Imagine you’re walking through a maze. As you attempt to navigate your way through the corridors, occasionally running into dead ends, you pass through various spaces in which unusual, sometimes surreal, events are unfolding. “Welcome to the Chinese Room,” booms a disembodied voice as you enter the first room you come across.
Inside, a woman is picking up a note that somebody has pushed under the door on the far side of the room. Scribbled on the paper are a couple of lines of Chinese characters. “I have no idea what they mean,” the woman says.
But she plugs the symbols into a huge contraption, follows a few instructions, and a few seconds later, after some whirring and humming, another note splutters out, with a printed line of response, also in Chinese, which the woman slips back under the door. “Ha,” she smirks, “I’ve fooled the people on the other side into believing that I can really understand the language!” Down a passageway, you pass a shallow pond, in which a child is struggling to stay above water. Just as you are about to wade in to save her, you notice that you’re wearing some expensive brogues, and your new Gucci trousers.
There’s no time to remove them. For a moment, before getting your feet wet, you wonder whether a child’s life is worth ruining your stylish outfit. Sodden, but warmed by self-satisfaction, you continue on your way.
A locked chamber contains a small spyglass. Peering through, you see a woman reading a book. Everything i.