Carl%20Sagan%20-%20The%20Demon%20Haunted%20World

The Dragon in My Garage
planets of other stars. A flavour of the material is given by these
monograph titles: 'The Unique Brain Development of the Chrystopeds
of Srom Norba X', 'Fire Worship and Sacrifice on Srom Sodrat
IT, "The History of the Intergalactic Scientific Institute', and 'The
Application of Unified Field Theory and the Mechanics of the
Stardrive to Space Travel'. (That last is the one I'd like to see; after
all, Allen was said to have been a first-rate physicist.) Fascinated,
Lindner pored over the material.
Allen was not in the least shy about presenting his writings to
Lindner or discussing them in detail. Unflappable and intellectually
formidable, he seemed not to be yielding an inch to Lindner's
psychiatric ministrations. When everything else failed, the psychiatrist
attempted something different:
I tried ... to avoid giving in any way the impression that I
was entering the lists with him to prove that he was psychotic,
that this was to be a tug of war over the question of his sanity.
Instead, because it was obvious that both his temperament
and training were scientific, I set myself to capitalize on the
one quality he had demonstrated throughout his life . . . the
quality that urged him toward a scientific career: his curiosity
.. . This meant . . . that at least for the time being I
'accepted' the validity of his experiences ... In a sudden
flash of inspiration it came to me that in order to separate
Kirk from his madness it was necessary for me to enter his
fantasy and, from that position, to pry him loose from the
psychosis.
Lindner highlighted certain apparent contradictions in the documents
and asked Allen to resolve them. This required the
physicist to re-enter the future to find the answers. Dutifully,
Allen would arrive at the next session with a clarifying document
written in his neat hand. Lindner found himself eagerly awaiting
each interview, so he could be once more captivated by the vision
of abundant life and intelligence in the galaxy. Between them,
they were able to resolve many problems of consistency.
Then a strange thing happened: 'The materials of Kirk's
psychosis and the Achilles heel of my personality met and meshed
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