you and I will check in next month?
PROFESSOR
Great. Great! That’s an excellent call. Actually I have something here. Let me see where I put it.
Phone rings.
RAQUEL
You need to get that?
PROFESSOR
Yeah, I probably should. Ok, we’ll catch up next week?
RAQUEL
Yeah. I’ll see you in class.
PROFESSOR
Ok. Hello?
Door closes
WILKINS
Hello, hey this is Miles Wilkins over in computer sciences.
PROFESSOR
Oh. Hi, how can I help you?
WILKINS
Well, this is kind of unusual but one of my grad students is moonlighting in IT, and he was assigned your classroom laptop, I guess it was having some problems?
PROFESSOR
Yeah, yeah it was acting very strangely.
WILKINS
Yeah, ok, but listen, the laptop definitely has some malware on it, and its really sophisticated stuff.
PROFESSOR
Really?
WILKINS
Yeah, and honestly, we’re all kind of stumped on what this thing is or what its doing, so, if it’s ok with you, we wanted to just hang on to it for a little while longer.
PROFESSOR
Yeah, yeah, I mean, of course that’s totally fine. Just, will you do me a favor? Keep me in the loop, ok? Cause I’m, I’m curious.
WILKINS
Do you think there’s something going on?
PROFESSOR
Well, I mean people accuse me of being overly cautious, but I’m very protective of my research, and there’s this team in China that are working in the same area, so… I’m probably too cautious, but I’m cautious. You know?
WILKINS
Ok, I actually think you might have something.
PROFESSOR
I do? You think, what?
WILKINS
Well it has some markers that would indicate that it is Chinese.
PROFESSOR
What?
WILKINS
Yeah. Military, to be more specific, but it could’ve been repurposed by some hackers, that happens all the time. The markers were pretty well scrubbed.
PROFESSOR
What was the software doing?
WILKINS
Well that’s the thing we’re looking at right now. But we need some more time.
PROFESSOR
Yeah. No problem, just let me know what you find out, alright?
WILKINS
For sure.
PROFESSOR
Ok thanks Miles, was it?
WILKINS
Yep.
PROFESSOR
Thank you Miles. Thanks for the call..
WILKINS
You got it, ok bye.
Beat. Papers shuffle. The professor starts tapping on a computer keyboard. A synthetic voice answers.
SYNTHETIC VOICE
Browser secure. Connecting.
Typing.
SYNTHETIC VOICE
Browser secure. Connected.
Typing.
SYNTHETIC VOICE
Well of course they’re listening. I told you that.
Typing.
SYNTHETIC VOICE
Don’t panic, okay. Nothing changes. They just want information.
Typing.
SYNTHETIC VOICE
Its going to be fine.
Typing.
SYNTHETIC VOICE
I miss you too.
Typing.
SYNTHETIC VOICE
I’m not sure when I can leave. The rest of the crew rotated out already, but they’re keeping the scientists here.
Typing.
SYNTHETIC VOICE
I don’t know.
Typing.
SYNTHETIC VOICE
I love you too.
The Professor sighs, puts the computer back in a drawer and leaves.
Modes of Thought in Anterran Literature. This podcast is made possible by Harbridge University, a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, The Peeler Prize in Archaeological Literature, and the Harbridge Family Trust. With an in-kind donation and production assistance from Wolf at the Door Studios. For more information and a reading list, please visit wlfdr.com.