Editing The Egg (Weir short story)
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{{short description|2009 short story by |
{{short description|2009 short story by Andy Weir}} |
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{{About|the 2009 |
{{About|the 2009 short story by Andy Weir|the 1956 short story by L. Sprague de Camp|The Egg (1956 short story)}} |
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{{Multiple issues| |
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{{Notability|date=January 2022}} |
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{{More citations needed|date=January 2022}} |
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{{Self-published|date=August 2022}} |
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}} |
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{{Infobox short story <!--See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels]]--> |
{{Infobox short story <!--See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels]]--> |
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| name = The Egg |
| name = The Egg |
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"'''The Egg'''" is a |
"'''The Egg'''" is a short story published by American writer [[Andy Weir]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stanforddaily.com/2017/10/17/theegg/|title=Cracking open Andy Weir’s ‘The Egg’|last=Hadi|first=Shana E.|date=2017-10-17|website=The Stanford Daily|access-date=2020-02-19}}</ref> originally published on his website Galactanet on August 15, 2009.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17563539-the-egg|title=The Egg|website=Goodreads|access-date=2019-09-13}}</ref> It is Weir's most popular short story, and has been translated into over 30 languages by readers.<ref name="websitewithwriting">{{cite web|url=http://www.galactanet.com/writing.html|title=Creative Writings of Andy Weir|last=Weir|first=Andy|year=2014|website=Galactanet}}</ref> The story follows a nameless 48-year-old man who discovers the "meaning of life" after he dies.<ref>{{Cite web|title=StackPath|url=https://movemequotes.com/the-egg-by-andy-weir/|access-date=2021-06-21|website=movemequotes.com}}</ref> |
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== Summary == |
== Summary == |
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The story is about the main character, who is referred to as "you" (in the |
The story is about the main character, who is referred to as "you" (in the second person), and God, who is "me" (in the first person). You, a 48-year-old man who dies in a car crash, meets God, the narrator, who says that you have been reincarnated many times before, and that you are next to be reincarnated as a Chinese peasant girl in 540 AD. God then explains that you are, in fact, constantly reincarnated across time, and that all human beings who have ever lived and will ever live are incarnations of you. You remark about being [[Abraham Lincoln]], [[Adolf Hitler]], and [[Jesus]]. God adds that you were also once [[John Wilkes Booth]], every [[Holocaust victims|Holocaust victim]] and every [[Disciple (Christianity)|person who followed Jesus]]. |
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God explains that in fact there are other godlike beings elsewhere, and that you too will one day become a god. The entire universe was created as an egg for the main character (all of humanity), and once you have lived every human life ever, you will be born as a god. The reason God created the universe was for the main character, you, to understand this point: "Every time you victimized someone |
God explains that in fact there are other godlike beings elsewhere, and that you too will one day become a god. The entire universe was created as an egg for the main character (all of humanity), and once you have lived every human life ever, you will be born as a god. The reason God created the universe was for the main character, you, to understand this point: "Every time you victimized someone...you were victimizing yourself. Every act of kindness you’ve done, you’ve done to yourself. Every happy and sad moment ever experienced by any human was, or will be, experienced by you." |
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== History == |
== History == |
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In a 2015 interview with the Craftsman Founder Podcast, Weir discussed his motivation for writing |
In a 2015 interview with the Craftsman Founder Podcast, Weir discussed his motivation for writing The Egg, among other topics. In the interview, Weir stated that he "wanted to write a story where life was fair after all". According to Weir, most religions have their own take on the proverb "what goes around comes around" and revolve around this idea in some way. When asked why he chose to have one soul reincarnating constantly across time instead of linearly forward though time, Weir said that the only way his idea of everyone being one soul would work was if reincarnation could happen across time. Weir stated that he wrote the story quickly, saying "I banged it out in 40 minutes and posted it, and that was it." He did not expect the traction that the story got after it was published.<ref>{{Citation |title=#24 Writing The Martian and The Egg with Andy Weir |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBjZGW_XypY |language=en |access-date=2022-09-29}}</ref> |
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== In popular culture == |
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The rapper [[Logic (rapper)|Logic]] used "The Egg" as inspiration for his album [[Everybody (Logic album)|''Everybody'']] released in 2017, re-imagined in the interlude track "Waiting Room" and featuring [[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]] as God.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/23163-everybody/|title=Logic: Everybody|last=Pearce|first=Sheldon|date=2017-05-12|website=Pitchfork|language=en|access-date=2020-02-19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.insidetherift.net/interviews/2017/5/5/logics-waiting-room-an-outstanding-reimagining-of-a-classic-short-story|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170515054005/https://www.insidetherift.net/interviews/2017/5/5/logics-waiting-room-an-outstanding-reimagining-of-a-classic-short-story|archive-date=2017-05-15|title=Logic's "Waiting Room" An Outstanding Reimagining of A Classic Short Story.|work=Inside the Rift|access-date=2018-02-01|url-status=live|language=en-US}}</ref> |
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There are many short film adaptations of the story. Hjalmar Ekström Wikander, Tage Hervén, [[Walter Schönenbröcher]], Fred Grant, [[Andrej Dojkic]], Timothy Judd, Ben Brand, Gabrielle Salonga, Josef Orlandi and Nataliia Weaver have all directed one of those adaptations. [[Kurzgesagt]] also turned the story into an animated video.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6fcK_fRYaI|title=The Egg - A Short Story|website=YouTube|language=en|access-date=2023-04-25|date=2019-09-01}}</ref> |
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== See also == |
== See also == |
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* [[Advaita Vedanta]] |
* [[Advaita Vedanta]] |
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* ''[[Amor fati]]'' |
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* [[World egg|Cosmic egg]] |
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* [[Eternal return]] |
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* [[Hiranyagarbha]] |
* [[Hiranyagarbha]] |
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* [[Metaphysical solipsism]] |
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* [[Nietzschean affirmation]] |
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* [[Original position]], a philosophical thought experiment |
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* [[Panpsychism]] |
* [[Panpsychism]] |
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* [[ |
* [[World egg|Cosmic egg]] |
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* [[Philosophy of Thomas Carlyle#Glossary of terms|The Everlasting Yea]] |
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* "[[The Over-Soul]]" by [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]] |
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== References == |
== References == |
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{{Reflist}} |
{{Reflist|30em}} |
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== External links == |
== External links == |
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* [http://www.galactanet.com/oneoff/theegg_mod.html The Egg] (full text) |
* [http://www.galactanet.com/oneoff/theegg_mod.html The Egg] (full text) |
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* {{YouTube|id=h6fcK_fRYaI|title=The Egg - A Short Story}} by [[Kurzgesagt]] |
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* {{YouTube|id=qfow4VzzEj8|title=The Egg Theory}} by [https://aperture.gg/ Aperture] |
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* [https://www.charmonium.com/infinite-reincarnation Infinite Reincarnation] (full text) |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Egg, The}} |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Egg, The}} |
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[[Category:American short stories]] |
[[Category:American short stories]] |
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[[Category:Short stories adapted into films]] |
[[Category:Short stories adapted into films]] |
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{{2000s-fantasy-story-stub}} |
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[[Category:Works adapted into animated films]] |
[[Category:Works adapted into animated films]] |
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[[Category:Works by Andy Weir]] |
[[Category:Works by Andy Weir]] |