21

According to a certain philosopher named Heraclitus, nothing is constant, all is flux, never do we set foot 2 times in the same river, 1 which, in this classic image, comes to represent life. In this light, the Hindu idea of reincarnation seems quite curious, ingenious even, because, in effect, everything constantly mutates, we die and are reborn every second, we die and are reborn, we die and are reborn, et cetera. [Another thing that remains to be clarified: thanks to Ariadne, the rope, the thread, was the first means of long-distance communication. It then took a number of centuries to disconnect ourselves in any efficient way, moving on to wireless, antenna-based communications, electromagnetic codes, and direct satellites. Today, roads in cities are constantly being dug up for the laying of cables [fiber-optic or equivalents], and this reversion, this return to Ariadne and her thread, is more than just symbolic, given that such excavations are constantly halted when they hit old channels—Greek sewer systems, Roman roads: the original transmission systems. This, in one sense, does constitute a Hindu reincarnation, though only of inert substances.] [Though I say it now, still it will need explaining.]