The Stench of Hell

[Guest guest]

Recently, I learned reading a science magazine

that smelling foul odors could provoke nightmares.

The obvious implication, don't fart while asleep.

 

Now, if we consider the stench of ancient cities

with their open sewers, and their charming practices

of garbage disposal, urinating and defecating

in public, we can conclude that our ancestors were

frequently visited by bad dreams.

 

Dreams in the ancient world were not consider just

dreams, but visitations from divine messengers. In

fact, many of our religious beliefs might have

originated in the nightmares of old men who

ate spoiled meat, or too many beans. The notion of

Hell itself might have originated in a horrid dream

provoked by a huge pestiferous fart. But all is not

bad, pleasant odors could bring sweet dreams too,

so the idea of Heaven could have been provoked by a

rosebush, or a jasmine in bloom.

 

We can say that there are few things that have less

in common than mathematics and dreams, but even

mathematicians, sometimes, find answers to their

problems in dreams. Descartes wrote in his diary that

he had the revelation as to his role in mathematics

in three consecutive dreams he had one night in

Prague. In these dreams, according to him, he knew

he was dreaming and was able to interrogate his

dream characters.

 

I visited Descartes in my imaginary trips to past

luminaries of religion and philosophy. We was an

interesting fellow, not dull at all. He liked

wine, women, and cards. He followed armies all

over Europe to witness battles. Despite that,

he had huge hooded sad eyes, and cheerfulness

seemed misplaced on his somber face. When we met,

I asked what he meant by " I think, therefore,

I am. " He gave a hearty laugh and retorted, " I

never said that, I said: You think, therefore,

I am.

 

What an extraordinary fellow! That makes all the

sense in the world. Of course, I am the thoughts

of others: my family, my teachers, my friends,

my enemies, my society at large. Without those

thoughts defining me, I would be just a cunning

rat chasing the scent of Heaven and fleeing the

stench of Hell.

 

 

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Pete