The Egg (2009)

I asked Weir about the The Egg at a signing and whether he planned to write anything similar- I got a weird vibe back, "I shat it out over a weekend" - like be kinda resented it or possibly just people asking about it.

Honestly I am not surprised. I imagine he wrote it quickly as this fun quirky look at the universe but then it got extremely popular, kurzgesatz video released and all. A lot of people based their personal beliefs off of the story.

Imagine you write a small story for fun but then it becomes nearly a religion. It must be a little frustrating for Andy.

Which is strange, because unlike his other works, this one actually has something a reader can introspect about instead of, you know, just reading "efficacy porn".

This is not plagiarism.

These two works express their ideas in very different ways and with very different details, structures, and styles.

That's like saying that Orwell's 1984 is a plagiarism of Yevgeny Zamyatin's We or that Harry Potter is a plagiarism of Ursula K. Le Guin's Wizard of Earthsea.

You are just tackling similar topics. Maybe he took some inspiration from you. You should be proud instead of being butthurt for 15 years.

By the way, the notion that all beings are manifestations of a single consciousness—or that we are all God—is far older than either of you.

And who wrote

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-electron_universe (1940)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_You_Zombies (1959)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Folded_Himself (1973)

?

> but then it becomes nearly a religion

Life of Brian when he opens the window...

I think the concept is a common insight among people who introspect a bit. The first time I read the story I was surprised because it closely mirrored one of my own musings. In retrospect that’s probably because it is one of those “obvious” ideas that presents itself from the memetic environment of the moment. That’s also probably why it’s irritating to Weir that it practically became a religion lol.