The Point of ViewWeinbaum, Stanley G. (Stanley Grauman)
Science
The Point of View
Weinbaum, Stanley G. (Stanley Grauman)
Science fiction; Short stories
Nevertheless, despite the assurance of the great scientist, I was more
than a little reluctant to don the device. Yet I was curious, as well;
it seemed a fascinating prospect to be able to look at the world through
other eyes, as fascinating as visiting a new world--which it was,
according to the professor. So after a few moments of hesitation, I
picked up the instrument, slipped it over my head so that the eyeglasses
were in the proper position, and looked inquiringly at van Manderpootz.
"You must turn it on," he said, reaching over and clicking a switch on
the frame. "Now flash the light to my face. That's the way; just center
the circle of light on my face. And now what do you see?"
I didn't answer; what I saw was, for the moment, quite indescribable. I
was completely dazed and bewildered, and it was only when some
involuntary movement of my head at last flashed the light from the
professor's face to the table top that a measure of sanity returned,
which proves at least that tables do not possess any point of view.
"O-o-o-h!" I gasped.
Van Manderpootz beamed. "Of course you are overwhelmed. One could hardly
expect to adopt the view of van Manderpootz without some difficulties of
adjustment. A second time will be easier."
I reached up and switched off the light. "A second time will not only be
easier, but also impossible," I said crossly. "I'm not going to
experience another dizzy spell like that for anybody."
"But of course you will, Dixon. I am certain that the dizziness will be
negligible on the second trial. Naturally the unexpected heights
affected you, much as if you were to come without warning to the brink
of a colossal precipice. But this time you will be prepared, and the
effect will be much less."
Well, it was. After a few moments I was able to give my full attention
to the phenomena of the attitudinizor, and queer phenomena they were,
too. I scarcely know how to describe the sensation of looking at the
world through the filter of another's mind. It is almost an
indescribable experience, but so, in the ultimate analysis, is any other
experience.
What I saw first was a kaleidoscopic array of colors and shapes, but the
amazing, astounding, inconceivable thing about the scene was that there
was no single color I could recognize! The eyes of van Manderpootz, or
perhaps his brain, interpreted color in a fashion utterly alien to the
way in which my own functioned, and the resultant spectrum was so
bizarre that there is simply no way of describing any single tint in
words. To say, as I did to the professor, that his conception of red
looked to me like a shade between purple and green conveys absolutely no
meaning, and the only way a third person could appreciate the meaning
would be to examine my point of view through an attitudinizor _while_ I
was examining that of van Manderpootz. Thus he could apprehend my
conception of van Manderpootz's reaction to the color red.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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