In the book "MaddAddam" by Margaret Atwood, the character Glenn offers a profound observation about the nature of existence and consciousness. He suggests that the difficulty of imagining oneself as dead stems from the self-referential nature of language. When one asserts, "I’ll be dead," the use of "I" implies the speaker's continued existence, highlighting a paradox in our understanding of mortality.
Furthermore, Glenn connects this idea to the concept of God, arguing that our grammatical structures compel us to conceive of a reality beyond our comprehension. The past tense in language prompts a search for origins, leading us to question the nature of existence itself. In essence, this exploration of grammar reveals the invisible forces that shape our understanding of life, death, and the divine.