I’m trying to identify a novel I read some time back that featured a scene with a unique learning process.
The main character was learning a new talent (could be magic or some sort of extra-sensory-something or other). In any case the “teacher” asked the “student” to force himself to believe statement A. The student was not inclined to believe statement A, but after a lot of work, he forced himself to truly believe it. The student came back having accomplished the task and was told to force himself to believe the opposite (or to believe a contradictory statement). After some time, the student comes back having succeeded again. Then the teacher asks him to believe both are simultaneously true (an impossibility). He of course eventually succeeded.
There may have been a suggestion that some students attempting this don’t maintain sanity, and the story may have been told first person (though I’m not positive).
I read mostly High Fantasy with some Sci-Fi. I was reminded of some scenes in Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series, but it doesn’t quite fit. Now that I’m typing this, I suspect it might be The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfus, as that was told first person. But I can’t recall the specifics of the scene to verify this.
Anyone recall a similiar scene from a novel they read?
I don’t remember anything like this from a novel, per se; however, it does seem eerily similar to a long discussion I had with a high school science professor about light being both a wave and a particle. Whether I maintained my sanity after the exchange is very much up for speculation…
Sorry, I didn’t get all the way to your last line. I clearly need to work on developing more patience. Kvothe was learning the technique because it was necessary for Sympathetic binding.
I, too, am eager for the next book. I got all excited a few months back when I saw the release date was apparently a few days away, and it was available for presale at Amazon. I went to Barnes and Noble a few days later and was disappointed when they informed me I had neglected to note the year on the release date. Seriously? Pre-order a* year* before release???
As I seem to recall, the method for achieving the final task was to bifurcate his mind, and hold each belief in esentially two seperate minds. This is why it reminded me of The Sword of Truth. Richard did something similiar when being tortured by the Mord Sith.
dude this is from one of the Dune Books, I am thinking either Children or Messiah when Jessica is teaching some prince some of the Bene Gesserit tricks.
well at least thats where I first saw it.
