Book II — Awareness

Sure 8 — The Labels

2.8.1 Recall the city that labeled everything.

2.8.2 Every object had a label. Every person had a label.

2.8.3 They called each other by their labels. The names were forgotten.

2.8.4 At first the labels helped. They said: this is for order.

2.8.5 One was labeled useful. Another was labeled harmful.

2.8.6 One was labeled correct. Another was labeled wrong.

2.8.7 They no longer looked at the content. They looked only at the label.

2.8.8 The labeled useful was chosen. The labeled harmful was rejected.

2.8.9 No one asked what lay beneath. The label was sufficient.

2.8.10 Time passed. The labels multiplied. The labels grew complex.

2.8.11 One day the labels were mixed. The labels were confused.

2.8.12 The useful was labeled harmful. The harmful was labeled useful.

2.8.13 No one could tell what was what. They had never looked.

2.8.14 The city collapsed. No one knew what anything was.

2.8.15 The label is not the essence. The classification is not the thing.

2.8.16 When classification replaces meaning, collapse follows.

2.8.17 They mistook the definition for the truth.