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Some Problems with the Enigma
"The ideas which are here expressed... are extremely simple and should be obvious. The difficulty lies, not in the new ideas, but in escaping from the old ones, which ramify, for those brought up as most of us have been, into every corner of our minds." The enigma is seriously wacked for a variety of reasons. First of all, a number of people are trying to solve the enigma, or have tried to solve it, and yet nobody really knows what the prize should be, or what the solution should be like. In other words, the search for the solution to the enigma has hitherto been essentially a search to figure out what it is that one is trying to figure out. Now that's wacked! Some people think that the "solution" and "prize" are the same thing and believe that there's literally some buried treasure to be found somewhere. Others approach the enigma with the assumption that Pink Floyd is trying to communicate some idea, or incite discussion for some mysterious purpose. The messages sent by Publius were never authorized. Nobody associated with the band has acknowledged that they have had anything to do with the enigma. No real world body is accountable for the information disclosed in 'the messages'. In effect, Publius doesn't exist in what is traditionally thought of as the 'real world'. The band members themselves seem to have a quite negative attitude towards the enigma, appropriately enough, as you might see further on. Related to these problems is the problem of the seeming ambiguity of the messages sent by Publius. There has never really been any criterion of success established by Publius or the community of enigmatologists. If one was to solve the enigma, how would one know for sure? In the most common forum for discussion of the enigma, the alt.music.pink-floyd newsgroup, there is no arbiter. Nobody has the authority to definitively decide which ideas are valid and correct and which are not. Nobody has final say about anything. The nature of the debate is thus quite anarchisitic - chaotic. In order to dismis ideas regarding the enigma, one can simply ignore them and baselessly regard them as wrong. This should be a particular problem if certain ideas regarding the enigma were valid and consistent, and yet displeasing to the majority, or worse yet, a threat to the persistence of the community. There is a tendency for the criterion of success to become inadvertantly skewed due to the possibly inappropriate a priori values and beliefs and of the participants. If the evidence were to suggest that the enigma might be something like an elaborate joke or interactive farce, then what self-respecting enigmatist would like to come to terms with that.
"Thereby men do not flee from being deceived as much as from being damaged by deception: what they hate at this stage is basically not the deception but the bad hostile consequences of certain kinds of deceptions. In a similarly limited way man wants the truth: he desires the agreeable life-preserving consequences of truth, but he is indifferent to pure knowledge, which has no consequences; he is even hostile to possibly damaging and destructive truths." There are a variety of real world examples to demonstrate this problem, one of the most widespread and perilous of which might be the debate regarding the theory of evolution. It's safe to say that the theory of evolution is a fundamentally sound theory. Some folks just refuse to accept it, though. This might be due to the cognitive dissonance that acceptance of the theory would involve. People who cannot accept the theory of evolution, often cannot reconcile their religious ideals with the nature of the theory. These people are in a position to simply refute the idea because of the hypothetical nature of the theory of evolution. Nobody was around to observe the dawn of man and how we came to be, and such. The evidence in support of the theory is also incomplete. There simply aren't enough fossils in the possession of the scientific community to remove all disbelief. The evidence in favor of the theory is nonetheless overwhelming, but it seems that I've strayed a bit from the topic at hand. "Who can face the knowledge that the truth is not the truth?" (N. Peart) People need to believe. This could present an "unusual challenge" for the enigma believer. The fact that there is no arbiter, or order, in the discussion, leaves the debate totally exposed to, and perpetually stalled by, faction. The community of enigma sleuths is unable to act and arrive at a conclusive decision regarding the enigma because of this. In the 1998 BBC interview, David Gilmour said that he doesn't like groups very much. He doesn't like them because the members of a group can seldom agree on a course of action. In the band, one member might want to do something and the others will want to do other things. This is one explanation for why Pink Floyd broke up. Roger Waters was something of a dictator within the group. As the departure of Newt Gingrich from the American Congress demonstrates, certain institutions, such as those with many members and "formal committees", are unable to tolerate very strong leaders for great lengths of time.
"In many cases, however, where there are three players, and in the overwhelming majority of cases, when the number of players is large, the result is one of extreme indeterminacy and instability. The individual players are compelled by their own cupidity to form coalitions; but these coalitions do not generally establish themselves in any single, determinate way, and usually terminate in a welter of betrayal, turncoatism, and deception, which is only too true a picture of the higher business life, or the closely related lives of politics, diplomacy, and war." Some people seem to believe that in order for the enigma to be solved there must be the discovery of some prize, imagined to be like the prize won in a children's treasure hunt or television game show, only better. There is no reason to believe that the 'enigma solution' and the 'prize' are the same thing. Publius makes it quite clear that they are not in fact one and the same. The nature of the prize is completely ambiguous. Publius merely comments that the prize is unique, tangible, and very real. Well, that basically rules out nothing, including the words on this page, the messages themselves, or the human body. In legal jargon, a set of words expressing an original idea is copyrightable if it is in tangible form - meaning that it is written down somewhere. Again, it should be emphasized that the solution to the enigma and the prize are in no way mutually inclusive, according to 'the messages'. Pink Floyd is a music group; they make music. Wouldn't it make sense that the prize would be in the music? "I really like 'The Division Bell' myself, although I wouldn't say it's an immediate album. You have to put a bit of work in to get out of it the riches that are there." Wouldn't it be silly if there was a prize like the kind found in a children's treasure hunt? It would be just as silly if there was no idea behind the enigma, though. Imagine for a moment if there turned out to be some prize which was obviously recognizable as the prize of the enigma (i.e. the treasure hunt/game show sort of prize). Since David Gilmour insisted that there was no such prize, then he would be found to have been lying. That really doesn't work. It doesn't make sense to lie if you know that you're going to be caught. If there really was such a prize, then why wouldn't they acknowledge it? One should acknowledge the attitude of the members of Pink Floyd towards the enigma and account for it, in a good enigma theory.
"Not only can we build purpose into machines, but in an overwhelming majority of cases a machine designed to avoid certain pitfalls of breakdown will look for purposes which it can fulfill." The promise of the prize does serve a very important function in the enigma though. Performance is a function of motivation and ability. The promise of the prize may serve as an important motivating factor, coercing people to take action and perform. The promise of some prize broadens the appeal of the enigma to a wider audience. If there was no goal, or purpose, to perform and take action for, well, then,... what then? Relatedly, some people think that travelling to a "physical location" implies that there is some particular and unique physical location that must be visited, in order for the enigma to be solved. A physical location might just as well imply a physical location, in general, as opposed to a virtual location, such as the location of the enigma discussion - a usenet newsgroup. It should also be emphasized that the enigma is valid and the product of the members of Pink Floyd, or somebody close to the band. To say that there is no enigma is ridiculous. Publius was exactly right in commenting: "Congratulations to all those who have newly begun the search. Many of you correctly identified my signal last Monday (7/18). As promised, this gesture should serve as visible proof of my truthfulness and of the enigma's existence." Not proof of the prize's existence, of course. Thousands of people have become involved with the phenomenon surrounding the messages sent by Publius. What do you call that if not 'the enigma'? 
A standard reading of the lyrics to The Division Bell (TDB) is that the message of the album somehow involves communication from the band to Roger Waters. This is indeed the impression made upon the passive listener to the music. It might seem that the words to the songs, such as Poles Apart, are being communicated from the band to Roger Waters or Syd Barret maybe; or that the lyrics somehow refer to these former band members. The lyrics go: "Hey you, did you ever realize what you'd become..." and what not. The notion that the album is somehow essentially communication from the band to Roger Waters is simply completely WRONG! If the members of Pink Floyd wanted to communicate something to Roger Waters they could probably just call him on the telephone and speak to him. The Waters motif is a facade. You don't have to be an electrical engineer or control artist to understand that the messages are being transmitted from band to audience. Observe: GF: The album could easily be interpreted as an allegory about the split with Roger. DG: I don't think that it is. There are a couple of hinted mentions that could
or could not have something to do with him. But all that I read from people
working out what they think it's about has been either fairly or wildly
inaccurate. I enjoy that. I'm quite happy for people to interpret it any way
they like. But maybe a note of caution should be sounded because you can read
too much into it. "A Great Day for Freedom," for example, has got nothing to do
with Roger or his "wall." It just doesn't. What else can I say?
"Um, I suppose you could say that uh, you know, there's a, a theme throughout the album which involves communication. And um, *all*, pretty much, *all* the songs are connected to the theme of communication, in some way or another." Fact # 1: Music is communication from musician(s) to audience Before moving on it should be important to again address and establish some criterion of success. First of all, a valid enigma theory should account for the relationship between the enigma and TDB album. Publius began posting during TDB tour and implied that the enigma has something to do with TDB by quoting from it on many occasions. Publius emphasizes the importance of 'organized communication'. According to David Gilmour, "all of the songs" have something to do with communication. Therefore, one should be able to reconcile this idea with all of the songs. One should be able to explain how the song "Take it Back", for example, a song which seems to have very little to do with communication, relates to communication. There are few enigmatologists who will deny that communication is somehow an integral part of the enigma. Pink Floyd vs. The Grateful Dead in Cyberspace "Technology is the new drugs." --Jerry Garcia In the 1998 interview with David Gilmour on the BBC, Gilmour said something to the effect that music tends to be an expression of ones darker moments, or some such. It's also clear from the interview that David Gilmour isn't very spiritual and doesn't subscribe to any particular religion very strongly. The music of Pink Floyd has seldom been very happy or mystical. One would have a difficult time finding a single Floyd song from the post-Barret era that has a very positive message. The music of Pink Floyd has dealt with such topics as the bad side of the music industry, madness, money, brain eating worms, and other miserable topics. The tone of TDB album is in fact quite tragic. Anyway, in the light of the history of the band, it's difficult to understand why some people insist on seeing an entirely positive message behind the TDB album or the enigma. A typical and recurring interpretation of the enigma is that it is somehow an affirmation of how wonderful the effects of communication in cyberspace are. The enigma, they believe, bears testament to the fact that thousands of people from different parts of the world can come together and accomplish some task by communicating with each other and so on. Sure, the internet will change everything, but change always involves trade-offs. Pardon the dull generalization. (Think of the 'Dark Side of the Moon' mentality) Time spent in cyberspace is time not spent elsewhere. What has the communication regarding the enigma really accomplished in the grand scheme of things? Certain interpretations are naive and inconsistent with the types of themes and messages that Pink Floyd has previously communicated. None of which is to say that the enigma shouldn't reflect a sort of Floydian sense of humor present throughout much of the previous music and album artwork. "Ask yourselves: how do these separate clues that
you have been researching and evaluating now find
renewed meaning within an overall, more unified
theme?"
"Everything must be made as simple as possible; but not simpler."
"The simple fact is that no measurement, no experiment or observation is possible without a relevant theoretical framework."
"An opinion not based on fact is bullshit." -Chuck D Alternatively, some people insist on ignoring the semantic meaning of 'the messages' and look instead for anagrams and puzzles in the messages. The use of this technique is particularly interesting. It seems to suggest that 'the messages' themselves don't appear to contain enough information, to the investigator. The messages are written in plain english and are in fact quite easy to understand. It should be obvious, though it isn't to some, that the meaning of the messages should be understood and accounted for in the theory! Certainly there are peculiarities in the writing style used by Publius, but these alone shouldn't suffice in a complete analysis of the messages. Publius emphasizes the centrality of communication between the participants (feedback) as the only way in which the answers can be revealed, but why? (Listen. Read. Think. Communicate.) A good enigma theory should be parsimonious and as objective as possible. Speculation should be avoided as much as possible. Ideally, the core of an enigma theory should deal primarily with matters of fact, with incidental factors such as themes, meaning (subjective interpretations), motivations, attitudes, values, and beliefs, reinforcing the core. (imagine that) No phenomenon should be assessed independent of its context, in this case, the virtual community, the network society, cyberspace. It is important to note that the enigma is a man made, or social, entity, however. The enigma solution is primarily subject to the intentions of the creators - the members of Pink Floyd. Music, like other art, is the product of the subjective whims of the creators. This is obvious, though the implications of it should be well understood. One should consider the validity of ones system of interpretation in the light of this fact. As was previously set forth, a valid enigma theory should take into account the relationship of the enigma to TDB, which implies music - duh! Pseudo-scientific or statistical methods and such, one would like to think, are obviously inadequate to fully account for the experienced content of music. It needn't make more sense than: "Diggin for gold with a hoe in my hand" but, it just might. None of which is to say that the enigma can't be interesting, fun, and a bit sensational. It doesn't have to be boring. In fact it might just turn out to be something like real world science fiction - real, though, very real.
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