Societies frown upon rule breaking. When a citizen breaks the law, he must be punished. When natural law is flouted, there is consternation. It sets a bad example, but who should be punished? Since we seem to have no recourse, there is a strong tendency to overlook such infractions. On the other hand, there is also curiosity. A conflict may then arise between the desires to engage and to disengage from the weird. Disengagement is clearly more acceptable. Intercourse with the weird can become a burning issue. It is no secret that science arose from those ashes. To examine those ashes is to examine the pedigree of science, but this is not an historical essay.

Usually the weird can be and is ignored, but there are occasions when that option might become more difficult. A case in point would be when the authorities become engaged. Such an incident would be viewed as a provocation. Ignorance is no longer an option. There can be a response and there can be concealment. There has, however, never been an uncontroverted incident of that nature, and so the laws of nature are still intact, so far as established science is concerned.

To challenge the status quo would be to challenge an established order, and that would require a mandate. One could only appeal to a higher authority, such as Truth. Science claims to be the maintainer of truth, but when it comes to beating these particular bushes, professional scientists are noted by their absence. It would seem that there is a conflict between maintenance and discovery.

If one is concerned to discover truth, one might have to find a way to bypass the maintainers of truth. One could only hope to discover a back door. The Weird is the back door to the Truth, but where is the back door to the Weird? The path becomes obscure, or perhaps it is just too obvious.

Why should there be a door and why should it be unlocked? If there is a higher cosmic order, then there would always be some means for individual access, but the access would have to be restricted unless there were to be a subversion of one order by the other. The possibility of an ultimate subversion is simply the subject of eschatology. To open the door, any door, is tantamount to pulling the plug. It is something that one would not undertake without provocation.

On the other hand, if there is a door and it is unlocked, is that not sufficient provocation by itself? What would justify our turning away? Is this the temptation of the devil? There is one way to find out.

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rev. 5/31/98