http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMHss2F6ado&cc=1
33:37
"One of the
first great American science fiction writers was Civil War veteran Ambrose
Bierce, who believed strongly in the possibility of life beyond our world.
Ambrose Bierce was the author of some very strange short stories. "The
Difficulty of Crossing a Field" was about an Alabama farmer who one day
was taking a walk across the field when he just disappeared. He was gone. And
years later, his wife would say that she could hear his voice from time to
time, coming from the circle, but he wasn't there. Ambrose Bierce was trying to show us that this man travelled inter-dimensionally
to another place. And while he was still there, he wasn't there. It is
thought by many scholars and historians that Bierce - as well as other authors
of fantasy fiction - had been influenced by Native Americans and their
folklore. In addition to belief in Star Beings, they believed in the
existence of inter-dimensional gateways or portals, which would enable visitors
to travel between time and space. If you're thinking about like people suddenly
disappearing through a hole in space time to another dimension at the surface
of it when we think about our modern theory of relativity and that you can bend
space and time it seems not so crazy, because we know mathematically how to
describe holes in the space-time that connect different regions of space to
others. The mystery of whether such
portals really exist may have been answered by Ambrose Bierce himself. When he
ventured south of the border into the Mexican desert. At the very early part of
the 20th Century Ambrose Bierce was in Northern Mexico, in this area that's
known for strange phenomenon, called the Keymay, this area too is thought to be
another one of these inter-dimensional portal areas. One theory is that Bierce
may not have travelled into Mexico alone. Another very colourful figure by the
name of F.A. Mitchell Hedges may have travelled with him into Mexico.
Mitchell Hedges was a great British adventurer, most noted for his discovery of
a Mayan crystal skull. The ancient city of Paquime is just a few miles away from
the Crystal Cave. The largest crystal deposits in the world are found here.
Mitchell Hedges believed that his skulls were capable of psychically
communicating with a person and inter-dimensionally transmitting that message
to an extraterrestrial being. The theory
is that Hedges, along with Bierce, may have discovered or mastered the method
of speaking through the crystals or employing their power, and may have
transported, as in his stories, to an inter-dimensional space, never to be
heard from again. While there, he sent his last communication that we know of,
which was a letter, and that letter ended with this ominous line: 'As for me, I
leave tomorrow for an unknown destination.' The man who wrote about so many
strange disappearances was never seen or heard from again. Did Ambrose Bierce
meet with foul play, or did he find an inter-dimensional portal, like the ones
described in his stories? Perhaps the answer can be found in a mysterious
lake in California, one thought by many to be an actual gateway to another
world."
37:33
The assumption of beliefs held by Bierce can influence
interpretations of his stories. This can also relate to his Civil War stories,
not just his science fiction narratives. Of course the assumptions may be true
but it is hard to tell when the man in question has disappeared almost 100
years ago and is more than certainly dead now, unless of course aliens have
given him the gift of immortality.
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