Doors Close, Windows Open

The Point

Book:   Abbott, Edwin. Flatland (6th Ed.) NewYork: Dover Publications, Inc. (1952).

"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education."     Albert Einstein

Dr. Soren was pacing up and down the front of the room when we returned, his hands behind his back as he looked down in front of him. He waited a few moments after we were seated and began.

"Please notice that I've added a few things to the board based on our last discussion. You may want to capture these nuggets in your notes."

     - Learning processes that focus only on right/wrong answers do not truly educate

     - There are no 'Magic Bullets' in life; resting in convictions is intellectual laziness

     - We seem to have innate tendencies to question and to conform

     - Our brains may be wired to question but we seem drawn to convictions and conformity

After giving us a few moments, Dr. Soren said, "Edwin Abbott was a leading Shakespearean scholar of the late 1800's, a theologian, and a schoolmaster. He was respected and enjoyed multiple scholarly pursuits, including mathematics. One might say that writing a novella like Flatland could have adversely impacted his professional reputation. So, why did he write this? What was he trying to say?"

"I think he wanted to say that there may be more to life that what we see--or think we see," a student said.

"Talk more about that. You are?" The petite woman with small round glasses and jet black hair, probably dyed to be that black, answered,

"I'm Erika. The main character, Mr. Square, was living quite content in his two-dimensional world, a stable citizen of solid rank. He didn't question the world in which he lived. He had certainties, not confusion and this helped him get along quite well. Then, by no choice of his own, he was visited by a Sphere who introduced the world of three dimensions. Mr. Square didn't believe the sphere at first. When the Sphere used analogy, relating back to Square's experience in Lineland, his message fell on deaf ears. But... once the Sphere showed the Square by lifting him above his little world, and showed him things that could only be perceived if a third dimension existed, then the Square was convinced he'd been introduced to the greatest of all knowings. Once he was shown something different, he was ready to accept it."

"And what happened when our little Square tried to spread the word of his knowledge?"

Adam jumped in. "He was imprisoned."

"Why?"

"For breaking an important rule. For going against the system. The Sphere only introduced himself to a Flatlander once every thousand years. This visit to the Square happened on the eve of their year two-thousand. After convincing the Square that there was an upward, but not northward directionality, the Sphere continued to show him many things, including a closed meeting in which the circles were drafting a decree to imprison or kill any Flatlander who, as happened in the prior millennia, received and divulged revelations from another world. The Sphere showed the Square this meeting, probably as a warning regarding his fate should he proselytize his three-dimensional vision. The Square kept the information to himself as long as possible, but eventually, he blurted it out, as folks do, when they've had a transformative experience. When interrogated, the circle leading the interrogation gave Mr. A Square a chance at freedom if he could prove his case. Unfortunately, Mr. Square could not provide a tangible example of what he meant by 'upward, not northward'. He also couldn't represent his vision in any meaningful way."