Cat's Cradle

There has always been an attempt to make understanding out of the world, to give meanings to things which may or may not in fact have meaning. In science, this has evolved into an ‘art’ called reductionism. Reductionism comes from breaking down things into smaller and smaller parts in order to find something that gives sense to everything that has been broken down. However, this is a never-ending process, because there is always more and more and more to be broken down into. This is the metaphor provided by cat’s cradle as well. No matter how many steps you take in order to break something down, there is always more. The same repetitive motions are taken over and over again, with no outcome at all. The only way to ‘win’ the game is to never start playing it. Postmodernism identifies the lack of meaning in these repetitive motions because all they do is set up the next stage of repetitive motions. The questions asked are meaningless if there are no answers, and as the book said, “such investigations are bound to be incomplete,” (4). Although there is no meaning in the answer, there is meaning in the process. By going through these repetitive motions, happiness can be achieved. The problems arise when people are more focused on the answer than the process of going towards it. Vonnegut states that, “Anyone unable to understand how a useful religion can be founded on lies will not understand this book either,” (6). Again, the process of belief gives happiness and comfort to whomever it involves whether it is true or not. Postmodernism suggests that we can never know any absolute truths for certain, if there are any absolute truths at all. But, simple belief is not a bad thing if it gives vindications to its believers.