Chapter Twenty-Seven: True and False (or: ...)

Based on an exercise outlined in the book "Thinkertoys"

It occurs to me that after a couple of days staying up later than I should have and waking up earlier than I would have liked, my creative juices may run somewhat dry. It is at these times that there's nothing to do but throw on some techno music, crank the volume, and force my brain through the wringer on some important issue.

In the interim I have before the combination of Basshunter and exhaustion overloads my brain, I will be divining the answer to a conundrum that has long plagued me: how can I remember to send relatives Thank You notes after birthdays and holidays?

Well, if there's one thing that's easy to do in life it's be contradictory, so I will counter-posit: how can I -not- remember to send relatives Thank You notes?

Well, I could do nothing. Problem solved!

...

No, but seriously though. In reversing the problem I shall reveal a solution.

If I had to define the essence of failure to thank, I would go with "Unwarranted Apathy." I did after all receive gifts of whatever value, a caring gesture on my relatives' parts. While a good gift is given without a thought of remuneration, I can't deny that failing to acknowledge a gift is as rude as my mom's always chided me about.

Scrounging for an analogy, lacking gratitude for a gift is akin to thoughtlessly trashing a pile of unused clothes rather than donating them.

Thankfully, in the age of the internet there lies a way to embrace apathy while simultaneously overcoming it. By setting up a time-delayed email, I can supply myself with the framework of a Thank You at appropriate intervals and distill the process of thanking to a thoughtless thoughtful endeavor.

To the internetmobile!

Closing thoughts on this exercise:

I'm not going to lie, I really disliked this exercise. Jumping from 'creating a paradox' to phrasing a problem as a book title to finding an analogy seemed haphazard to me; certainly not worth releasing an entire new edition of the book to include. I like to write, so the brevity of this post is telling; I'm not sure the creative method really helped me try to solve my problem at all.

A short note about my creative environment:

I wrote this later at night than I should have, so I'm tired and bleary and a little cranky. I'm lying in bed but I can't really get comfortable, and the techno I'm blaring to keep myself awake enough to work is really messing with my concentration. My roommate has the TV on, which is showing Futurama and occasionally distracting me. The room is lit but it's pitch-black outside. I didn't eat a very good dinner, and I haven't kept myself sufficiently hydrated.