VII
NULL ABSTRACTS
“In making a statement about an object or an event, an individual ‘abstracts’ only a few of its characteristics. If he says, ‘That chair is brown!’ he should mean that brownness is one of its qualities, and he should be aware, as he speaks, that it has many other qualities. ‘Consciousness of abstracting’ constitutes one of the main differences between a person who is semantically trained and one who is not.”
― Van Vogt, A. E., The Players of Null-A, 1948, Gregg Press Edition, June 1977, Null-Abstracts, p.50
V
NULL ABSTRACTS
“Because children―and childlike grownups―are incapable of refined discrimination, many experiences shock their nervous systems so violently that psychiatrists have evolved a special word for the result: trauma. Carried over into later years, these traumas can so tangle an individual that unsanity―that is, neurosis―or even insanity (psychosis) can result. Almost everyone has had several traumatic experiences. It is possible to alleviate the effect of many shocks with psychotherapy.”
― Van Vogt, A. E., The Players of Null-A, 1948, Gregg Press Edition, June 1977, Null-Abstracts, p.31
VI
NULL ABSTRACTS
“Children, immature adults and animals ‘identify’. Whenever a person reacts to a new or changing situation as if it were an old and unchanging one, he or she is said to be identifying. Such an approach to life is Aristotelian.
― Van Vogt, A. E., The Players of Null-A, 1948, Gregg Press Edition, June 1977, Null-Abstracts, p.40-41