A Platonic take on Andy Weir’s The Egg

If greatness is defined by long-lived recognition, then there are few greater than the Greek philosopher Plato. His philosophy is the seed of the Western worldview, influencing politics, science, and everything in between. It comes as no surprise, then, that it would also reach the realms of speculative fiction.

Did you notice I did not say ‘science fiction,’ and instead used the ‘speculative’ adjective? Well, today I’m going to analyse the philosophy of a short story that could hardly be called sci-fantasy, let alone sci-fi. But, in doing so, I wish to show you that the speculative nature of Andy Weir’s The Egg is very much rooted in old scientific ideation. 

Before we continue, let me warn you: there will be spoilers ahead. Although... The Egg is not a long read, and it is well worth the while. Give it a go. :)

Plato and Aristotle talking and chilling.

Plato’s Anamnesis

Ancient Greece was one of the most vibrant places that ever existed. The vigor of their pursuit of knowledge was timely, and it’s still very much respected, even though our current understanding of philosophy and science is unrecognizable to the wisest who lived in that place and epoch.

Plato, the most prolific pupil of Socrates, carried on with his mentor’s school. His reflections on Nature and Truth made him an example to be followed in scientific endeavors. 

However, Plato’s philosophy contrasts deeply with today’s beliefs. He thought that every individual carried the knowledge about the truth within themselves, inside their souls.

Nature, in Plato’s view, was beyond our comprehension. We, humans, could only glimpse into its true form. The hierarchy of knowledge is expressed in Plato’s Analogy of the Divided Line. The line starts with the visible world, followed by the intelligible world, and ends with the Form of the Good, or simply The Good. The Good is the true reality, the perfect ideal.

We live in the visible world, and we can conquer the intelligible world through mathematics, the purest form of knowledge known to humankind. But The Good will forever remain unattainable. Striving to get closer to it is the most noble reason for living.

The Good is inside our soul. This ethereal entity has experienced The Good before. It holds the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything, but it lost it due to the trauma of being born. To truly understand Nature, we must overcome our human condition and rediscover the innate knowledge we carry within us. This is called the Anamnesis theory.

According to Plato, the soul is immortal. It reincarnates over and over again. Each time, the trauma of birth corrupts us, erasing the wisdom obtained in the previous life. Still, the knowledge remains stored in the soul. This is the whole premise of The Egg, the short story by Andy Weir.

How’s Plato’s ideas scientific?

You probably don’t recognize Plato’s theory as scientific. In fact, I can hear some of you thinking “That’s metaphysics, not physics!”

In reality, the concept of science we have today is a relatively recent construction (in comparison to the whole of humankind’s attempts to understand nature). Philosophy and rhetoric were the best tools for describing nature in a time when other instruments available did not have the precision we are accustomed to nowadays. And nobody did philosophy and rhetoric like the ancient Greeks.

Plato and his disciple Aristotle laid down the foundations of natural philosophy that would later evolve into the science as we know it. 

It was at that time, ruled by the Platonic thinking, that other scholars put forward some of the most revolutionary theories, like the idea that the Earth is round, the Sun is a star, stuff is made of atoms, and we can only guess what kind of knowledge was lost in the tragic destruction of the Great Library of Alexandria. It would take over a thousand years for us to reconsider these theories. And a few more centuries to prove them.

Plato's idea might be meta, but it led us to some pretty neat theories.

The Egg

The Egg is not about science, though. 

Weir’s interpretation of the anamnesis theory led him to the religious side of Plato’s theory. The Good, the ideal we should strive for, has the same ineffable characteristics as God, despite being less demanding of the corrupted earthlings.

Unlike Plato’s theory, the immortal, reincarnating soul in Andy Weir’s story does not know The Good. It is still under construction. It will become The Good once it has experienced every life from every time period. The universe and humankind are nothing but an egg, a shell to grow the soul into becoming a god-like entity.

Plato’s influences also appear in another way throughout the story. Our main character is received by a host, someone with the task of guiding him to his next life. Confused, he asked where she came from, and the answer was,  “I come from somewhere. Somewhere else. And there are others like me. I know you’ll want to know what it’s like there, but honestly you wouldn’t understand.”

This dialogue refers to another of the ancient philosopher’s allegories: Plato’s Cave. This is a more popular allegory. It says that those who spent their lives watching shadows in a dark cave would not understand the figures creating them if they looked outside.

Sunrise by Vladmir Kush

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There’s a lot to unpack in Andy Weir’s story. Since the first time I read it, it has stuck with me. I read it to my students when teaching them about the philosophy of physics, and they loved it. I get really excited whenever I have the opportunity to use speculative fiction to exemplify a concept in class. And I wanted to share this excitement with you. 

What did you think about my Platonic take on Andy Weir’s The Egg? Let me know in the comments.

See you next post,

Ra.

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 Carla Ra is a scientist by day, sci-fi writer by night.

You can check out her anthology ARTIFICIAL REBELLION here.