The Writers Voice
The World's
Favourite Literary Website
Role Playing
by
Harry Buschman
Not too far from the outer fringe of the Milky Way Galaxy, there’s a system of
planets
circling a star called the “Sun.” The Sun got its name from the inhabitants of
the 3rd
planet. The rest of the planets of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy have no name
for it at all.
The inhabitants of this 3rd planet have a name for everything; in fact each and
every one of
them has a name all his own to distinguish him from all the other inhabitants.
According to
them, nothing really exists unless it has a name. There are nine hundred billion
species of
beetle on this planet, and each one of them has its own name. To put it another
way, there is
very little difference between a duck-billed platypus and a Harvard Professor of
literature
until we discover that each of them has a different name.
If an inhabitant of this 3rd planet loses his name, or can’t remember it, he is
in big
trouble. He can’t vote or collect unemployment insurance - he can’t even be
invited to a
cocktail party.
On the other hand, if an inhabitant chooses AOL as his internet server he can
have six names,
and to go with them, he can have six identities also. He can prowl the internet
as six
separate and distinct animals - none of whom actually exist, or can be held
responsible for
what they do.
The End
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