Excerpt of Negative Space by B R Yeager
Let us consider the English language. A set of twenty-six symbols with seemingly limitless combinations. Now suppose there was a man who had committed a severe wrongdoing against me -along the lines of extortion or defamation. Suppose I were to approach a third man, and tell him my foe had committed a severe wrongdoing against him -an affair with his spouse, an act of thievery; whatever would push his buttons. Let us assume, using the rules and nuance of the English language, I make an exceptionally convincing argument, and this third man purchases a firearm, stalks my foe, and shoots him in retaliation for his accused (and entirely fabricated) ills.
What is this flu, this force, this hormone that has convinced this fellow to take the life of a man he had never before encountered? Nothing more than a set of verbalized symbols, arranged and orated immaculately.
Let us turn to an entirely different entity: flora. Far from merely passive beings, flora such as acacias and corn seedlings can (and often do) defend themselves violently. When eaten by caterpillars, corn seedlings will release pheromones that draw in wasps and other predatory insects, who then swarm and kill the caterpillars.
Surely the wasps are not aware they are being manipulated into fighting the seedling's battles: that their internal systems are being chemically hijacked; that they are being ruled by forces beyond their control. They must, in their own peculiar and alien way, believe that what they do is solely for the benefit of their respective hives. Never once considering they work for an otherwise undetectable monarch.
This, of course, forces a question: how sure can we be of our own autonomy? And to those who would shout this question down outright: Of course we are not wasps. But though we may appear superior and vastly more complex we abide by similar laws. As far as science has determined, our "self" is nothing more than a product of nerves and neurons and hormones and chemicals. From that foundation, the question becomes many: What forces are we unable to sense that nonetheless influence our existence? Is it possible for us to become aware of these forces? And, perhaps most terribly, what do these forces intend for us?
Most of us would likely prefer to remain ignorant to the answer. For while the wasp knows not why it slays the caterpillar, it relishes its job just the same, its master too vast for its feeble senses to comprehend.
