The world as we know it is over, philosopher. The world …
Why did you say that?
I don’t know. I just wanted to. I wanted to see the effect …
We picked the wrong time to get born, clearly.
What kind of life did you expect to live, philosopher? How did you think it was going to go?
What are you going to remember of any of this? Are you going to write it down? Do you keep a diary? A blog? Do you write things about life?
See into me, philosopher. X-ray me with your mind. What do you see, that no one else has? How do you read me, philosopher? What kind of person am I, to a philosopher? To someone philosophically qualified?
I’ll bet we’re being watched by a hundred cameras.
Sure we’re being watched. But no one’s actually watching. It’s all algorithms. It’s algorithms watching.
What are they watching out for?
Unusual behaviour. Suspicious behaviour.
How do we know we aren’t being watched?
Of course we’re being watched. The question is, is my husband watching us?
Well, is he?
Of course not. Is God watching us, philosopher? Do you believe in God?
I don’t know.
There’s a God higher than all things, that’s what I believe. The most fucking high.
Higher than … technocracy?
Are you able to forget yourself, philosopher? Are you able to lose yourself? It’s a gift.
Is there a rehab you go to if you have philosophical problems, not drug problems? Philosophical issues?
I wish there were an earthquake, or something. That can happen.
How? Are we on a fault line? We’re far from a faultline.
There’s the bore.
Sure, the bore.
Maybe it’ll make the buildings fall over.
Have you ever seen flat rainbows? I saw one the other day. Actually, I saw a bunch of them: flattened rainbows. Must be the stuff they’re spraying us with.
Dare me.
Dare you what?
Why is your heart beating so fast, philosopher?
Are you highly strung, philosopher? Do you have an up and down thing? Do you go wildly up and wildly down?
So are you a brainiac?
No. Are you?
But I’ll bet you’re cultured. Deeply so. I’ll bet you’ve read things. European things.
Not as much as I should.
Have you read … I don’t know … Sophocles? Tolstoy?
Yes.
I haven’t. Too late now. It’s not a literary culture anymore.
Were you a gifted child? I could imagine you being a prodigy.
Far from it.
What are your principal intellectual gifts? Where do your intellectual strengths lie? I want to work out where you’ll fit on the team.
There’s a team?
The Organisational Management team.
Oh God.
Work in Progress 