CDXX

411. A complete destruction of the hope for escape—from our world, our solar system, our time, or our bodies—would result in a new pacifism. Energy would be directed toward co-existence rather than co-extermination. It is not only the hope of an afterlife, but the promise of death that drives our consumptive inhumanity.

412. The difficulty with treaties (234; 297) is that the treators seek constantly to create a document which exempts themselves from compliance while binding the other parties to a subordinate and inevitably vulnerable position.

413. Therefore, it is only to illiterate peoples (to whom the spoken word is binding to the intent of the agreement) that treaties with any true meaning can be negotiated. Advanced literary societies with complex legal systems cannot be expected to ever reach agreement.

414. To fully define the term in context with the world today: A treaty is a document in which the greater power subjects the lesser power to its will.

415. The most primitive artistic expressions of humanity’s relationship to the cosmos are geometric patterns.

416. If a viewer is deeply moved by a work of art—is impelled into an emotional awareness of the artwork—it is likely that the viewer is experiencing a residual of the exact same emotional impetus that went into the creation of the work in the first place. (141-143)

417. The chemical geometry of humanity is essentially the same from person to person. If this were not true, the concept of blood transfusion or organ transplant would be impossible. A significant difference in the chemical geometry might differentiate a mammal from a reptile, but not blue eyes from brown eyes.

418. From the moment of conception, our existence is defined in terms of three dimensions—the length, breadth, and height of the womb and the body that contains us. If one professes to live in a world of four or more dimensions or to have nth-dimensional experience, how can that experience be communicated in three-dimensional terms of reference? How can we transcend our own definitions of reality?

419. It is the chemical geometry we share that allows us to create art that transcends three-dimensional terms of reference to communicate nth-dimensional experience directly to the hearts of viewers. The viewer becomes a participant with the artist in the emotion of the work.

420. In artwork, this communication from artist to audience may transcend millennia as the viewer of a Grecian urn may still experience the emotion of the creator.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Wesley hits three themes in this section that, at first, look unrelated. But when combined, all three focus on communicating something that transcends the bounds of language. One can surmise that Wesley might return to the subject by suggesting that treaties be captured in artwork and music rather than words.