MAZE General Comments

For saying something.

This and that.

 - Image copyright 1985 by Christopher Manson

892 thoughts on “MAZE General Comments

  1. “To find what you seek in the road of life,
    the best proverb of all is that which says:
    “Leave no stone unturned.”
    ― Edward Bulwer-Lytton

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    • That’s only true if you’re looking for something likely to be found under a stone, which would be an uncommon priority. Even then, you’d have to make a lot of assumptions about how likely the thing is to be found under particular stones to make it worthwhile to turn over every one of them. Like, if you could go find a hundred stones to turn over in the time it would take you to turn over a particularly difficult stone, it seems like you would be better off leaving it unturned, unless the difficulty of turning over a stone correlates precisely with the likelihood of the thing you’re looking for being under it. All in all, I think it can fairly be said that there has never been a time in human history when someone”s best longterm life strategy was to indiscriminately flip over rocks.

      That’s clearly true on a literal level, but easily extended to the figurative sense, as amply demonstrated on this very website.

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    • There are no 16 steps to the safest path. That is not a concept present in this book.

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    • Are there any other words in the book that sound vaguely like other words in some language?

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  2. My crown: In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king ( Polyphemus – Cyclops ) .
    My pain: When Polyphemus is blinded.
    The fire in my eyes: When he seeks vengeance against Outis ( Room 18: “No one would listen.” ) .

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  3. “My Laurel crown, my pen, the fair enemies” is from what I had envisioned after reading ‘The Prologue’. From there, it has led me to other references about the story of “The Laurel Crown” by Dan Beachy Quick. A laurel crown is also known as a horseshoe. And what I also found in reference to the ‘horseshoe’ was “The True Legend Of Saint Dunstan And The Devil”. Reminded me of Room 26. I’m sure other cross references will eventually be seen. But please, if you could, let me know if I’m on the correct path.

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    • I’m not sure what you mean by “correct path.” What is the end goal of finding similarities between Maze and other works?

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    • Maybe the MAZE actually excompasses other books. You’re probably supposed to leave the MAZE book at various points and explore other books which lead back to different rooms in the MAZE book. MAZE, further, likely connects to other mediums, including geography. It could very well be a Lonely Planet guide for everything written in puzzles- kind of like the Bible.

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  4. “I do my thing and you do your thing. I am not in this world to live up to your expectations, and you are not in this world to live up to mine. You are you and I am I. And if by chance we meet, it’s beautiful. If not, it can’t be helped.” – Fritz Perls’ Gestalt Therapy Prayer

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  5. I think the ‘Minotaur’ (or should I say ‘Mediator’?) has more of a heathen and human origin, then it does a heavenly and divine authorship. And accordingly, acts as a ‘middleman’ (or ‘middle God’?) to stand midway between the author of this book and its readers and transmit messages from one to the other. As to the ‘Red Herring’ on the front cover, I believe it to be in reference to “The Guide of Erring”. Confirmatory of this statement is the declaration of “Maimonides”, in his “Guide to the Erring”, that the ancient Sabeans conceived the principal God, on account of his great distance, to be inaccessible; and hence, in imitation of the people in their conduct toward their “Lamb of God” (so to speak) , who had to address him through a person appointed for the purpose. They imaginarily employed a middle divinity, who was called a “Mediator”, to present their claims to the Supreme God.” As to where it says ’16 steps to the safest path’ could be telling of “The World’s 16 Crucified Saviors” also known as “Christianity Before Christ”. And I don’t remember what gave me the idea but, I thought that the letter “T” in the name Christopher Manson could actually be a cross. With that being said, if you sound out the rest, it resembles, “Crucify Cipher Foreman’s Anson”. Sorry for it being too long. Sleep deprivation has gotten the better of me.

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    • Another important clue is that the name “Christopher” contains the word “Christ”, might this be intentional?

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  6. Regarding the Title page: I believe the letters I, N, Y, L, S, along with what looks to be two of the letter “P” (one “P” is facing right; the other “P” is inverted towards the left) from the inverted mallet and the letters E, L, L, from Room 4, when construed together could be deciphered as: (PLINY) the (E)lder and his nephew (PLINY) the (Y)ounger.

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  7. Consider the following: 1) Paradox of the Raven 2) Dijkstra’s algorithm 3) Regarding the “Y” from the maze layout-like map; The Y-Maze is a widely used behavioral task in neuroscience for studying spatial learning and memory. This test is based on the fact that rodents are motivated to explore their environment and locate food quickly and efficiently. This maze gives the animal only two options: the left arm (*remember the 3 right hands that point up, down and left. And the left hand that points right?) or the right arm, each containing a food reward. Once a food reward is retrieved from one arm, the animals’ natural tendency is to alternate their choice and obtain the food reward from the opposite arm. This ability to remember spatial locations has been adapted into a simple behavioral task used to test cognitive function. It requires use of hippocampal-dependent spatial reference memory. It is also sometimes adapted as a smaller maze with shorter arms to keep the animal focused on the present task. The purpose of the Y-Maze is to assess spatial memory and learning in animals, by observing their ability to remember. This test can provide information regarding dependent learning, specifically spatial memory. The apparatus used for the Y-Maze consists of a capital Y-shape maze. Each arm ranges in length to accommodate mice, rats, and small primates (children, perhaps?) .

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    • Consider the following part 2. A major strength of the Y-Maze is its relative simplicity compared to other tasks that test spatial learning and memory. It requires minimal time and training to perform and its simplicity allows for easily reproducible results. However, A limitation of the Y-Maze is that it only has a single point choice with only two alternatives. This increases the possibility of success because by default the probability of the animal choosing the correct arm is naturally 50%. It also allows for the possibility that the animal may use a strategy other than spatial learning to solve the maze.

      As with all mazes that measure aspects of learning and memory, it is important to remember that many different processes play into behavior in the maze. In many cases, the Y-Maze is used in conjunction with other mazes to study model animals and gain a fuller understanding of spatial learning and memory.

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  8. @ vewatkin If you take a flashlight and shine it underneath (most, if not all) the pages throughout the “book” (up close; others at arm’s length) you’ll begin to notice strange scribblings of numbers, symbolisms, markings, “old english” lettering, etc. I was thinking about inverting the color option to come up as negative, revealing an X-ray like appearance, to see if by applying different samples of light, I could more or less come up with a perceivably discerning conclusion.

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  9. @vewatkin Regarding the 4th paragraph down from the top – (“Somewhere a door slammed…immediately in front of us.”) – in front of us could be construed as IN FRONT OPHIS. Ophis is Greek for “serpent”, and may refer to: 1) the constellation Serpens or 2) Serpent (Bible), a figure in the Hebrew bible

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  10. Regarding the front of the book: There are what appear to be ’11′ small circular shaped rivets that cover the stone structured entrance and are above the ‘Red Herring’. But on the page that is entitled, ‘THE NEXT PAGE’ there are ’24′ of them instead of the previous ’11′. Could this be a clue that was previously overlooked concerning the width of the entrance, which may in turn hint at the overall mass of the current denizen, that resides within?

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  11. Has anyone mentioned anything about the man that is seen leaving Room 34 and going into the door to Room 25? He seems to be the same person as the one seen through one of the doors in Room 16. Does he appear anywhere else in the Maze? I’m assuming he represents either something in mythology or just one of the travelers of the Maze.

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    • Although they look similar I would say the guy in 16 has a more definitive top hat (perhaps an anagram for “to path”) as well as a more format jacket (not an anagram).

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    • The “to path” anagram seems to make sense. However, I’ve yet to discover the significance of the man in Room 34.

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    • IT DOES NOT MEAN “TO PATH”

      NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

      THAT DOESN’T MEAN ANYTHING

      WR CAME UP WITH THE TERM “PATH” FOR THAT SPECIFIC SET OF ROOMS DECADES LATER

      NOTHING IN THE BOOK USES THE TERM “PATH” IN THAT EXCLUSIVE WAY

      EVERY SET OF ROOMS YOU GO THROUGH IS A PATH

      NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

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    • OK, but what if it’s “to path” meaning the way to some other path instead?

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    • Manson refers to the correct route as “the shortest path” three times in the Directions. It’s reasonable to think he might have had PATH in mind as shorthand for “the right way to go.”

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    • No, it isn’t. That’s like saying that because he repeatedly refers to the room at the center of the Maze that anytime he says “room” we should assume he’s talking about Room 45.

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    • Thank you to vewatkin for the clarification. I definitely need to brush up on my Maze knowledge.

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    • I do think noticing things like words within other words is the kind of thing we need to try to do, and the fact that “path” is inside “top hat” is something worth considering, since a top hat sort of appears along a path. It just isn’t reasonable to say it means what has been suggested here.

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    • I’ve found another mention of the man we sometimes see throughout the maze. In Room 15, the Guide mentions that “Just as we entered I heard a thump and the sound of footsteps hurrying away. Somewhere a door slammed.” This is just speculation, but if that isn’t a clue, maybe it’s a mention to another person/group in the Maze? I don’t know, it’s just a thought.

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    • That the scurrying and slamming is part of a trail left by the mysterious man/men traveling just out of reach was the dominant theory here for some time…maybe it still is, I dunno.

      Regardless of the significance it might have–I don’t know of any–I suspect that what’s going on is that the image we see of the room is just before or just as the group is about to enter. The hare jumps (thump) to the floor and then scurries away; somewhere a door closes behind it–maybe in 3, which is a one-way door, one that would presumably have to close and lock behind you if you travel there from 15. Or 37, which at least has a closed door to room 15.

      Because the hare is gone it doesn’t interfere with the group’s ability to sit down in the room–though it still isn’t clear what it means when it says that three of them could sit down.

      Another FUN possibility is that the image of the room we see is after the group enters, and what happened as they were entering is that a black cat jumped down (from the tripod?) and ran out the door to Room 4, which shut behind it. This is the cat then referenced in the text of Room 4. Of course, the logic of this interpretation doesn’t really work if the group entered Room 15 from Room 4. (“Somewhere a door slammed…immediately in front of us.”)

      NOW, let’s not restrain ourselves to the plausible:

      There is a type of black cat called a tuxedo cat, although when I say “type of black cat” I mean “type of cat that is black and white.” Would you describe a tuxedo cat as black, without specifying that it is black and white? Well, let’s pretend you would…

      And that this tuxedo cat, traveling through Room 4 then, through the magic of lazy punnery, turns into a dude in a tuxedo as it travels from Room 4 to Room 16. It’s our old buddy, Top Hat!

      The difficulty there, beyond this cat stuff being stupid, is that Top Hat is running away from Room 16, not into it, so it certainly seems more like he went from 16 to 4, and then maybe to 15. Sure, why not, who cares, we can reverse the directions of this train, right? But where does Top Hat Cat go after 15 then? Well, to 3, let’s say, where his mark is left upon the wall. Then to Room 18 where he loses his hat and then probably walks into the fire and burns away into nothing.

      Actually, we should start this chain in Room 7, with Top Hat’s picture there, just to wrap that into it. 7–16–4–15–3–18

      For homework, use your own disingenuous machinations to connect 42 and 10 to this chain without skipping connector rooms or creating multiple branches.

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    • @vewatkin Have you noticed that the ‘Red Herring’ on the front of the book has 7 circular rivets underneath it, which would leave 2 on either side left over. But if you compared this same ‘placement’ of the red herring over the top of the letters to the entrance which is entitled “THE NEXT PAGE”, it would cover up all the letters except for T and H on the left as well as the G and E on the right (TH) E NEXT PA (GE). And if you scramble what’s left of the concealed letters being, E NEXT PA, it spells APENTEX or APPENDIX. The definition of an Appendix is: a section or table of additional matter at the end of a book or document. And 1 of the synonyms of the word appendix would be “tailpiece”, which means: 1) a final or end part of something, in particular. 2) a part added to the end of a story or piece of writing. 3) a small decorative design at the foot of a page or the end of a chapter or book. 4) the piece at the base of a violin or other stringed instrument to which the strings are attached. I also reversed the word “tailpiece” with “headpiece” which is defined as being: 1) a device worn on the head as an ornament or to serve a function. 2) an illustration or ornamental motif printed at the head of a chapter in a book. 3) the part of a halter or bridle that fits over the top of a horse’s head behind the ears.

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    • Sooooo… the door to 33 is your second-best choice in Room 17? Anyway, ceramist myrrh to all!

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  12. No food that I can think of – but there is a rabbit and a fire, some salt and pepper, an empty bowl, a table, and at least a picture of a knife and fork.

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    • There’s also quite a few apples, and the red herring above the entrance although I’m not sure if that counts.

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    • There’s an unpictured pantry below Room 3; I’d recommend looking there first. If there’s nothing good there, at least grab the pans and water from 3 and take them to 18 to start your soup stock boiling. Turtle, rabbit, unnamed birds…grab what you can.

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    • There’s those wine bottles in room 39 too. With such a large assortment of bottles, there has to be one with something in it.

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    • Yes, I suppose there are apples, and at least the one in 9 is not cardboard. There is a picture of a pear too. Put it in a tree with a bird and you could start that 12 days of Christmas song – but there are not quite enough birds for that.

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