In the beginning

...

...

In the beginning, it was dark.

...

...

What was dark?

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The darkness. It was very dark. The darkness was everywhere. It stretched onwards and onwards forever into the darkness. Imagine giant curtains made of black satin, immense, jet black curtains, and you are moving through the curtains. You part the curtains and move through them, to find more curtains.

Like drapery.

Yes.

Black drapery.

Yes.

Got it.

You keep moving, parting one set of black curtains...

Drapes.

Parting one set of black drapes after another... hold on.

What is it?

Who said that?

Who said what?

That, right there.

Where?

What do you mean where, there's where.

Where's there?

Nevermind. I'll start over.

...

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In the beginning, it was dark. The darkness was...no seriously, who the hell are you?

Me?

Of course you. Who else?

There's somebody else?

Of course not.

That's what I thought.

Then why did you ask?

Ask what?

Once more. Who are you?

I'm Bill.

At last, an answer. I'm Bill too.

Two Bills.

Exactly.

That could get confusing. How about you call me Ed?

Why Ed?

Short.

Short for what?

I don't know, we haven't gotten that far yet.

I don't think we've gotten anywhere, Ed.

We must have gotten somewhere, Bill.

Oh, really? What do you see up ahead?

Drapes.

Yeah, drapes. We're going in circles. Around and around.

So what's the problem?

What's the problem? The problem is we're not getting anywhere.

I'll grant that, but why is that a problem, Bill?

Well, it's a problem for me.

I see that.

And it should be a problem for you. Do you like doing nothing, getting nowhere?

I guess I don't think about it that way.

Well I do. I think about it all the time. It's all I think about.

Try and think about something else.

There's something else?

Um, no, I don't think so.

That's my point. Now where was I?

Where were we. 

BB post @ Eratosphere; Williamb

Insofar as it remains to be seen there has still been, despite assiduous efforts from erudite persons across all academic disciplines, nothing which could be described as agreement or at least a nonconfrontational lessening of active hostility, in the realm of intellection or mentation, which is to say within the confines of that which might be called consciousness, or the arena of purely mental activity and operation, howsoever it could be remarked, should one wish to evoke yet another reason or issue about which to cavil and interlocute seemingly inexhaustible permutations of verbal ordnance for the mere sake of maintaining or defending, against common sense and sound judgment, a thesis or hypothesis which under normal circumstances and about which there would be no controversy, it seems prudent at this point to at least, and for the benefit of all parties, to come to terms and to asseverate collectively that there are, at the very least, certain items of general knowledge, which is not to say available only to those with experience in the higher institutions of learning or - lacking formal acquaintance or intercourse with edifices especially manufactured for the intersubjective continuance, analysis, and maintenance of data pertaining to the human species - solely to the industrious autodidact, which ought to be considered axiomatic and incontrovertible, without which any subsequent discourse would by necessity entail the common and perpetually frustrating occurrence of virtually universal confusion and instability of linguistic compatibility and mutually prosperous cooperation among sentient individuals and organizations or affilliations of persons among whom there is at least a general inclination towards providing for themselves and all potentially involved descendents a medium of communication which is not succeptible to the hazardous implementation of ambiguous terminology or dubious parlance.   

- Wilbert Morley Handsock, from Navigations of the Meridian Indent, 1879