The Week’s Challenge Inspired By…

Filters and Reflections: Perspectives on Reality
edited by Brenda Dunne, Elissa Hoeger, Robert Jahn, and Zachary Jones

It has been said that when confronting the unexplained it is best to consider it from several different perspectives. In response to the original essay by Robert Jahn and Brenda Dunne, “Sensors, Filters, and the Source of Reality,” this anthology presents an assortment of such perspectives on how consciousness creates its experimental reality.

The Challenge:

An essential theme of this book is that perspective plays a more active role in the formation of reality than we often recognize.  Alternately phrased, how we choose to look at and interpret our experiences can significantly impact the nature of the world in which we live.  In this challenge, create a play based on the following factors:

• Shows something from multiple (at least two, but more is better) perspectives, and highlight the differences that arise.
• One or more characters are presented with something that is completely unknown to them, and forced to incorporate that thing or experience into their worldview.
• There is some form of inner struggle, where (at least) one character is conflicted about an issue or decision.
• Incorporate some type of device characteristic of old sailing ships, such as a barometer, a spyglass, an hourglass, or an old wooden trunk.

Winning Submission:

The winner of this challenge was Rex McGregor for his script, Crazy Planets, a story about Niclas Kopernik’s study of the motion of the planets and his relationships with the long-dead Hypatia and the not-exactly-dead Maria Paula.

The play was read by Keely Kurtas-Chapman, Eliza Pagel, and Zak Rosen, with stage directions and moderation by ICRL’s Jeff Dunne.  You can listen to the recording here: