It
was Descartes, when asked “How do you
know you exist?” famously replied: “I
think, therefore I am.” Other
responses possible, it nevertheless is impossible to respond with any more
rational certainty. Descartes’ proof empirical,
any system of logic is bound to fail in similar fashion. In the world of science fiction, Philip K.
Dick is the writer who has perhaps capitalized most on this subjective aspect
of existence. But he had his
predecessors. Defying Aristotlian logic
in favor of General Semantics with the goal of laying hands on existence and
identity, A.E. van Vogt penned The World
of Null A in 1948. The “controversy”
that resulted only distracts from the (unintentional?) mark it set for Dick
and other writers wrestling with certainty.
The World of Null A is the story of
Gilbert Gosseyn. Considering himself of
superior intelligence in the workings of non-Aristotlian logic, he goes to the
giant machine that rules Earth to be tested.
The result, however, is catastrophic—not in physical terms, rather
existential. Discovering that his
memories are false, he sets about trying to rectify the situation—to get to the
bottom of who he is and which memories are real and which are false. The search by necessity taking him to Venus,
he there discovers that even death cannot satisfy his quest. Reborn with memories intact (‘reappearing’
the best descriptor), his quest revives itself anew with each dead end. A larger plot in the solar system revealing
itself while Gosselyn is in pursuit of his identity, getting at the heart of
who he truly is soon has implications beyond just himself.
