- Kurt Vonnegut wrote a master's thesis on the shapes of stories that he submitted to the anthropology department at the University of Chicago, which rejected it.
- The late Indiana-born author said it was his "prettiest contribution" to the culture.
- Vonnegut half-jokingly defended his "scientific" approach to literary criticism over his career, but noted that great stories can't be easily plotted on a diagram.
Stories have very simple shapes, ones that computers can understand.
This was the basic idea behind the master's thesis that Kurt Vonnegut submitted to the anthropology department at the University of Chicago. It was rejected, however, "because it was so simple and looked like too much fun," Vonnegut said.
The late American author is best known today for using his dark, dry and decidedly Midwestern sense of humor to satirize American culture and politics in novels like "Slaughterhouse-Five", "Cat's Cradle", and "Sirens of Titan." But in his autobiography Palm Sunday, Vonnegut claimed that his "prettiest contribution" to the culture is his theory on the shapes of stories.
"I have tried to bring scientific thinking to literary criticism, and there has been very little gratitude for this," Vonnegut joked during a lecture at Case Western Reserve University in 2004.
The system involves two axes: the Y-axis represents good and bad fortune, the X-axis represents the beginning and end of a story. Vonnegut explains his system in the video below (at about 38 minutes).
From "boy meets girl" to "man turns into a cockroach", Vonnegut plots out a handful of story shapes on his diagram and explains why some of these patterns keep showing up in storytelling. To get a better visual sense of the story shapes, check out this great infographic created by graphic designer Maya Eilam.
Maya Eilam
So, does Vonnegut's theory actually have useful application in literary criticism?
"I think perhaps it does," Vonnegut said. "I think this rise and fall is, in fact, artificial. It pretends that we know more about life than we really do. And what's perhaps a true masterpiece cannot be crucified on a cross of this design. Well, alright. Let's try 'Hamlet.'"
Vonnegut describes how Hamlet's experiences throughout the play can't easily be classified as good or bad. For example, Hamlet speaks with a ghost who claims to be his father. But Hamlet (and, by extension, the audience) never definitely learns whether this ghost really his father or a demon who's impersonating him. Ambiguities like this make the story of "Hamlet" difficult to plot on Vonnegut's diagram. But they also make the story great.
"I have in fact told you why this is respected as a masterpiece. We are so seldom told the truth. In Hamlet, Shakespeare tells us we don't know enough about life to know what the good news is and what the bad news is, and we respond to that. Thank you, Bill."
If this isn't nice...
Real life is too complex to plot on a diagram in any meaningful way. But Vonnegut suggested that learning to see life's ebbs and flows in stories might help you appreciate when things are good in your life. He concluded his lecture with a bit of advice he picked up from his uncle.
"What uncle Alex found objectionable about so many human beings is that they so seldom noticed it when they were happy," Vonnegut said.
His uncle made a habit of noticing the good times: When Vonnegut and his family would be drinking lemonade under a tree on a summer day, his uncle would suddenly exclaim, "Wait a minute, stop! If this isn't nice, I don't know what is!"
"It was very good advice," Vonnegut said. "And I've taken it up, and I hope that you will take up this habit, too — of noticing when things are really awfully nice, and saying: 'If this isn't nice, I don't know what is.'"
U.S. Navy ships
The U.S. Navy controls patents for some futuristic and outlandish technologies, some of which, dubbed "the UFO patents," came to light recently. Of particular note are inventions by the somewhat mysterious Dr. Salvatore Cezar Pais, whose tech claims to be able to "engineer reality." His slate of highly-ambitious, borderline sci-fi designs meant for use by the U.S. government range from gravitational wave generators and compact fusion reactors to next-gen hybrid aerospace-underwater crafts with revolutionary propulsion systems, and beyond.
Of course, the existence of patents does not mean these technologies have actually been created, but there is evidence that some demonstrations of operability have been successfully carried out. As investigated and reported by The War Zone, a possible reason why some of the patents may have been taken on by the Navy is that the Chinese military may also be developing similar advanced gadgets.
Among Dr. Pais's patents are designs, approved in 2018, for an aerospace-underwater craft of incredible speed and maneuverability. This cone-shaped vehicle can potentially fly just as well anywhere it may be, whether air, water or space, without leaving any heat signatures. It can achieve this by creating a quantum vacuum around itself with a very dense polarized energy field. This vacuum would allow it to repel any molecule the craft comes in contact with, no matter the medium. Manipulating "quantum field fluctuations in the local vacuum energy state," would help reduce the craft's inertia. The polarized vacuum would dramatically decrease any elemental resistance and lead to "extreme speeds," claims the paper.
Not only that, if the vacuum-creating technology can be engineered, we'd also be able to "engineer the fabric of our reality at the most fundamental level," states the patent. This would lead to major advancements in aerospace propulsion and generating power. Not to mention other reality-changing outcomes that come to mind.
Among Pais's other patents are inventions that stem from similar thinking, outlining pieces of technology necessary to make his creations come to fruition. His paper presented in 2019, titled "Room Temperature Superconducting System for Use on a Hybrid Aerospace Undersea Craft," proposes a system that can achieve superconductivity at room temperatures. This would become "a highly disruptive technology, capable of a total paradigm change in Science and Technology," conveys Pais.
High frequency gravitational wave generator.
Credit: Dr. Salvatore Pais
Another invention devised by Pais is an electromagnetic field generator that could generate "an impenetrable defensive shield to sea and land as well as space-based military and civilian assets." This shield could protect from threats like anti-ship ballistic missiles, cruise missiles that evade radar, coronal mass ejections, military satellites, and even asteroids.
Dr. Pais's ideas center around the phenomenon he dubbed "The Pais Effect". He referred to it in his writings as the "controlled motion of electrically charged matter (from solid to plasma) via accelerated spin and/or accelerated vibration under rapid (yet smooth) acceleration-deceleration-acceleration transients." In less jargon-heavy terms, Pais claims to have figured out how to spin electromagnetic fields in order to contain a fusion reaction – an accomplishment that would lead to a tremendous change in power consumption and an abundance of energy.
According to his bio in a recently published paper on a new Plasma Compression Fusion Device, which could transform energy production, Dr. Pais is a mechanical and aerospace engineer working at the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD), which is headquartered in Patuxent River, Maryland. Holding a Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, Pais was a NASA Research Fellow and worked with Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. His current Department of Defense work involves his "advanced knowledge of theory, analysis, and modern experimental and computational methods in aerodynamics, along with an understanding of air-vehicle and missile design, especially in the domain of hypersonic power plant and vehicle design." He also has expert knowledge of electrooptics, emerging quantum technologies (laser power generation in particular), high-energy electromagnetic field generation, and the "breakthrough field of room temperature superconductivity, as related to advanced field propulsion."
Suffice it to say, with such a list of research credentials that would make Nikola Tesla proud, Dr. Pais seems well-positioned to carry out groundbreaking work.
A craft using an inertial mass reduction device.
Credit: Salvatore Pais
The patents won't necessarily lead to these technologies ever seeing the light of day. The research has its share of detractors and nonbelievers among other scientists, who think the amount of energy required for the fields described by Pais and his ideas on electromagnetic propulsions are well beyond the scope of current tech and are nearly impossible. Yet investigators at The War Zone found comments from Navy officials that indicate the inventions are being looked at seriously enough, and some tests are taking place.
If you'd like to read through Pais's patents yourself, check them out here.
Laser Augmented Turbojet Propulsion System
Credit: Dr. Salvatore Pais
