[UA] The Boy in the Box

[Timothy Toner]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Chad Underkoffler" <chadu at yahoo.com>
To: "Unknown Armies" <ua at lists.uchicago.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2001 11:27 PM
Subject: Re: [UA] The Boy in the Box


> Hm. This may be what lies behind the WoD-mentality of "put the
> strangeness/mcguffin/critter behind historical events." By
> ascribing something to the Other or to a Specific Purpose, you
> create seeming Order out of Chaos.
>
> Pattern matching.
>
> That's why there's a Lone Gunman, Magic Bullet, and JFK
> Conspiracy.
>
> That's why the Priory of Sion is manipulating French politics.
>
> That's why the British royal family runs drugs out of Columbia.
>
> Makes sense to me.
>
> (Also, it's more entertaining.)

In the afterword of Declare, Tim Powers reveals one of his methods for
coming up with these wacky ideas.  He likens his technique to the same
methodology used by astronomers to predict the existence of celestial bodies
not readily visible.  He looks for 'perturbations,' and tries his best to
assign a common cause to these 'wobbles' in reality.  I can think of no
finer example of what it is we do when we pattern match.


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