/lit/ - Literature

here's a thought then.

the fundamental thesis of Ender's Game is that *it becomes impossible to distinguish between Real and Imaginary threats.* in many ways, Ender's Game is an even more visionary film than the Matrix. if you want people to fight a war of extermination for maximum stakes, *they cannot be allowed to know that it is real.* it must be framed as an illusion, a training exercise, a *game.* under these circumstances, owing to the nature of human psychology, people can do things they would not be able to do in real life if they had access to all of the facts, which would include, *self-reflection.*

this matters, i think. the revelation about the truth of what has happened comes *after* the irreversible nature of action. then, and only then, are people permitted to understand that what they have done is real. blips on a screen are blips on a screen, until they aren't.

in our world today, when everyone is triggered, and everyone is under threat, we react to things in ways that invoke the Real, because *we lose this ability to distinguish between threats real and imagined.* disarmament is not always the answer, but in the absence of anything like a mediating presence, we can make Reality be whatever we want it to be, with all attendant consequences.