NOTES: First-time readers familiar with PN’s articles are often taken aback by the negative tone of this piece. In place of PN’s usual optimism about the future, we have imagery suggesting a dead end. Technology (in the form of TV) isolates the central figure in his home - just as the bird in the opening section is trapped in the now disused fireplace.
Some see this as evidence that PN was telling the truth when he claimed that he didn’t actually write it – that it must have been “dictated to him” by the Overmind. After all, they say, if he had written the whole thing himself, surely it would have been more upbeat? But others have suggested that behind the apparent negativity lies a more positive message of the power of technology to offer a life beyond the “living death” of the central figure. They point out that although the piece starts with a dead bird, it ends with live ones perching on the TV aerial, possibly suggesting the idea of a phoenix rising from the ashes.
Viewed in this light, the negative tone could be seen as an attack on passive technologies like TV, which is more consistent with PN’s views. Some have also suggested that the phoenix idea could also be an allusion to various ideas of PN’s about the potential for technology to overcome human limitations and offer a kind of “life after death”. See the discussion forum for more views on this piece.