Seriously though, folks: it’s just a game. Which presumably means Croteam also invented my PhD, which is a real relief, because it was a lot of work and I’m glad I didn’t have to do it myself. And instead of adapting the work of Straton of Stageira, the Croteam game actually invented Straton. In fact, they seem to believe this entire blog is some sort of elaborate marketing exercise, or maybe an act of trolling. So, uh, some people on the internet seem to believe that I don’t exist. If this blog has served any purpose, then let it be as a reminder of the need to question, to consider – not to slide into nihilistic despair, but also never to let ego and the desire for simple answers get in the way of critical thinking. The answers to the questions can be found through research, through the collection of facts, the formation of hypotheses, the application of logic. The only thing that truly allows us to separate truth from falsehood is reason. Authority, as Straton so frequently reminded us, must be questioned.
Initially I intended to do this, but as the queries have multiplied, I have begun to wonder whether this is the right choice.Īfter all, should it not be possible for anyone to deduce the truth from the facts currently available? It’s not my word – my authority as someone who has a PhD – that matters. I’ve been asked to provide proof of my existence, or at least of the existence of the works that I write about. Some go even further and assert that Straton of Stageira himself is a fictional creation, a character invented to tie the game’s narrative to both philosophy and mythology via the (definitely genuine) figure of Talos. Strangely, with the publication of the Talos Principle video game, and now some sort of additional content, some people have started suspecting that this blog may constitute some sort of marketing trick, or perhaps merely an elaborate joke on the part of one of its writers.