The Senior Common Room at St Anselm's: XXIV. The Compass

Mr Blottisham entered the Senior Common Room carrying a compass.

Professor Quillibrace looked up.

"I assume you are not expecting to become lost indoors."

"Not at all."

"Then why are you carrying a compass?"

"Because it is a remarkable instrument."

"That is a stronger defence than most objects receive."

Blottisham placed it on the table.

"It tells us where we are going."

Quillibrace looked at it.

"Does it?"

"Of course."

"It does?"

"It points the way."

"Ah."

"What?"

"That is not quite the same thing."

Blottisham frowned.

"Surely a compass tells us where to go."

"No."

"What does it do?"

"It points."

"That seems like a very limited achievement."

"And yet people have crossed oceans with it."

Blottisham considered this.

"Perhaps it is a very confident pointer."

Miss Elowen Stray smiled.

"Perhaps it is something more interesting."

"What?"

"It knows what it does not know."

Blottisham looked puzzled.

"A compass?"

"Yes."

"What does it not know?"

"It does not know where you began."

"True."

"Where you hope to arrive."

"True."

"Whether the journey is worthwhile."

"Also true."

"It does not know why you left."

Blottisham looked at the compass.

"That is a surprisingly incomplete device."

"Exactly."

"And yet useful."

"Very."

Quillibrace leaned back.

"Imagine standing in an unfamiliar landscape."

"Mountains."

"Forests."

"Paths you have never walked."

"Yes."

"You may have a destination."

"Yes."

"You may even have a map."

"Yes."

"But without direction?"

"Every possibility remains open."

"And that sounds good."

"Does it?"

Blottisham thought.

"Perhaps not."

Miss Stray nodded.

"Unlimited possibilities can become another kind of uncertainty."

"The compass changes this."

"How?"

"It does not reduce the possibilities."

"It organises them."

Blottisham looked interested.

"So it does not tell us the answer."

"No."

"It helps us move among the questions."

"Exactly."

Quillibrace smiled.

"That is perhaps the true purpose of the invisible machine."

Blottisham picked up the compass.

"It transforms uncertainty."

"Yes."

"Into certainty?"

"No."

"Then into what?"

"Orientation."

He looked at it carefully.

"That is a much smaller thing."

"Is it?"

Blottisham thought for a moment.

"Perhaps not."

Miss Stray nodded.

"We often imagine wisdom means knowing exactly where we are going."

"Does it not?"

"Often life does not provide that."

"No?"

"We choose careers."

"Yes."

"Friendships."

"Yes."

"Places to live."

"Yes."

"Ideas to pursue."

"Yes."

"Without complete information."

Blottisham smiled.

"Which seems unfair."

"Perhaps."

"One would prefer a complete instruction manual."

Quillibrace looked amused.

"Many people have attempted to write one."

"Successfully?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because life is not a machine awaiting correct operation."

Miss Stray added,

"It is a landscape we must learn to navigate."

Blottisham looked at the compass.

"So direction matters more than certainty."

"Precisely."

"The compass understands that."

"It has never promised more."

Blottisham turned the needle slightly.

"Although it is interesting that a compass does not tell us everything."

"Indeed."

"Wouldn't a better compass describe the whole landscape?"

"Would it still be a compass?"

"No."

"What would it be?"

"A map."

"Exactly."

"The map tells us what is known."

"The compass helps us move through what is unknown."

Blottisham nodded.

"One preserves knowledge."

"And the other preserves possibility."

Miss Stray smiled.

"That is a useful distinction."

Blottisham looked thoughtful.

"I suppose that explains why we use the word compass in other ways."

"Such as?"

"A moral compass."

"Yes."

"A political compass."

"Yes."

"A sense of direction."

"Exactly."

"We are not talking about navigation."

"Not only."

"We are talking about remaining oriented."

Quillibrace nodded.

"A person with direction may still make mistakes."

"They may choose the wrong path."

"Yes."

"Take a wrong turn."

"Yes."

"Discover the destination was not what they expected."

"Yes."

"And yet?"

"They possess something valuable."

"What?"

"A way to recognise movement."

Blottisham smiled.

"That is rather comforting."

"It should be."

"Although a compass can fail."

"Of course."

"A broken compass could provide false confidence."

"Indeed."

"And even a perfect compass cannot tell us whether north is the best direction."

"Precisely."

Blottisham looked pleased.

"So the compass cannot replace judgement."

"No."

"It assists judgement."

"Exactly."

Miss Stray nodded.

"Perhaps that is why explorers carried both maps and compasses."

"The map tells them where things are."

"Yes."

"The compass tells them how to continue."

"Yes."

"One describes the world."

"The other helps them move through it."

Blottisham placed the compass back on the table.

"I think I understand."

"Do you?"

"I began by thinking a compass was valuable because it provided answers."

"And now?"

"I think it is valuable because it allows us to continue when answers are unavailable."

Quillibrace smiled.

"A surprisingly accurate observation."

"Thank you."

"Do not become too confident."

"Why?"

"That would be a very un-compass-like response."

Blottisham laughed.

Miss Stray looked at the small instrument on the table.

"Perhaps civilisation creates many invisible machines."

"Some create belonging."

"Some preserve memory."

"Some connect strangers."

"Some welcome the future."

"And the compass?"

"It offers something quieter."

"What?"

"The ability to move without pretending we know everything."

The three of them looked at the compass for a moment.

Then Blottisham said,

"So the greatest journeys are not those where we know every step."

"No."

"They are the ones where we know enough to take the next one."

Quillibrace nodded.

"Exactly."

Miss Stray smiled.

"And perhaps that is one of civilisation's greatest gifts."

"Which is?"

"Not a world without uncertainty."

She looked towards the window.

"But the confidence to explore it."