An Omphalos

Dad and Nora \\ What is Meta?

  • Nora:Dad, what is meta?
  • Dad:Lots of things are meta. Why?
  • Nora:Like, what does it do?
  • Dad:It is a prefix. It modifies words.
  • Nora:So what does it do to words?
  • Dad picks up his Derrida and pretends not to have heard.
  • Nora:Like, iunno, like, what is metaphysics?
  • Dad puts down his glasses and book and sighs.
  • Dad:Metaphysics is the study of being. Physics is the study of bodies in motion Meta means after or beyond, and it is supposed to suggest the logical structure that supports or surrounds a subject. Meta's meaning has become obscured by misuse. For example, Fiction is the expression of bodies in a context created by the author, meta-fiction is a kind of fiction that references the act of creating fiction. Meta, when it acts as a modifier of fiction and of physics does not perform the same function.
  • Nora:oh.
  • Nora:so when people use the word meta what do they mean?
  • Dad:Who gives a fuck?
  • Nora:
  • Dad:Can I read my book now?