Book "A Brief Look at Infra-Materialism"

Huh. Okay...

Stay with us a moment longer. What's more, Nilsen speculated that this plasm, when it becomes powerful enough, might begin to influence the material reality surrounding it. Hence the name: infra-materialism.

Honestly, I have no idea where some of these thoughts come from.

This sounds more like a question for a psychiatrist. (See also: 'A Brief Look at Psychiatry'.) But let's stick with Ignus Nilsen a moment...

Uh, right?

Wrong! At least according to Ignus Nilsen...

Nah, I always listen to my gut.

There is no evidence that the human digestive system is the seat of cognition. But let's get back to Ignus Nilsen, shall we?

I'm more of a tactile guy. I let my fingers guide me.

It's common for some developmentally delayed children to confuse sites of sensory input with the site of cognition. But let's get back to Ignus Nilsen, shall we?

Completely backwards. You think with your hands, always have.

Maybe if you're some kind of binoclard. You on the other hand, are a gut-thinker, through and through.

Read the introduction on Ignus Nilsen.

Known to his numerous admirers as the 'Evangelist of the Revolution' and to his even-more-numerous enemies as the 'Apocalyptic Shrike', Ignus Nilsen remains one of the most controversial and fascinating figures to emerge in the years of the Antecentennial Revolution, second only to Kras Mazov himself.

During his unparalleled life, he helped guide a revolution in one country and found a new state in another. Along the way, he committed some of the most notorious war crimes in an era famed for its atrocities.

He is your brother, a fellow doom prophet.

And yet, his most fascinating contribution to history may be the most overlooked: His theory of ideological plasm, from which his followers and successors developed the school of communism known as infra-materialism.

[Put the book away.]

Finish the book.

You breeze through the next several sections until you arrive at the final chapter, titled 'A Communism Above Reality'...

When a society's revolutionary fervour reaches the third and highest level, infra-materialist theoreticians have postulated that the laws of physics cease to be laws.

SAY IT. You know you want to.

That's because I'm the law. The law-jaw.

Under suitably revolutionary conditions, you might be! Though infra-materialists would argue that it's more like the community is collectively the law.

At last, a book gives you the respect and validation you're entitled to.

Of course, it's impossible to say what exactly happens under these conditions. No known society has ever achieved the levels of revolutionary enthusiasm the theory seems to require.

Some infra-materialists have even argued that it might require more plasm than humanity alone may be capable of producing.

Wait, are there non-human sources of plasm?

In the SRV, there have been attempts to organise certain species of aquatic mammals, as well as a few of the higher corvids...

But as of this writing only human beings have demonstrated the intellectual capacity for revolutionary communism.

What would a third-level society even look like? (Conclude.)

Some have theorised that such a society would be fundamentally unrecognisable, lacking many of the institutions we typically take for granted in advanced societies, including organised governments, financial institutions, and law enforcement.

D-d-did that book just say there's no place for you in this future?

This sounds like a seditious fantasy! How can they allow books like this in print?

Others have argued that people living under third-level conditions will be immune to such infirmities as hunger, disease, and mental illness...

In some of his later writings, Nilsen himself speculated about the potential for an extra-physical architecture that disregards the laws of 'bourgeois physics' and instead relies on the revolutionary faith of the people for structural integrity.

That... seems like a bad theory to design buildings based on.

Nilsen called it "the highest expression of Communist principles, a society whose literal foundation is the faith of its people".

On the following page you come across a few black-and-white reproductions from Nilsen's own notebooks. One sketch depicts a government ministry shaped like a great inverted pyramid, a hectare in width at the top, balanced atop foundations the size of common apartments...

Another depicts a leaning tower wrapped in a dramatic helix. The caption beneath it reads: 'The Tower of History'.

Something about that tower looks awfully familiar. Could it be that's what the students were trying to recreate with the matchboxes?

This might be too much, even for me.

That's alright, because you've reached the end of the book.

If you'd like to try something different, may we recommend 'A Brief Look at Graadian Literature'?

Wait, but what if the people stop believing and the buildings collapse?

In the corner of one of the reproduced notebook pages, you can make out the following words written in Nilsen's distinctive slashing script...

"A state that has lost the faith of its people has forfeited the right to exist."

Plausible or not, there's something beautiful about this idea. Is there any more?

There is no more. You've reached the outer theoretical limits of communism, and in less than 200 pages.

If you'd like to read further, may we recommend 'A Brief Look at Occidental Architecture'?

Meaning the buildings stay up because people believe they'll stay up?

Precisely. Nilsen observed that the financial system operates on the same principle of faith, so why not an architectural system?

Has anyone ever gotten close to reaching the third level?

There are numerous stories from Samara involving bandits or fascist mercenaries being levitated by farmers from the most ideologically advanced communes. Of course, few of these incidents have ever been rigorously investigated or substantiated...

The form of these stories also recalls several well-known Samaran folktales, in particular the one commonly known as 'Clever Oleg and the Flying Magistrate'.

Among known attempts to channel third-level capabilities, the most well-documented is the curious case of Coalition Warship Debutante.

I've got to know what that's about.

It concerns an interesting series of events that took place during the invasion of Revachol. As Coalition forces made landfall, a cadre of Nilsen's most fervent acolytes attempted to compress a Coalition aerostatic with their collective will...

According to communard lore, these acolytes positioned themselves at the top of a redoubt just over the Bay of Revachol. From that vantage, they proceeded to visualise pinching Coalition Warship Debutante between their fingers, a gesture believed to assist in the extra-physical materialisation of their thoughts.

Should've used their finger pistols instead. (Aim your finger pistols toward the bay.)