| Nine Inch Nails – The Background World Lyrics | 6 years ago |
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The phrase "the background world" instantly makes me think of the concept in Quantum Physics known as the "Implicate and Explicate orders" as described by David Bohm. The Explicate order refers to the world we see around us, which is seemingly composed of "physical matter" The Implicate order is "the background world" that Trent refers to. According to physicists, the universe exists PRIMARILY as "waveform information", and when these waves are intercepted by a conscious observer (you), they are "decoded" into physical matter and are then available to be seen, touched, et c. If the background world is slowly bleeding through, I would take that to mean that he is experiencing what is known as Synchronicity. Synchronicity refers to a theory in which the unseen "connections" (on the level of the implicate order) between the things that we see as "separate" objects. For instance, if you hear a strange word that you've never heard one day from a colleague and then you soon after read it in the newspaper, and then you overhear someone else making a big deal of what a weird word that is. The odds of all those mentions being a totally random coincidence is quite low. However when you consider that the entire universe exists as an unbroken "pool" of "waves" that must be decoded by us before we can experience it... Then you can see that there is a possibility that they aren't "random coincidences", instead, the "BACKGROUND WORLD IS SLOWLY BLEEDING THROUGH" meaning that the unseen links between seemingly unconnected things or events are accidentally showing themselves. As for "are you sure, this is what you want"... This could mean that he explored this idea, or has even taken psychedelics which tend to reveal aspects of "the background world" and now he is unable to see the world like he used to, as a solid, 3-d matter-filled universe. The realisation that the universe is not as solid as we often believe, can be quite unsettling to some. You may wonder if you are even "real" if you consider "real" to mean "always made of solid matter". Overall, this song seems to capture the feelings of someone who is in a state where they are unsure of what is "real"... Either due to psychosis, ingestion of psychedelics, or as a result of contemplating the implications of the discoveries of quantum physics. |
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