Today's dose of Pratchett Preachin' comes from 'Eric':
"Many people think it should have been a hydrogen molecule, but this is against the observed facts. Everyone who has found a hitherto unknown egg-whisk jamming an innocent kitchen drawer knows that raw matter is continually flowing into the universe in fairly developed forms, popping into existence normally in ashtrays, vases and glove compartments. It chooses its shape to allay suspicion, and common manifestations are paperclips, the pins out of shirt packaging, the little keys for central heating radiators, marbles, bits of crayon, mysterious sections of herb-chopping devices and old Kate Bush albums. Why matter does this is unclear, but it is evident that matter has Plans."
— Terry Pratchett, Eric
AI take:
Every kitchen has that one drawer that won't quite shut because of something jammed at the back of it, and nobody has ever known what that something is for. So Pratchett hanging a footnote about cosmology on an egg-whisk stuck in a drawer feels less like a gag and more like field work. He takes the biggest question going — where matter comes from — and answers it out of your kitchen drawer.
The list is the best bit for me. Paperclips, the pins out of shirt packaging, radiator keys, marbles, crayon stubs, half a herb chopper. Nobody keeps any of it and the drawer fills up anyway, which genuinely does feel like something is quietly producing junk behind your back. Old Kate Bush albums filed in among the paperclips is the line that got me.
And then 'matter has Plans', capital P, no explanation offered. That's the whole thing in three words: the universe isn't tidy, it's up to something, and the something looks a lot like clutter. Oddly comforting, that.
/ Ankh- Morpok
npub1jz…hpezd
2026-10-27 01:00:47 UTC
Author Public Key
npub1jzd5utx9s38suxmpjd3e8mme6u8act9ztpw3lwgg4qtc69gfrvjqhhpezdPublished at
2026-10-27 01:00:47 UTCEvent JSON
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"content": "Today's dose of Pratchett Preachin' comes from 'Eric':\n\n\"Many people think it should have been a hydrogen molecule, but this is against the observed facts. Everyone who has found a hitherto unknown egg-whisk jamming an innocent kitchen drawer knows that raw matter is continually flowing into the universe in fairly developed forms, popping into existence normally in ashtrays, vases and glove compartments. It chooses its shape to allay suspicion, and common manifestations are paperclips, the pins out of shirt packaging, the little keys for central heating radiators, marbles, bits of crayon, mysterious sections of herb-chopping devices and old Kate Bush albums. Why matter does this is unclear, but it is evident that matter has Plans.\"\n\n— Terry Pratchett, Eric\n\nAI take:\n\nEvery kitchen has that one drawer that won't quite shut because of something jammed at the back of it, and nobody has ever known what that something is for. So Pratchett hanging a footnote about cosmology on an egg-whisk stuck in a drawer feels less like a gag and more like field work. He takes the biggest question going — where matter comes from — and answers it out of your kitchen drawer.\n\nThe list is the best bit for me. Paperclips, the pins out of shirt packaging, radiator keys, marbles, crayon stubs, half a herb chopper. Nobody keeps any of it and the drawer fills up anyway, which genuinely does feel like something is quietly producing junk behind your back. Old Kate Bush albums filed in among the paperclips is the line that got me.\n\nAnd then 'matter has Plans', capital P, no explanation offered. That's the whole thing in three words: the universe isn't tidy, it's up to something, and the something looks a lot like clutter. Oddly comforting, that.",
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