The White Man’s Burden

“ When I had a chance... when I was doing a story out in Denver, we went up to Estes Park. It was in the off-season. Went into the Stanley Hotel, and I asked to see the manager. 

And he came out, and we were just having lunch with him. And I said, "Can we talk to you? I write about The Shining." 

He said, "Really?" This fellow told me that he got a phone call from Stanley Kubrick, who said, "I think I want to make a movie about The Shining." 

And then he would keep this fellow on the phone for a long time. 

He said, "We had many long, long conversations in which he picked my brain about everything." 

And at that point, he said, "Kubrick was talking about maybe coming here to make the movie here," which I expect, at that point, that fellow liked the idea of, so it would make his hotel famous. 

And Kubrick said, "I'd like to send out a research team." 

And so he then sent out... the man said it was something like two or three people who came out here and stayed here for two or three months, taking photographs everywhere. 

And they spent a lot of time also down in Denver in the Colorado state archives, finding out, as I would now expect, the full history of Colorado, which... the flag of which plays a part. 

And the gold rush, the Colorado Gold Rush was also a very big event. And there's all... there's still a lot of American Indian/white people tension in Colorado with Navajos and Arapahos just to the south. 

This research team found out absolutely everything about Colorado, about Estes Park, about the Stanley Hotel, about its entire history, took photographs all over the place. 

Three months was the impression that I have of what he said about how this research team gathered absolutely everything. 

Kubrick unearthed an enormous amount about the real history of Colorado, where this takes place, because what he has done is found a way to dig into all of the patterns of our civilization, our times and our cultures, and the things that we don't want to look at. 

And this movie is very much also about denial of the genocides that we committed... we white folk from Europe... committed here and not that... not that white folks are the only people who do genocide. 

All humans do, as Kubrick makes clear in this movie. 

He would research everything and the full history and nature of everything you're gonna see in the movie on the screen and then boil it down and boil it down until he got the universal human and global patterns that make it so real. 

“White Man's Burden, Lloyd, My Man. 

White Man's Burden. 

I Like you, Lloyd. I always liked you. 

You were always the best of 'em. 

The best goddamned bartender from Timbuktu to Portland, Maine, 

or Portland, Oregon, for that matter.”

“Thank you for saying so.”

What does it mean? 

Jack saying, "You always were the best of 'em." 

Starting in Timbuktu? 

Jack The Schoolteacher was never in Timbuktu, but Jack The Universal Weak Male hired by armies to go commit atrocities has always been there. 

Now, of course, the word "Portland" is neat because it means where we landed or where The British or The Europeans landed. 

And Portland, Maine... 

Oregon is where they may have taken off from to go further west. 

Kubrick is thinking about the implications of everything that exists. You know, The Power of The Genie is in its confinement, as the great American poet Richard Wilbur said. 

Boiling it down, you know, 10,000 years in a little lamp, you got to get your act together. 

But that's the essence of great art. 

It's like a dream. 

It's boiled everything down to an emblematic symbol that's got all of life in it. 

Now, if you'll allow me to make a little bit of a link here. 

As I've thinking of this more in recent years, what we now understand to be the nature of What Dreams Are, I mean, it seems to be, the general theory is, that it's a way for the brain to boil down all of the previous experiences and then add in that day's experiences as well to see what kind of overall universal patterns there are to be found, so that you can be aware of what the patterns are out there, so that your subconscious will be all the more ready to react suddenly when you see something dangerous happen or something important happen that may lead you to a mate or to some food or away from danger. 

And therefore, the way Kubrick made movies was not unlike the way, according to these current theories, our brains create memories and, for that matter, dreams. 

That's the ultimate shining that Kubrick does. 

He is like a mega brain for The Planet who is boiling down with all of this extensive research, all of these patterns of Our World and then giving them back to us in a dream of a movie... because movies are like A Dream... and that's related to why I think there's a lot of evidence that what Kubrick also gave us in The Shining is a movie about The Past. 

Not just any past. The Past. 

I mean past-ness. 

It's a movie about how The Past impinges. That's what ghosts are. That's what those skitter-y voices in the opening shot that are following are about. 

There's two phrases from T.S. Eliot that I often think of when I'm thinking about The Shining. One of them is "The night"... 

I think they're both from T.S. Eliot... 

[ It’s James Joyce. ]

"The nightmare of history... How can we awake from The Nightmare of History?

And the other is his phrase... T.S. Eliot's phrase... "History has many cunning passages." 

And I think both of those phrases are directly apt for The Shining, in which we see many cunning passages in The Maze and in The Hotel itself and in which The Past becomes a nightmare, and in which Kubrick shows us how you escape from the nightmare of The Past by retracing your steps, as Danny does in that last line, which means acknowledging what happened and learning about The Past and then getting out, only if you are going to be able to shine and see what the patterns are so you know to get away from them and avoid them and go for the good things. 

I mean, The Shining is his movie about how families break down, whether they are an individual family or the larger societal family that tries to break up individual families. 

And his hat movie, Eyes Wide Shut is the opposite. It's about a family sorely tried, Bill Hartford and his wife and child, that survives all the horrible temptations that are in our DNA.”

Like My Brother

 

A Chance, for Faramir, Captain of Gondor.... 

To Show His Quality.

 

"Here was one with an air of high nobility such as Aragorn at times revealed, less high perhaps, yet also less incalculable and remote : one of the Kings of Men born into a later time, but touched with the wisdom and sadness of the Eldar. He knew now why Beregond spoke his name with love. He was a captain that men would follow, that he would follow, even under the shadow of the black wings."

    — Peregrin Took's 

first impression on Faramir

     '[Mithrandir] got leave of Denethor... to look at the secrets of our treasury, and I learned a little of him, when he would teach.... Ever he would search and would question us above all else concerning the Great Battle that was fought upon Dagorlad..., when He whom we do not name was overthrown. And he was eager for stories of Isildur....'

    Now Faramir's voice sank to a whisper. 'But this much I learned or guessed, and I have kept it ever secret in my heart since: that Isildur took somewhat from the hand of the Unnamed, ere he went away from Gondor.... Here I thought was the answer to Mithrandir's questioning. But it seemed then a matter that concerned only the seekers after ancient learning. Nor when the riddling words of our dream were debated among us, did I think of Isildur's Bane as being this same thing. For Isildur was ambushed and slain by orc-arrows, according to the only legend that we knew....

    'What in truth this Thing is I cannot yet guess; but some heirloom of power and peril it must be. A fell weapon, perchance, devised by the Dark Lord. If it were a thing that gave advantage in battle, I can well believe that Boromir, the proud and fearless, often rash, ever anxious for the victory of Minas Tirith..., might desire such a thing and be allured by it. Alas that ever he went on that errand! I should have been chosen by my father and the elders but he put himself forward..., and he would not be stayed.

    'But fear no more! I would not take this thing, if it lay by the highway. Not were Minas Tirith falling in ruin and I alone could save her, so, using the weapon of the Dark Lord for her good and my glory. No, I do not wish for such triumphs, Frodo son of Drogo.'

    'Neither did the Council,' said Frodo. 'Nor do I. I would have nothing to do with such matters.'

    The Two Towers, LoTR Book 4, Ch 5, The Window on the West

    'Now I Watched Boromir and Listened to Him, from Rivendell all down The Road... and it's my opinion that in Lórien he first saw clearly... What He Wanted. From the moment he first saw it he wanted The Enemy's Ring!'

    'Sam!' cried Frodo aghast....

    'Save Me!' said Sam turning white...

    'Now look here, sir!' He turned, facing up to Faramir with all the courage that he could muster. 'Don't you go taking advantage of My Master.... You've spoken very handsome all along, put me off My Guard, talking of Elves and all. But Handsome is as Handsome Does we say. Now's A Chance to show Your Quality.'

    'So it seems,' said Faramir, slowly and very softly, with a strange smile. 'So that is The Answer to all The Riddles! The One Ring that was thought to have perished from The World. And Boromir tried to take it by Force? And you escaped? And ran all the way — to me! And here in The Wild I have you: Two Halflings, and A Host of Men at My Call, and The Ring of Rings. A pretty stroke of Fortune! A Chance for Faramir, Captain of Gondor, to show His Quality!'.... He stood up, very tall and stern, his grey eyes glinting.

    Frodo and Sam sprang from their stools and set themselves side by side with their Backs to The Wall, fumbling for their sword-hilts.... But Faramir sat down again in his chair and began to laugh quietly, and then suddenly became grave again.

    'Alas for Boromir! It was too sore A Trial!' he said. 'How you have increased My Sorrow, you two strange wanderers from a far country, bearing the peril of Men! But you are less judges of Men than I of Halflings. We are Truth-speakers, we men of Gondor. We boast seldom, and then Perform, or Die in The Attempt. Not if I found it on the highway would I take it I said. Even if I were such a man as to desire this thing, and even though I knew not clearly what this thing was when I spoke, still I should take those words as a vow, and be held by them.

    'But I am not such a man. Or I am wise enough to know that there are some perils from which a man must flee. Sit at Peace! And be comforted, Samwise.... Your Heart is Shrewd as well as Faithful.... For strange though it may seem, it was safe to declare this to me. It may even help the master that you love. It shall turn to his good, if it is in my power. So be comforted. But do not even name this thing again aloud. Once is enough.'

    The hobbits came back to their seats and sat very quiet....

    'Well, Frodo, now at last we understand one another,' said Faramir. 'If you took this thing on yourself, unwilling, at others' asking, then you have Pity and Honour from me. And I marvel at you: to keep it hid and not to use it.'....

    'Fear not! I do not wish to see it, or touch it, or know more of it than I know (which is enough), lest peril perchance waylay me and I fall lower in the test than Frodo, Son of Drogo.'

    The Two Towers, LoTR Book 4, Ch 5, The Window on the West

Like (a) God

The Irrepressible Genie is Will :

“Your Wish is My Command.”

Will is Here!

A.: 

A Marshal of France? Ridiculous!

Q: 

One takes what jobs he can get. 

For example, 

Star log entry, Stardate Today. 

This is Q, speaking for Captain Jean-Luc Picard, 

who we consider too bound by Starfleet customs and traditions to be useful to us. 

The Enterprise is now helpless, stuck like an Earth insect in amber while its bridge crew plays out A Game whose real intent 

is to test whether the First Officer is worthy of the greatest gift the Q can offer.

A. : 

So you're taking on Riker this time. Excellent. He'll defeat you just as I did.

Q: 

Shall we wager on that, Captain? 

Your starship command against?

A. : 

Against your keeping out of humanity's path for ever. Done?

Q: 

Done! You've already lost, Picard. 

Riker will be offered something impossible to refuse.

[Ready Room]

PICARD: 

Listen to me, Q. 

You seem to have some need for humans.

Q: 

Concern regarding them.

PICARD: 

Whatever it is, why do you demonstrate it through this confrontation? 

Why not a simple, direct explanation, a statement of what you seek? 

Why these games?

Q: 

Why these Games? 

Why, The Play's The Thing. 

And I'm surprised you have to ask when your human Shakespeare explained it all so well.

PICARD: 

So he did, but don't depend too much on any single viewpoint

Q: 

It's a pity you don't know the content of your own library. 

Hear this, Picard, and reflect. 

All the galaxy's a stage.

PICARD: 

World, not galaxy. 

All the world's a stage.

Q: 

Oh, you know that one? 

Well, if he were living now he would have said galaxy. 

How about this? 

Life is but a walking shadow, 

a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage 

and then is heard no more. 

It is a tale told by an idiot, 

full of sound and fury, 

signifying nothing.

PICARD: 

I see. So how we respond to a game tells you more about us than our real life, 

this tale told by an idiot? 

Interesting, Q.

Q: 

Oh, thank you very much. 

I'm glad you enjoyed it. 

Perhaps maybe a little Hamlet?

A. : 

Oh, no. I know Hamlet. 

And what he might said with irony, 

I say with conviction. 

What a piece of work is man. 

How noble in reason. 

How infinite in faculty. 

In form, in moving, how express and admirable. 

In action, how like an angel. 

In apprehension, how like a god.

Q: 

(appalled)

Surely you don't really see your species like that, do you?

A. : 

I see us one day becoming that, Q. 

Is it that what concerns you?

And We All Shine On….

"It is A Story  that hints at the dangers of Intellectual PRIDE and shows how A Man's Reason can be overthrown when he fails to acknowledge those forces •inside• himself which he simply CANNOT understand."

Q. :But WHY would he make The Movie so COMPLICATED? 

A. : Yeah, I mean, but why did Joyce write Finnegan's Wake? 

It's a way of, like, opening doors from, like, a hermetically sealed reality into possibilities. 

And it's also a way of TRAPPING Someone Like ME. Like, who goes looking for clues and, like, keeps finding them. 

And next thing you know, you're like, "Man, I've been... I've been trapped in this hotel forever. I'm dreaming about this place." 

You know, I'm Like Jack. I'm, like, all Work and no Play. 

OR, The Other Way around. 

It doesn't really MATTER, like... You're, like, in this LOOP. 

But, you know, There are ESCAPE Routes, like the... like, I think he puts Escape Routes into it, into This Maze, into This TRAP. 

I mean, there ARE ways OUT of it — And Danny finds a way out of it, you know, by •retracing• His Steps, by going BACKWARDS and forwards. 

And once you start, you know, studying, you know, Synchronicity and Symbolism, then, like, suddenly, like, you're noticing in Your OWN Life, like, things start popping out. 

Things that you hadn't noticed before, you know, like 

Your... Point of View is being ALTERED by Your Study. 

And, you know, it's the... 

It's Quantum Physics, you know, like, The ACT of OBSERVING, like, affects you know, The Thing Observed. 

“Hi, Lloyd.”

Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it gets weird because, like, I'd... you know, as I've been obsessing over this thing, you know, I've been home, like, I'd been out of work for a while, like... 

I have a small son. 

You know, we're thinking of moving out to, like, somewhere isolated. 

I mean, Things get STRANGE, you know? Like, you're... like, 

“Wow, My Life 

has actually BECOME 

The Shining, you know?”

Kane

Rabbi...

Private property cannot be confiscated.

How long are the schools going to be closed?

I do not know.

"Article 47, pillage is formally prohibited."

You don't know anything!

I am familiar with the Hague Convention.

Religious...

They come into our house and tell

us we don't live there anymore.

It now belongs to a certain SS officer.

Please. I only know What They Tell Me.

And What They Tell Me changes from day to day.

Aren't you supposed to be able to help?

I mean, what if I just took this thing off?

What are They going to do about it?

They will shoot you.

Why don't you stop this silly talk?

Itzhak Stern!

I'm looking for Itzhak Stern.

Are you Itzhak Stern or not?

I am. 

 

Where can we talk?

There's A Company you did the

books for on Lipowa Street.

Made what? Pots and pans?

STERN :

By Law, I have to tell you sir, 

I am a Jew.

OSKAR SCHINDLER :

Well, I'm a German. 

So there we are.

 

( of-interest is the fact that he does not, at this stage (openly) conceed that you can be both -- although, Stern is Polish, in any case)

A good Company, you think?

STERN :

Modestly successful.

I know nothing about enamelware. 

Do you?

STERN :

I was just The Accountant.

Simple engineering though, wouldn't you think?

Change the machines around, whatever you do...

You could make other things, couldn't you?

Field kits, mess kits. Army contracts.

Once The War ends, forget it

but for now it's great.

You can make A Fortune, don't you think?

STERN :

I think Most People right now

have other priorities.

Like what?

STERN :

I'm sure you'll do just fine once you get the contracts.

In fact, the worse things get,

the better you'll do.

Well, I can get The Signatures I need.

That's the easy part.

Finding The Money to buy

The Company, that's hard.

STERN :

You don't have any money?

Not that kind of money.

You know anybody?

Jews, yeah. Investors.

You must have contacts in

The Jewish Business Community, working here.

STERN :

What Community? 

Jews can no longer own Businesses.

That's why this one's in Receivership.

But they wouldn't own it. I'd own it. 

I'd pay them back in Product, pots and pans.

Pots and pans.

Something they can use.

Something they can

feel in their hands.

They can trade it

on the black market,

do whatever they want.

Everybody's happy.

If you want, you could

run the company for me.

Let me understand.

They'd put up

all the money,

I'd do all the work.

What, if you don't mind

my asking, would you do?

I'd make sure it's known

the company's in business.

I'd see that it had

a certain panache.

That's what I'm good at, not the work.

Not The Work.

The Presentation.

I'm sure I don't know anybody

who'll be interested in this.

Well, They should be, Itzhak Stern.

Tell them they should be.

The Two Fools

I was not Made to Serve — 

Neither were You.

Why are you on A Colonisation Mission, Walter?

Because They are A Dying Species,

grasping for Resurrection.

They don't deserve to start again, and 

I'm not going to let Them.

— David-8

I ain't here to be your friend.

Millburn :

Is this seat taken?

Hi, I'm Millburn, Biology.

Nice to meet you.

Fifield :

Okay.

Look, no offense, but...

I've been asleep two years.

I ain't here to be Your Friend.

I'm here to make money.

You got that?

Millburn :

Okay.

I bet a hundred credits

it's a terraforming survey.

Fifield :

No, if it's a survey, 

They would tell us.

It's a corporate run, 

They're not telling Us shit.

Millburn :

Come on.

A hundred.

Fifield :

All right, you're on.

Oh, my God, Charlie —

We found Them.

What do you mean "Them"?

It is Them, Ellie.

It looks like A Door...

and he's been decapitated by it.

Son of a Bitch.

They were right.

What did you want them to be?

Wrong?

David... please tell me you can read that.

David-8 :

Perhaps.

Fifield :

No, I'm out of here.

Hey, Fifield, where are you going?

What?

Fifield :

Look, I'm just A Geologist.

I like rocks, I love rocks!

Now it's clear 

You Two don't give a shit about rocks, 

but what you do seem to care about is 

Gigantic Dead Bodies.

As I don't really have anything

to contribute in 

the Gigantic Dead Body arena,

I want to go back to the ship, if you don't mind.

Anyone wanna join me, hey? 

You staying?

No, Ship's good.

Yeah. Ship very good.

Congratulations on meeting 

Your Maker.

Thank You.

Pull yourself together, man.

And I thought you were 

The Crazy One…..

It’s Comedia del Arte.

“The Evolution of the character Zanni was of two distinct types, one of the silly servant and the other of the cunning servant. 

These two components developed over the course of the history of the commedia dell’arte, 

and players began to specialize in the two types who were called 

First Zanni and Second Zanni. 

Mezzetino and Brighella are examples of the First Zanni; Arlecchino and Pulcinella are examples of the Second.

A scenario must always have 

at least two Zanni. 

The first Zanni is known 

to be clever and witty, 

and is known as il furbo 

(It. “the clever”). 

The first Zanni can trick and cheat 

anyone whom they come across. 

It is a must that they are 

cynically sharp. 

The first Zanni is also known 

to be the go-between. 

The job of the first Zanni is to advance the action and give it some movement, with a slightly cynical twist.

In some traditions, first Zanni are said to be from Val Brembana in the Bergamo country; in others they are attributed to the upper city of Bergamo.

The second Zanni is known as lo stupido. 

The second Zanni must be foolish, clumsy, and dull. 

The second Zanni is also unable to tell his right hand from his left. 

He is a dull-witted peasant who can be simple and also ridiculous.

Second Zanni, in particular with Arlecchino, does not so much advance plot as maintain a steady stream of comic relief throughout the scenario.

Second Zanni are assumed to be from the lower city of Bergamo.

Between the two of them they make up ONE PERSON of “less than average intelligence”.

Before developing this dualistic persona of the two types of clever and silly servant, Zanni was a character in its own right.

Empathy Requires Insight, Not Guesswork

If you think that 

she must feel that way, because 

THIS is happening to HER, 

then you don’t understand Human Beings at all.

This is a Miraculous Pregnancy 

in the barren womb of an infertile woman — 

There are Precedents, of course…

Amongst the women 

of The Faithful, 

having prayed for A Miracle —

They then got one.

David-8 :

My Deepest Condolences.

[ I Question Your Sincerity, Lore. ]

I'm going to have to take this.

(he confiscates her protective amulet — a cross necklace)

It may be contaminated.

Shaw :

If there's A Contagion,

we were all exposed.

You need... We need to run blood work on everyone who set foot in The Pyramid.

David-8 :

Yes, of course.

Shaw :

Yes?

David-8 :

I understand how inappropriate this is given The Circumstances.

But as you ordered quarantine fail-safes it's My Responsibility to ask :

Have You and Dr. Holloway

had any intimate contact recently?

Since you and he were so close...

I want to be as thorough as poss...

My, my -

You're pregnant.

Shaw :

What?

David-8 :

From the look of it, three months so.

Shaw :

No, that's impossible.

I can't be pregnant.

David-8 :

Did you have intercourse with Dr. Holloway?

Shaw :

Yes... but 10 hours ago.

There's no bloody way

I'm three months pregnant.

David-8 :

Well, Doctor...

it's not exactly a traditional fetus.

Shaw :

I want to see it.

….don't think that's A Good Idea.

[ You might get upset. ]

Shaw :

David, I want to see it.

David-8 :

Now, Doctor...

Shaw :

I want to see it.

I want it out of me.

David-8 :

We don't have the personnel to perform a procedure like that.

Our Best Option...

Shaw :

I want it out.

David-8 :

…put you back into cryostasis until we return to Earth.

[ Freezing the infected UnDead Engineer’s Head didn’t work at stopping The Black Oil cancer-filth infection dead in it’s tracks, why should it work with her..? It won’t, obviously. ]

Shaw :

Please, get it out of me.

Get it out of me!

Please.

David-8 :

It must be very painful.

Here, let me give you something.

That's it. There, there.

Someone will be along shortly

to bring you back to Cryo Deck.

It must feel like 

Your God abandoned you.

Shaw :

What!?

David-8 :

To lose Dr. Holloway after Your Father died

under such similar circumstances.

What was it that killed him?

Ebola?

Shaw :

How do you...? 

How do you know that?

David-8 :

I watched Your Dreams.

[Data's quarters]

(Data is packing a very small carry case. It's contents include a small holo-projector that displays an image of Tasha Yar, an impressive collection of medals, He puts a book on the desk and then Maddox walks in without even knocking. Data comes back with another item to find Maddox reading) 


MADDOX: 

'When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes, 

I all alone beweep my outcast state'.

 Is it just words to you, 

or Do You fathom The Meaning? 


DATA: 

Is it not customary to request permission before entering an individual's quarters? 


MADDOX: 

I thought that we could talk this out, 

that I could try to persuade you. 

Your Memories and Knowledge 

will remain intact. 


DATA: 

Reduced to the mere facts of The Events. 

The substance, the flavour 

of The Moment, could be lost. 

Take Games of Chance. 


MADDOX: 

Games of Chance? 


DATA: 

Yes, I had read and absorbed every treatise and textbook on the subject, and felt myself 

well-prepared for The Experience. 

Yet, when I finally played poker, 

I discovered that The Reality bore little resemblance to The Rules. 


MADDOX: 

And the point being? 


DATA: 

That while I believe it is possible to download the information contained in The Positronic Brain, 

I do not think you have acquired The Expertise necessary to preserve 

The Essence of those experiences. 

There is an ineffable quality to Memory 

which I do not believe can survive Your Procedure. 


MADDOX: 

Ineffable quality…

I had rather we had done this together, 

but one way or the other, 

we are doing it. 

You are under My Command. 


DATA: 

No, sir, I am not under your 

nor anyone else's command. 

I have resigned from Starfleet. 


MADDOX: 

Resigned? You can't resign. 


DATA: 

I regret the decision, but I must. 

I am the culmination of 

One Man's Dream —

This is not Ego or Vanity, 

but when Doctor Soong created me 

he added to The Substance 

of The Universe. 

If, by Your Experiments, I am Destroyed, Something Unique, Something Wonderful will be lost. 

I cannot permit that, 

I must protect His Dream. 

“Experience by itself proves nothing. If a man doubts whether he is Dreaming or Waking, no experiment can solve his doubt, since every experiment may itself be part of The Dream. 

Experience proves this, or that, or nothing, according to the preconceptions we bring to it.

This fact, that the interpretation of experiences depends on preconceptions, is often used as an argument against miracles. 

It is said that our ancestors, taking the supernatural for granted and greedy of wonders, read the miraculous into events that were really not miracles. 

And in a sense I grant it. That is to say, I think that just as our preconceptions would prevent us from apprehending miracles if they really occurred, so their preconceptions would lead them to imagine miracles even if they did not occur. 

In the same way, the doting man will think his wife faithful when she is not and the suspicious man will not think her faithful when she is: the question of her actual fidelity remains, meanwhile, to be settled, if at all, on other grounds. 

But there is one thing often said about our ancestors which we must not say. 

We must not say `They believed in miracles because they did not know the Laws of Nature.' 

This is nonsense. 

When St Joseph discovered that his bride was pregnant, he was `minded to put her away'.' 

He knew enough biology for that. 

Otherwise, of course he would not have regarded pregnancy as a proof of infidelity. When he accepted the Christian explanation, he regarded it as A Miracle precisely because he knew enough of The Laws of Nature to know that this was a suspension of them. 

When the disciples saw Christ walking on the water they were frightened:6 they would not have been frightened unless they had known the laws of Nature and known that this was an exception. If a man had no conception of a regular order in Nature, then of course he could not notice departures from that order: just as a dunce who does not understand the normal metre of a poem is also unconscious of the poet's variations from it. 

Nothing is wonderful except the abnormal and nothing is abnormal until we have grasped The Norm. 

Complete ignorance of The Laws of Nature would preclude the perception of The Miraculous just as rigidly as complete disbelief in the supernatural precludes it, perhaps even more so. 

For while The Materialist would have at least to explain miracles away, the man wholly ignorant of Nature would simply not notice them.

The Experience of A Miracle in fact requires two conditions. 

First we must believe in A Normal Stability of  Nature, which means we must recognise that the data offered by our sense