The fulminating vista of Mr Mackerel’s world.

Living in this reality used to be a given, an assumption, it did not occur to me that a world with different rules might exist. Before I found the portal to Earth, the Corporeal Manifestation Battery and the Sigma Stick, I knew much less about my world than I know now by knowing Life on Earth.

Let me teach you about my world so you can know about your own world.

Why your reality is better than Metaworld:

1. A bridge yesterday is a bridge today.

In Metaworld the laws of nature are just as strict as in human reality, but chaotic. A complex reality can be stable in its patterns, situated on the edge of chaos between randomness and thorough predictability. Change the factors and reality leans towards one or the other. On Earth reality is predictable to a high degree and humans have learnt to live life based on certainties and probabilities. When a bridge has been built you can generally expect that bridge to be there for years to come and it will always be familiar to you. Its shape is stable and sharply outlined.

In Metaworld the factors in play make for a much more unpredictable reality. A Focus (object conceived by coagulation of symbols) representing a bridge can for any set of reasons turn into a mirror or monstrous machine. Its shape will never be in rest, always pulsating or undulating or camouflaging or moving or subtly changing its function.

2. Doors seal a room.

Within Earth’s reality doors make it possible to separate a space from another space. In Metaworld there are countless doors, but it’s impossible to gain access to a separate space by using them. The doors simply allow you to view a space with a different perspective. The surrounding reality seeps right into and through it.

On Earth you can keep the cat out of the bedroom. In the Metaworld, a lava stream of ideas might flow right into the ‘room’ and trip you into thinking about creating a metaworld within the metaworld, with your own choice of rule sets. Stupid distracting lava streams.

3. Monsters are mostly limited to zoos.

The Metaworld is teeming with hordes and hordes of monsters. They don’t pose a threat to your existence per se, but alter your perception of reality in involuntary ways. A human may play a game with computer-generated monsters, a human child may think there’s a monster under their bed, but in the Metaworld monsters are real and have to be dealt with on a daily basis. They are particularly difficult when you wish to change an element of your own reality. Monsters are guaranteed to contest your changes.

Monsters are a simpler species of Metaworld creature. They work on a basic mechanism that is frighteningly important to them. Monsters have been infused with the idea that the interests of their mechanism trumps all other considerations. They usually have a very limited sense of humour.

4. Selective information.

On Earth it is perfectly possible to remain ignorant of most things beyond your direct surroundings, and even ignorant of what is before your eyes. In the Metaworld your mind is bombarded by practically everything there is to know about anything your mind concentrates on. If you see a fellow Mackerel, you know why they are there, how they got there, whether they’re truly a danger or would be of interest to you, all but what they will do next.

On Earth you can choose to only know certain bits of information, and they have to be acquired, so that when you see a sausage you’re not overwhelmed with everything there is to know about sausage making factories.

5. A chance to rest.

A human being can close the eyes and go to sleep, can disable all senses. A Metaworld creature is subject to a never-ending influx of impressions. Mackerel creatures do go into various rest states, but in these states we are never disconnected from the Metaworld reality. The best we can hope for is a trance-like distraction or drowning out the senses by extreme input.

Mr Mackerel is able to sleep in this world, but his dreams translate his daily impressions into Metaworld symbolism. He does feel like he can finally rest. And that is why your reality rocks, that is why Mr Mackerel made the move to Earth.

Rejoice in your restrictions?