---
content_date: 2020-07-26
feed: "DANIEL_ON_SLOPE"
codex_section: "S08"
codex_candidate: true
source: Scotomaville
source_file: 02.00-prelude.pdf
chapter: 02.00-prelude
total_pdf_pages: 10
volume: v2
title: Leaving Scotomaville
monomyth_stage: "05 - Crossing the Threshold"
category:
  - awareness
  - expedition
tags:
  - scotoma
  - pattern-recognition
  - cognitive-bias
  - purgatory
  - door-latch-scotoma
  - truck-recall
  - self-awareness
  - ai-recommenders
  - leaving-scotomaville
  - curves-ahead
summary: I open Volume Two by recounting how our truck door refused to latch, leading me to assume a massive recall was at fault until a closer look revealed mints jammed in the cubby. This everyday scotoma shows how our 20-watt brains jump to 100% wrong conclusions half the time through pattern recognition and shortcuts, keeping us stuck in a purgatory-like state that C.S. Lewis says we can choose to leave. As we begin the expedition from the Pacific Northwest toward New Mexico, I demonstrate using diffuse time and triangulation from Volume One to see clearly instead of letting AI recommenders chase us down biased paths.
qr_links:
  - https://youtu.be/BFKHp5srevQ
---

# 02.00-prelude

## Spread 001  [p1–p2]
**type:** image_heavy  |  **img coverage:** L=0% R=79%
**heading:** EXPEDITION

### Visual description
The dominant visual on the right side of this two-page spread is a close-up photograph of a bright red metal door latch or hasp, showing two circular screw heads positioned like eyes, a horizontal opening with visible internal mechanism resembling a mouth, and glossy reflections on the painted surface. The image is cropped tightly and occupies the full height of the right page, with a small caption in the bottom right reading, “Our 20 watt brain is wired to quickly reach conclusions by finding familiar patterns. Do you see a smiley face in the door latch?”

On the left page and center strip, large white typography on a dark gray background displays the chapter title “v2 EXPEDITION PRELUDE” and “VOLUME TWO,” along with body text that matches the provided excerpt about being “100% wrong,” the reference to Purgatory, and the transition from Volume One. A narrow vertical white band in the center contains rotated text discussing scotomas, AI, and human error rates. The photograph appears to be a real, documentary image from the author’s travels rather than a stock or illustrated element.

The overall composition uses the latch image metaphorically and ironically to demonstrate pareidolia and pattern-seeking, directly supporting the chapter’s theme of hidden blind spots and the brain’s tendency to reach flawed conclusions.

### Left page
160
EXPEDITION 
PRELUDE
v2
What you wouldn’t expect is how often we are 100% wrong.
VOLUME TWO
Welcome to Volume Two of 
SCOTOMAVILLE! We’re in a fabulous place called Purgatory.
But, C.S. Lewis wrote that we can chose to leave. We don’t
have to stay here. Yea!
 Volume One is about mental tools for self-awareness to get
to self-understanding. From there, you can use discipline
to change the trajectory of your experience in life.
An expedition is a ‘journey with a purpose.’ If the purpose
is to transform what you’ve been handed into something
better, then Volume Two will be a fabulous desert trek!
Hopeful Avoidance Fails
I’ve known a few people that have gone to seminars and
workshops with the hope they’d get a bump up, a lift,
an artificial boost to their self-awareness. In my expe
rience, awareness does not come without great effort.
Scotoma’s are hard to spot. They open the door for  
‘recommenders’ to chase us with course-corrections toward the rocks. On the other hand, Ai can
stay ahead of most humans. Let’s see how that goes.
2.00
“problems are complicated and We’re 100% wrong 50% of the time. We Google and let Youtube confirm our be
liefs: yep, it’s too complicated for us to sort out... or is the scotoma that we don’t want to make the effort?
Leaving SCOTOMAVILLE

### Right page
Our 20 watt brain is wired to quickly reach conclusions by finding familiar patterns.
Do you see a smiley face in the door latch?

## Spread 002  [p3–p4]
**type:** image_heavy  |  **img coverage:** L=18% R=50%
**heading:** Leaving SCOTOMAVILLE

### Visual description
The left page opens with a close-up documentary photograph of the rear passenger door on a glossy red Ford truck, the door slightly ajar to expose the latch and chrome handle against asphalt. Body text flows beside it, including quoted dialogue from Angelina pointing out the unlatched door and Daniel recounting the $68,000 truck’s recall history and VIN issues, with a large pull-quote at the bottom in bold: “WE DON’T SOLVE CHALLENGES WITH A ‘CLEAN SLATE’. WE START FROM PREVIOUS CONCLUSIONS – HALF OF THEM WRONG.” 

The right page is dominated by a wide, sunlit photograph of empty ski-lift chairs climbing a grassy, pine-dotted mountain slope under blue sky, with the chairs in the foreground and the lift structure receding upward. White text is overlaid on the right side of the photo explaining how brains take shortcuts to create meaning and avoid danger, while a boxed “Cognitive Bias Cheat Sheet” at the bottom right displays four red icons and concise lists under the headings “Too Much Info,” “Not Enough Meaning,” “Not Enough Time,” and “Not Enough Memory.”

The ski-lift image functions as a direct visual metaphor for the chapter’s “airlifted to the top of your Personal Everest” warning, contrasting the empty chairs with the text’s insistence that one must walk the hill rather than take the shortcut. The truck door photo is straightforward reportage from the journey, while the cheat-sheet box supplies a diagrammatic model of cognitive biases.

### Left page
Leaving SCOTOMAVILLE
162
The manufacturer recalls are for millions of faulty door latches.
Yep, my door latch is faulty. 
You have to walk up that thing. (looking up the chair-lift hill) If you just get airlifted
to the top of your Personal Everest, you’re going to get edema. Your brain swells up,
and you die on the mountain.
Psychological Scotoma Example:
Psychological scotomas are hard to find. 
They’re usually right in front of us, often disguised as work. And you go down a
long, windy path usually taking a shortcut away from critical thinking.
Case in point: Last night.
Angelina: Let me show you the problem. 
Watch the door - it’s not latching. Look at that; it’s not latching. You can’t drive a car
with an unlatched door because you’ll fall out. Look right here.
Daniel: It’s a $68,000 brand new Ford and, what did I do? I went online to
discover articles: Ford’s got 2.15 million vehicles in a door latch recall, 1.34 mil
lion truck door latch problems. There’s a class-action suit that has been ongoing
for years, and years, and years. Oh my gosh, it’s just on and on and on.
“We don’t solve challenges with a 
‘clean slate’. We start from previous conclusions - half of them wrong.”

### Right page
So then I called the dealership to find out that we couldn’t get the vehicle in until Monday
because it’s already Friday. And, after they look at it, it’ll be seven to ten days to get the parts,
and then it’ll be three or four days in repair. 
Meaning it’s two weeks from now before they can fix it. But then they look up my VIN, and
they discover something shocking.

Your VIN is Invalid
Angelina: It is almost August 2020. We purchased the truck in December 2019 and filled
out all the paperwork, including the registration fees and taxes. We need our title. And
we don’t have our title, which means we can’t fix our vehicle because we don’t own it! And
I’ve gone back and forth and back and forth between emails and phone calls and sending
documents! Oh my! And right now, we have a door that won’t latch but will swing open when
Daniel drives, where I could fall out, but I won’t because we aren’t driving it.

Our brains are wired to recognize patterns, to take
shortcuts and jump to conclusions in order to create
meaning from chaos with the aim of protecting us from
real or imagined danger. 

forward to episode 2.12 on Self-care

## Spread 003  [p5–p6]
**type:** image_heavy  |  **img coverage:** L=35% R=20%
**heading:** Leaving SCOTOMAVILLE

### Visual description
The left page displays blocks of dialogue text between Daniel and Angelina about waiting for license plates and paperwork, a book printing error that reads “Sco oma!”, and COVID-related frustrations, with a smaller centered quote about vehicle ownership and repairs. The right page features the large, bold headline “scotoma!” in oversized dark lettering, followed by the subheading “Look for what’s really going on” and additional dialogue excerpts discussing triggers, defuse time, and where items are stored in the vehicle. A prominent color photograph occupies the lower two-thirds of the spread, showing the interior of a vehicle door storage pocket with a blue-and-white surgical mask draped over a blue package and a partially visible smartphone, set against dark leather seating and a gray door panel. The photograph is documentary in style, depicting a real, unposed moment from the couple’s Airstream travels, and is framed by thin black bars on the left and bottom edges. The image placement creates a literal-visual anchor for the chapter’s discussion of unnoticed details and personal scotomas.

### Left page
Leaving SCOTOMAVILLE
164
Daniel: You’ve been very patient, waiting for them to do their paperwork - over and over.
Angelina: I’m not patient anymore. It’s a safety issue, and it’s a transportation issue!
Daniel: She has been patient. Less so for me. I’ve been scared to drive without license plates. Look at
the back of the book! It says Sco oma! The printer rejected the book on three fix-it tickets because the
spelling doesn’t have the ‘t’! But driving without a valid license plate because the car is not registered?
I have to be patient. COVID has everyone messed up.
Angelina: COVID is part of it, but then there’s incompetence and poor customer service.
“You might have had it a year, but you don’t yet
own the vehicle, so we can’t do the repairs”

### Right page
Leaving SCOTOMAVILLE
165
Look for what’s really going on
“Life is what happens between our plans.” Problem is, our plans are biased
by what we believe is true - based in large part by digital recommendations.”
Daniel: She’s always patient! If she’s triggered, then something is very off. I have
some defuse time, asking where’s the scotoma? It can’t be this complex! Let’s look at the
truck to show you what I discovered. I think through what I’ve read about the recalls and
the latches freezing, and I think ‘wait a minute, let me see, now that I know the mechan
ics of the door, let me look at something...
Angelina: Yesterday, I had some mints when we took my daughter to the airport, and I put
it back in here. And unbeknown to me... 
Daniel: Here, where you store your things.
Angelina: Yeah, it’s where I store my stuff, 
but look at how easy the door pull is to flip it down. It’s effortless.
Daniel: What does that do?
“scotoma!”

## Spread 004  [p7–p8]
**type:** image_heavy  |  **img coverage:** L=43% R=49%
**heading:** Angelina: It keeps the door unlatched be

### Visual description
The left page features a bottom photograph of Daniel, an older man with short white hair, seated at a desk with his hands covering his eyes while smiling or laughing, positioned in front of a laptop screen displaying YouTube search results for car door repairs; one video titled "How To Fix A Car Door That Won't Close And Won't Stay" is circled in red. Above this image, the page contains the transcribed dialogue between Angelina and Daniel about mints jammed in the car door latch cubby, followed by a section on "Pattern Recognition" with explanatory text. The right page is dominated by a large, full-bleed photograph of a wet, winding two-lane road through a dense forest of tall evergreen trees under an overcast sky, viewed through a rain-streaked window with visible water droplets, and a yellow "Curves Ahead" sign with a squiggly arrow on the right side of the road. Overlaid on the lower portion of this photo is a dark banner with white text reading "CURVES AHEAD: The journey to self-awareness seems to create its own weather - to obscure your confidence. Be ready." Additional text blocks discuss "Mints in The Latch Cubby" and personal reflections on being "triggered" by a class-action lawsuit, with the footer "LEAVING SCOTOMAVILLE" at the bottom. The road photograph feels metaphorical, visually representing the chapter's theme of twists, disruptions, and self-awareness challenges, while the computer screenshot serves as direct documentary evidence linking the mints anecdote to the pattern-recognition discussion.

### Left page
Angelina: It keeps the door unlatched because that’s what you pull on to open the door.
That’s why it won’t latch, because of these! 
(picking up the mints) I have to stick the mints at the bottom, so I don’t fall out of the car while
you’re driving -  because of mints!
Daniel: Here’s the takeaway for getting out of 
SCOTOMAVILLE. Use the tools in Volume One to solve problems and to mature rather than just
age. I’ll demonstrate this across Volume Two.

Do you see Pattern Recognition?
If I believe things are always complicated then 
I jump right to a conclusion with my 20-watt brain. I
find something familiar (a pattern). I
match it up with experiences I’ve had (amygdalae), and jump to a 100% wrong conclusion!
However, I came to another point of view by taking diffuse time, letting the ideas cross-con
nect, and using triangulation. Tadaah!
Mints in The Latch Cubby
I take a moment to re-assess with a closer look. Why are mints in the latch cubby?
Although my fear is facing two weeks without a vehicle and a thousand dollars
in costs, I practice advice from Marcus Aurelius. It turns out I’ve been gifted a chal
lenge to overcome. Doing so demonstrates that the mental tools of Volume One work.
I’m pleased to be wrong half of the time. It liberates me to find the truth. I don’t have
to accept what I’ve been led to believe.
BONUS INSIGHT
I don’t want you to miss this! I did some research on Google earlier. I’m finishing my to-
do list and, now, on YouTube, in the sidebar... 
A.I. posing as a helpful recommender is now chasing me! See how this is all tied together?
Scotomas encourage A.I. to chase you!

### Right page
Leaving SCOTOMAVILLE
167
I want for you to become more than self aware. I want you to understand why you do
what you do. Better than that, I want for you the discipline to create a life for yourself that
you weren’t handed. To change things from what you inherited to what you desire.
You can do that. I’ve done it.
We’re starting V2 in the Pacific Northwest, 
heading to New Mexico to pick up our Airstream and from there journeying with pur
pose. I look forward to the Episodes to come, 
which I have not planned or storyboarded. I 
want to see how we handle the future events, 
the changes, the curves, the disruptions, the life that happens between our plans!
CURVES AHEAD:
The journey to self-awareness seems to create its own weather - to obscure your confidence. Be ready.
At the top of the results is a long-standing class-ac
tion lawsuit on similar door latches. Crap.
I’m triggered.

## Spread 005  [p9–p10]
**type:** image_heavy  |  **img coverage:** L=34% R=67%
**heading:** BFKHp5srevQ
**urls:** `https://youtu.be/`

### Visual description
The left page opens with a top header showing a bright documentary photograph of a ski chairlift ascending over green forested hills and mountains, overlaid with yellow text “Leaving SCOTOMAVILLE” and large white lettering “PREL-UDE” plus the subtitle “Vol 2 Expedition • Introduction • Door Latch Scotoma.” Below this, red text introduces the purgatory theme from C.S. Lewis, followed by body text explaining the grey town allegory from “The Great Divorce,” accompanied by a green circular icon containing a white geometric symbol.  

The right page is dominated by a large, dark, cinematic photograph of a red bus shelter at night in heavy rain, where six hooded figures in long beige raincoats sit motionless on a bench while one stands to the left; the wet pavement and bare trees reinforce a bleak, stagnant atmosphere. Large semi-transparent white text reading “RETURN” fades across the upper right, with “WATCH” and “DISCUSS” labels above two QR codes.  

The bus-shelter image functions as a deliberate metaphorical illustration of purgatory rather than a literal scene from the journey, visually contrasting the optimistic chairlift header and reinforcing the chapter’s theme of being stuck in a state of choice and dissatisfaction.

### Left page
YOURT
https://youtu.be/BFKHp5srevQ
Leaving Scotomaville includes a visit to Purgatory. C.S. Lewis wrote that we don’t have to stay there. You should only discover a scotoma once. If you dis
cover the same one thrice - then consider Lewis’ allegory:
WATCH
In C.S. Lewis’s allegorical novel “The Great Divorce,” purgatory is depicted as a sort of grey town where the inhabitants find themselves
after death. This grey town is neither Hell nor Heaven but rather a place where people are stuck
in a state of dissatisfaction and misery.
Lewis’s concept of purgatory is unique in that it’s not a place of punishment or purification, but rather a place of choice. The inhabitants of the grey town
have the option to take a bus to the outskirts of Heaven, where they are met by spirits who encourage them to make the journey into Heaven, relinquish
ing their earthly desires, vices, and false selves.
The central theme here is that the inhabitants of purgatory are not sentenced to stay there; they are given a choice. They can choose to let go of
the things that hold them back and ascend to Heaven, or they can choose to hold on to their earthly attachments and return to the grey town.
Many characters in the novel find the choice difficult, as letting go of their former selves and earthly attachments is painful and challenging. But Lewis
emphasizes that the choice is always there, and it’s never too late to grow.
The novel’s portrayal of purgatory underscores Lewis’s belief in the power of free will and the importance of personal responsibility in spiritual growth. It
aligns with the Christian doctrine of salvation through grace, with the understanding that individuals must actively choose to accept that grace.
In connecting with your philosophy, Daniel, this concept can be seen as a metaphorical representation of the journey to self-understanding and
personal transformation. The choice to leave Scotomaville (purgatory) and ascend to a higher spiritual plane reflects the idea of realigning skewed
perceptions and changing one’s given life into the one they envision.

### Right page
RTURN
Share with us a challenge you’ve overcome, especially the insight others will learn by your example of stepping on something you should not have.
DISCUSS