A Malignant Universe?
 

I recently obtained a copy of Immerse Magazine #2 that contains the TL interview entitled: "Grimscribe: Thomas Ligotti," by Mathew Friley and Neil Sceeny from 1997. ( I don't know if this interview has been posted on the net before or not). There is an interesting quote by TL:

"However hard I try, I cannot overcome the perception of the universe as a place invented solely for the purpose of torturing living creatures. For brief periods I've been able to attain something like Lovecraft's cool mood associated with his philosophy of cosmic indifferentism. Then again, according to Lovecraft, it's the cosmos that's indifferent, not us, which really doesn't make things any better than if it were actively malignant. It does seem that there's no reason for anyone to take personally what happens in the universe, since we only nominally exist as persons, but whenever the dream-beasts come charging, how many of us possess the wisdom and lucidity not to run from them."

An example of HPL's 'cool mood,' and how to conduct oneself in relation to cosmic indifferentism:

"The one great crusade worthy of an enlightened man is that directed against whatever impoverishes imagination, wonder, sensation, dramatic life, and the appreciation of beauty. Nothing else matters. And not even this really matters in the great void, but it is amusing to play a little in the sun before the blind universe dispassionately pulverizes us again into that primordial nothingness from whence it moulded us for a second's sport."

Benevolent, indifferent, or malign?

I have always felt, even as a child, that the universe is completely indifferent. I think that many religious people are just one really bad day away from atheism - even if it is just the shallow, reactionary, God-hating variety. But the ever-present, and obviously random (at least to me), possibility of horror, in all its multifarious forms, has always negated the concept of a benevolent universe for me. TL hints at the concept of a malignant universe, which, I think, implies some form of sadistic design. I have to admit, even though I am not a superstitious person, that there have been a few times in my life that it seemed that hardships were deliberately compounded to provoke a reaction. It was as if I was developing a lab rat perspective of paranoia. No doubt these events were just an unfortunate series of coincidences...

Re: A Malignant Universe?
 

I don't think anything's more frightening than the possibility that God is insane. And, certainly, the existence of "horror, in all its multifarious forms," suggests that something is rotten in the heart of creation. That's been one of my favorite (read: most dreaded) theological conundrums over the years: even if we choose to explain suffering as a mechanism by which the universe comes to know itself, or by which we may achieve some kind of personal transcendence, then the question remains: why all the bother?

I find it hard to believe in an indifferent universe; I wonder, if the universe were truly indifferent, whether or not it would even exist. At one point, in the aftermath of a psychedelic experience, I wrote, "the universe is a self-recursive process of interrogating and resolving itself." If that's true, then the universe is self-occluding, and furthermore, the "self-recursive" part means things will never actually be "interrogated" or "resolved." The machinery of creation is neurotic to the end. (As above, so below.) Existence is little more than a skip on God's broken record.

But perhaps, as PKD wrote, "in eternity it is already accomplished." Or, as David Lynch might have it, "in heaven, everything is fine." That doesn't make me feel any better about what I'm experiencing today. Even if everything is peachy from a cosmic perspective, then it still doesn't justify my having this miserable little ego.

(I must be having "one of those days" :D )

Re: A Malignant Universe?
 

I am fond of this moment of clarity you have expressed therein. I have notebooks full of such insights from nights of soul delving by way of matter in mind. Trouble is, I have lost the insight that many of these revelations offered. I suppose it would all fall back into place if I could just find the right paper to tongue ratio. Your insight held up well.

I am far too impaired at the moment to dare casting an impression of true insight in the great philosophical conundrum at heart here. Instead, I will relate with to a time period were my current awareness might be on equal ground. When I was between the ages of five and six, I had the distinct impression that all people were figments of my imagination. A god by all rights? Nay, a child in a world without future and a soul without a world of affirmation. I do not feel that the universe is malevolent. Instead, the horror is much closer to home. The universe is indifferent. The great pains and offenses are brought on by the scourge of the earth, being humans. I wish I could dismiss everyone selectively as either figments of my nightmarish imagination or imaginary friends. In the end, is that not all that we can offer? Will you be my imaginary friend?

Typing is a buzz killer. I'll stop now.

Re: A Malignant Universe?
 

I feel inclined to explain my thoughts on "indifference" a bit further. For several years I believed in a wholly indifferent universe, in the sense of its being a design that essentially has no purpose. It's not to the benefit or detriment of anyone or anything, even itself; it's just there. And, truly, that's just as horrifying in some ways as the notion that the universe is malignant. I suppose a malignancy implies the possibility of some sort of "cure," which is in line with what PKD had to say in his exegesis that I quoted before. But sheer indifference means we're pretty much stuck with what we've got. Is limbo in any way preferable to hell?

I changed my opinion on the matter thanks to several "insights from nights of soul delving by way of matter in mind," as Dr. B put it. I've had pantheistic leanings since I was in high school, and in subsequent years I've read a lot more to tilt me even further in that direction, but it was a battery of psychedelic experiences that crystallized many of my views for me. If I'd describe myself as anything these days, it'd be as a panentheist, with the idea of immanence/transcendence being fundamental to me. I don't view the universe as a conglomeration of matter, but as consciousness without an object. "Without an object" doesn't mean "indifferent" to me, though, because I perceive a guiding principle behind the universe, that being creativity. As a mechanism by which things reveal themselves to themselves (if that makes any sense,) cosmic creativity is, at least, not a passive enterprise.

I tend to consider this to be an overwhelmingly positive thing. True, it doesn't resolve my questions about why my present experience has to be so steeped in precariousness and suffering. But the creative principle, to me, is benevolent at its core.

I realize that a lot of these ideas are unfounded and perhaps a bit insane. In a broad sense, I suppose, my beliefs make me a panpsychist, among other things generally undesirable for anyone who wants to be taken seriously by other people with brains. But these are my own suspicions, at least. If I hadn't gone from pessimistic agnosticism in my teens to quasi-mystical panentheism, I'd probably have done myself in by now. As I said, these things don't make me feel much better in my day-to-day life, but the possibility of hope I've provided for myself can keep me going, which is probably the most anyone can ask of a belief.

Re: A Malignant Universe?
 

Yes, the Universe is indifferent. The words "malignant" and "hostile" reflect human awareness of this fact. Yet "malignant" can refer only to other human beings; it requires an intelligent being capable of action. "Hostile" refers to anything we as human beings fear may harm or kill us; yet I still think it really refers to other people or other animals.

Anyway, what frightens me on certain days, and pushes me towards a genuinely existential despair, is thinking about how puny and insignificant human beings are when compared to the vast depths of the Universe and of Time. And I don't just mean individual human beings--the entire species, homo sapiens, is just a hiccup in space-time. We are animals. We evolved from other species. And all species eventually become extinct.

But that's the reality we have to deal with. How we confront it determines the quality of our lives, I suppose.

I try to avoid thinking about such matters. Mr. Ligotti apparently cannot. I feel bad for him. But he's created an incredible body of literature due to, or in spite of, his sufferings. I don't know if it's been a fair trade. We Ligotti fans have benefited. But has he?

Re: A Malignant Universe?
 

One would hope that Mr. Ligotti's writing provides something of a personal catharsis for himself. Perhaps writing is his own best therapy. If not, we are the beneficiaries of an elegant and elaborate exercise in futility.

Re: A Malignant Universe?
 

I might be utterly insensitive to cosmic despair, but what I find in TL stories is joy; the joy of a creator at the peak of his powers. TL himself said: "Literature is entertainment or it is nothing". In a similar way I think good writing amount to happiness, even if plots and mood stem from the author deepest fears. Literature, as I see it, it is never the orwellian room 101, neither to the writer nor to the reader.

Re: A Malignant Universe?
 

I agree. Very few stories I've ever read (while they may have scared, itself a "delight") have actually gotten me depressed. I rejoice in good horror the same way TL says, in that same interview, that he felt better after discovering Lovecraft. Overall, though, I must say, things are "sinking in." I'm now into a rereading of Ligotti's stuff and this time it's coinciding with a markedly more depressive phase of my life.

Re: A Malignant Universe?
 

Hey, can any of you computer types figure me out how to post my picture with these entries? Thanks. (Noelpratt2nd@yahoo.com)

Re: A Malignant Universe?
 

Noel, you can upload an image for storage on TLO and use it as your avatar selection here:
http://www.ligotti.net/profile.php?do=editavatar

You can also link to a remote avatar. Avatars are limited to 150 pixels wide by 200 pixels tall, in order to maintain formatting. Let me know directly if you still have trouble, as I can manually affix an avatar of your choice.