The place in-between the pages
(Deep within the pages of the book of time rest a paragraph, and within that paragraph—within the ink of black tar—rest a place. This place is not quite a room, but not too far from being described as a space. As we peer inside, we see an old tavern, as if it existed inside a Tolkien novel, filled with educated men and women of great renown. As we float over to the edge of the room, we see a table of wood with four chairs. At this table sits: Susan Neiman, John Kaag, Stan Lee, and the very curious voyeur to accompany them.)
The Voyeur: thank you all for joining us today—it is an honor to sit amongst you today.
Susan and John: (in unison) agreed.
Stan: well I’m happy to be here to but… I aint no philosopher, I just write comic books?
The Voyeur: I understand your concern Mr. Lee, but I feel you think too little of yourself. I feel that your books should sit on the same self as Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead or C.S Lewis “space trilogy”. Or perhaps even George Lucas’ Star Wars…
Susan: tread lightly—
Stan: but don’t philosophy books have to have some… philosophy?
The Voyeur: of course, Mr. Lee, and I feel that your ideas has to be some of the more widely accepted among the early 21st century due to your stories and ideals—a focus on the inner spirit as compared to outer strength. The idea of taking life’s worst moments and using them for the benefit of others. The idea that the most weak, insignificant beings can become the greatest among them through virtue. I feel these are very relevant to the discussion at hand.
Stan lee: well… if you say so.
John: then shall we begin?
The Voyeur: of course. I question that was posed to me; I will now pose to you: “what does it mean to grow up? And why should we?”
Susan: I have often posed this question myself and I remarked on this in my book “Why Grow Up?”
“being grown up is widely considered to be a matter of renouncing your hopes and dreams, accepting the limits of the reality you are given, and resigning yourself to a life that will be less adventurous, worthwhile and significant than you supposed when you began it”(pg.1 Nieman.)
Stan lee: no wonder you don’t like Peter Pan…
John: duly noted.
Susan: as we grow then we gain several levels of knowledge—first it is dogmatic, then it is skepticism, and so on and so forth… frankly it Is boring but—it is life.
Stan lee: boring? Adulthood doesn’t have to be boring.
John: I agree Stan, and there are plenty of people who end up living out their dreams—I feel that’s a little Ironic for a writer…
Stan lee: --and hopes and dreams are the things that make us what we are! I mean sure we don’t have to get superpowers, but we can be a little bit more idealistic than just to accept the normal.
Susan: well stan—by this way of thinking are you not poisoning the youth of today? With your ideas of impossible power and unreachable morals? These are but figments of the imaginations of children. And as I stated in my own book, “People who stick to the dogmas of childhood can spend whole lifetimes denying that the world does not conform to the beliefs they hold dear.” (page 12. Why Grow Up) And I feel that you have been the biggest culprit.
Stan lee: sure, in my books there is a bit of the fantastical, but you can’t just give up on the wonders of life. Life is a magical thing, and it shouldn’t go to waste
The Voyeur: excellent Segway—this brings up our next question: “what makes life worth living?”
John: I actually address this in my book Sick Souls, Healthy Minds (how William James can save your life.)
Stan lee: Will who?
John: William James, one of the most influential American philosophers of all time, sadly he has not yet been recognized by the masses.
Stan lee: and what does he have to do with the color of the Hulks pants?
John: allow me to elaborate—at an early age, before James had the massive success that he did, he was somewhat of a loss soul as to what he should pursue. Even to the point where he considered “ending it all…”
Susan: that’s terrible!
John: absolutely, I recounted this in my book, [“I am a low- lived wretch. I’ve been prey to such disgust for life during the past three months as to make a letter writing almost an impossibility” William James was on the brink of adulthood and, as he confessed to his friend Henry Bowditch in 1869] [page 1. Sick Souls, Healthy Minds (how William James can save your life.)] But, thankful for all of us he decided to veer into the realm of philosophy.
Susan: well, I feel amongst fellow writers I can say that we have all felt a sliver of that from time to time…
Stan lee: you are telling me.
John: well thankfully for those like us, James spent his life using philosophy to save the “sick souled” such as us.
The Voyeur: what exactly does this entail?
John: James used a philosophy called “pragmatism” it’s essentially looking at everything in the known universe with a sensible and practical vie. As James put it “Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.” (page 5. Sick Souls, Healthy Minds (how William James can save your life.)
Stan lee: that’s interesting… but I’m not sure I agree.
John: No?
Stan lee: I refuse to look at the world as purely what we can see, there is so much more to life than what we can see? Do we just look at art as ink on a page? Or poetry just letters on a page? Absolutely not? Why do these things connect with people? Why do they inspire people the way that they do? I just refuse to take the magic out of life.
Susan: even if it’s not true?
Stan lee: if you can prove that there isn’t something out there, maybe even within us, I’ll be the first to listen… but until than we can agree to disagree.
Susan: fair enough.
John: I agree.
The Voyeur: thank you all. This has been exhilarating!
Stan lee: Excelsior! Next rounds on me!
(The End.)
https://skywingknights.com/life/news-announcements/excelsior-rip-stan-lee/
I can buy Stan Lee as philosopher. Ayn Rand, on the other hand...
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