The Senior Common Room. Late evening. The fire burns low. Outside, the grounds of St Anselm's are silent. Professor Quillibrace sits with a cup of tea. Miss Elowen Stray is looking through a collection of handwritten letters. Mr Blottisham enters quietly.
Mr Blottisham:
You are both still here.
Professor Quillibrace:
An observation of some accuracy.
Mr Blottisham:
I expected everyone to have left.
Miss Stray:
Why?
Mr Blottisham:
Because after six discussions about how difficult it is to understand other minds, I assumed we would have reached a conclusion.
Professor Quillibrace:
And have we?
Mr Blottisham:
I was hoping you would tell me.
Professor Quillibrace:
Then you may be disappointed.
Mr Blottisham:
Again?
Miss Stray:
Perhaps disappointment is an important part of philosophy.
Mr Blottisham:
I had hoped philosophy was mostly about being right.
Professor Quillibrace:
That explains several things.
The Desire to Arrive
Professor Quillibrace:
Perhaps we should begin with a simple question.
What do we want when we try to understand another person?
Mr Blottisham:
To know them.
Miss Stray:
Meaning?
Mr Blottisham:
To reach the point where nothing is unclear.
Professor Quillibrace:
Complete understanding.
Mr Blottisham:
Yes.
Professor Quillibrace:
And is that possible?
Mr Blottisham:
After this series?
Probably not.
Miss Stray:
Perhaps we should ask whether it is even desirable.
Mr Blottisham:
Why would complete understanding not be desirable?
Professor Quillibrace:
Because what would remain?
The Person Beyond the Model
Mr Blottisham:
Explain.
Miss Stray:
Imagine someone you have known for decades.
Mr Blottisham:
A friend?
Miss Stray:
Yes.
You know their habits, their preferences, their history.
You can often predict what they will say.
Mr Blottisham:
That sounds like knowing someone well.
Professor Quillibrace:
It is.
Miss Stray:
Yet occasionally they surprise you.
Mr Blottisham:
They do.
Miss Stray:
A memory they never mentioned.
A fear they never expressed.
A way of seeing something you never imagined.
Mr Blottisham:
Yes.
Professor Quillibrace:
Now consider this question:
Does the surprise reveal that you never knew them?
Mr Blottisham:
Perhaps.
Miss Stray:
Or does it reveal that there was always more of them to know?
The Difference Between a Person and an Object
Mr Blottisham:
So surprise is evidence of depth.
Professor Quillibrace:
Possibly.
Mr Blottisham:
But would not a perfectly understood person be easier to deal with?
Professor Quillibrace:
Perhaps.
Mr Blottisham:
Then why not aim for that?
Miss Stray:
Because a perfectly predictable person begins to resemble an object.
Mr Blottisham:
An object?
Professor Quillibrace:
An object can be completely described from the outside.
Miss Stray:
A person is encountered from within a relationship.
Mr Blottisham:
So another mind is not something we solve.
Professor Quillibrace:
No.
Mr Blottisham:
It is something we continue to encounter.
Miss Stray:
Exactly.
Conversation Rather Than Transfer
Professor Quillibrace:
This changes how we think about communication.
Mr Blottisham:
We have already established that words do not simply transfer experiences.
Miss Stray:
Yes.
Professor Quillibrace:
But perhaps we made another assumption.
Mr Blottisham:
Which is?
Professor Quillibrace:
That communication succeeds when something complete moves from one person to another.
Mr Blottisham:
And it does not?
Miss Stray:
Perhaps communication is not transfer.
Perhaps it is creation.
Mr Blottisham:
Creation?
Miss Stray:
When two people speak, meaning develops between them.
Professor Quillibrace:
Each person responds, adjusts, clarifies and discovers.
Mr Blottisham:
So the meaning exists in the conversation.
Miss Stray:
Partly.
The Importance of Remaining Different
Mr Blottisham:
But surely the goal is still to reach the same understanding.
Professor Quillibrace:
Yes.
Mr Blottisham:
Then do we not eventually become similar?
Miss Stray:
No.
Mr Blottisham:
No?
Miss Stray:
A conversation requires two participants.
Professor Quillibrace:
If one person completely absorbed the other, there would no longer be dialogue.
Mr Blottisham:
There would only be agreement.
Miss Stray:
Or silence.
The Problem with Certainty
Professor Quillibrace:
This is why certainty can sometimes undermine understanding.
Mr Blottisham:
But certainty is usually considered valuable.
Professor Quillibrace:
In some contexts.
Miss Stray:
But consider saying:
"I know exactly why you did that."
Mr Blottisham:
It sounds confident.
Miss Stray:
Perhaps too confident.
Professor Quillibrace:
The certainty may close the possibility of learning.
Mr Blottisham:
Because the other person can no longer surprise me.
Miss Stray:
Exactly.
Mr Blottisham:
So uncertainty can be a form of respect.
Professor Quillibrace:
An excellent observation.
The Unfinished Self
Mr Blottisham:
But there is something strange here.
Professor Quillibrace:
What?
Mr Blottisham:
We keep saying other minds cannot be completely understood.
Miss Stray:
Yes.
Mr Blottisham:
But can we completely understand ourselves?
Silence.
Professor Quillibrace:
A very good question.
Mr Blottisham:
I surprise myself.
Miss Stray:
As do most people.
Professor Quillibrace:
We discover motives we did not recognise.
Memories we had forgotten.
Connections we had never noticed.
Mr Blottisham:
So even our own minds contain unknown regions.
Miss Stray:
Exactly.
Mr Blottisham:
Then perhaps another person being partly mysterious is not unusual.
Professor Quillibrace:
It is the human condition.
Beyond Human Minds
Mr Blottisham:
And what happens if we encounter another kind of intelligence?
Professor Quillibrace:
A fitting final question.
Mr Blottisham:
An alien mind.
Miss Stray:
Or an artificial one.
Mr Blottisham:
How should we approach it?
Professor Quillibrace:
Not by asking first how quickly we can make it resemble us.
Miss Stray:
But by asking what kind of world it reveals.
Mr Blottisham:
So understanding begins with curiosity.
Professor Quillibrace:
Yes.
Mr Blottisham:
Not certainty.
Miss Stray:
Yes.
Mr Blottisham:
Not making the other familiar.
Professor Quillibrace:
Exactly.
The Final Question
The fire begins to fade.
Mr Blottisham:
Then perhaps I have misunderstood understanding.
Professor Quillibrace:
How so?
Mr Blottisham:
I thought it was reaching the end.
Miss Stray:
And now?
Mr Blottisham:
Perhaps it is continuing.
Professor Quillibrace:
Continue.
Mr Blottisham:
A person is not a puzzle that becomes solved.
They are a conversation that continues.
Miss Stray:
Very good.
Mr Blottisham:
Thank you.
Professor Quillibrace:
You have finally learned something important.
Mr Blottisham:
What?
Professor Quillibrace:
That understanding another mind does not mean removing the mystery.
Miss Stray:
It means learning how to live with it.
The three sit quietly for a moment.
Mr Blottisham:
I suppose that means we have not finished.
Professor Quillibrace:
No.
Mr Blottisham:
After seven discussions?
Miss Stray:
Especially after seven discussions.
Mr Blottisham:
Then when does understanding end?
Professor Quillibrace:
Perhaps when curiosity ends.
Mr Blottisham:
That sounds dangerous.
Miss Stray:
It is.
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