The Point of View Read online

one that is right, and all therest are wrong."

  "One would think so," agreed the professor. "One would think thatbetween the point of view of you, for instance, as contrasted with thatof, say van Manderpootz, there would be small doubt as to which wascorrect. However, early in the twentieth century, Heisenberg enunciatedhis Principle of Uncertainty, which proved beyond argument that acompletely accurate scientific picture of the world is quite impossible,that the law of cause and effect is merely a phase of the law of chance,that no infallible predictions can ever be made, and that what scienceused to call natural laws are really only descriptions of the way inwhich the human mind perceives nature. In other words, the character ofthe world depends entirely on the mind observing it, or, to return to myearlier statement, the point of view."

  "But no one can ever really understand another person's point of view,"I said. "It isn't fair to undermine the whole basis of science becauseyou can't be sure that the color we both call red wouldn't look green toyou if you could see it through my eyes."

  "Ah!" said van Manderpootz triumphantly. "So we come now to myattitudinizor. Suppose that it were possible for me to see through youreyes, or you through mine. Do you see what a boon such an ability wouldbe to humanity? Not only from the standpoint of science, but alsobecause it would obviate all troubles due to misunderstandings. And evenmore." Shaking his finger, the professor recited oracularly, "'Oh, wadsome pow'r the giftie gie us to see oursel's as ithers see us.' VanManderpootz is that power, Dixon. Through my attitudinizor, one may atlast adopt the viewpoint of another. The poet's plaint of more than twocenturies ago is answered at last."

  "How the devil do you see through somebody else's eyes?"

  "Very simply. You will recall the idealizator. Now it is obvious thatwhen I peered over your shoulder and perceived in the mirror yourconception of the ideal woman, I was, to a certain extent, adopting yourpoint of view. In that case the psychons given off by your mind wereconverted into quanta of visible light, which could be seen. In thecase of my attitudinizor, the process is exactly reversed. One flashesthe beam of this light on the subject whose point of view is desired;the visible light is reflected back with a certain accompaniment ofpsychons, which are here intensified to a degree which will permit themto be, so to speak, appreciated?"

  "Psychons?"

  "Have you already forgotten my discovery of the unit particle ofthought? Must I explain again how the cosmons, chronons, spations,psychons, and all other particles are interchangeable? And that," hecontinued abstractedly, "leads to certain interesting speculations.Suppose I were to convert, say, a ton of material protons and electronsinto spations--that is, convert matter into space. I calculate that aton of matter will produce approximately a cubic mile of space. Now thequestion is, where would we put it, since all the space we have isalready occupied by space? Or if I manufactured an hour or two of time?It is obvious that we have no time to fit in an extra couple of hours,since all our time is already accounted for. Doubtless it will take acertain amount of thought for even van Manderpootz to solve theseproblems, but at the moment I am curious to watch the workings of theattitudinizor. Suppose you put it on, Dixon."

  "I? Haven't _you_ tried it out yet?"

  "Of course not. In the first place, what has van Manderpootz to gain bystudying the viewpoints of other people? The object of the device is topermit people to study nobler viewpoints than their own. And in thesecond place, I have asked myself whether it is fair to the world forvan Manderpootz to be the first to try out a new and possiblyuntrustworthy device, and I reply, 'No!'"

  "But _I_ should try it out, eh? Well, everytime I try out any of yourinventions I find myself in some kind of trouble. I'd be a fool to goaround looking for more difficulty, wouldn't I?"

  "I assure you that _my_ viewpoint will be much less apt to get you intotrouble than your own," said van Manderpootz with dignity. "There willbe no question of your becoming involved in some impossible love affairas long as you stick to that."

  Nevertheless, despite the assurance of the great scientist, I was morethan 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 throughother eyes, as fascinating as visiting a new world--which it was,according to the professor. So after a few moments of hesitation, Ipicked up the instrument, slipped it over my head so that the eyeglasseswere in the proper position, and looked inquiringly at van Manderpootz.

  "You must turn it on," he said, reaching over and clicking a switch onthe frame. "Now flash the light to my face. That's the way; just centerthe 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. Iwas completely dazed and bewildered, and it was only when someinvoluntary movement of my head at last flashed the light from theprofessor'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 hardlyexpect to adopt the view of van Manderpootz without some difficulties ofadjustment. A second time will be easier."

  I reached up and switched off the light. "A second time will not only beeasier, but also impossible," I said crossly. "I'm not going toexperience another dizzy spell like that for anybody."

  "But of course you will, Dixon. I am certain that the dizziness will benegligible on the second trial. Naturally the unexpected heightsaffected you, much as if you were to come without warning to the brinkof a colossal precipice. But this time you will be prepared, and theeffect will be much less."

  Well, it was. After a few moments I was able to give my full attentionto the phenomena of the attitudinizor, and queer phenomena they were,too. I scarcely know how to describe the sensation of looking at theworld through the filter of another's mind. It is almost anindescribable experience, but so, in the ultimate analysis, is any otherexperience.

  What I saw first was a kaleidoscopic array of colors and shapes, but theamazing, astounding, inconceivable thing about the scene was that therewas no single color I could recognize! The eyes of van Manderpootz, orperhaps his brain, interpreted color in a fashion utterly alien to theway in which my own functioned, and the resultant spectrum was sobizarre that there is simply no way of describing any single tint inwords. To say, as I did to the professor, that his conception of redlooked to me like a shade between purple and green conveys absolutely nomeaning, and the only way a third person could appreciate the meaningwould be to examine my point of view through an attitudinizor _while_ Iwas examining that of van Manderpootz. Thus he could apprehend myconception of van Manderpootz's reaction to the color red.

  And shapes! It took me several minutes to identify the weird, angular,twisted, distorted appearance in the center of the room as the plainlaboratory table. The room itself, aside from its queer form, lookedsmaller, perhaps because van Manderpootz is somewhat larger than I.

  But by far the strangest part of his point of view had nothing to dowith the outlook upon the physical world, but with the more fundamentalelements--with his _attitudes_. Most of his thoughts, on that firstoccasion, were beyond me, because I had not yet learned to interpret thepersonal symbolism in which he thought. But I did understand hisattitudes. There was Carter, for instance, toiling away out in the largelaboratory; I saw at once what a plodding, unintelligent drudge heseemed to van Manderpootz. And there was Miss Fitch; I confess that shehad always seemed unattractive to me, but my impression of her was Venusherself beside that of the professor! She hardly seemed human to him andI am sure that he never thought of her as a woman, but merely as a pieceof convenient but unimportant laboratory equipment.

  At this point I caught a glimpse of myself through the eyes of vanManderpootz. Ouch! Perhaps I'm not a genius, but I'm dead certain thatI'm not the grinning ape I appeared to be in his eyes. And perhaps I'mnot exactly the handsomest man in the world either, but if I thought Ilooked like that--! And then, to cap the cl
imax, I apprehended vanManderpootz's conception of himself!

  "That's enough!" I yelled. "I won't stay around here just to beinsulted. I'm through!"

  I tore the attitudinizor from my head and tossed it to the table,feeling suddenly a little foolish at the sight of the grin on the faceof the professor.

  "That is hardly the spirit which has led science to its greatachievements, Dixon," he observed amiably. "Suppose you describe thenature of the insults, and if possible, something about the workings ofthe attitudinizor as well. After all, that is what you were supposed tobe observing."

  I flushed, grumbled a little, and complied. Van Manderpootz