{"id":2028,"date":"2011-09-25T08:10:55","date_gmt":"2011-09-25T12:10:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/exploringourmatrix\/?p=2028"},"modified":"2011-09-25T08:10:55","modified_gmt":"2011-09-25T12:10:55","slug":"the-oldest-question-in-the-universe-it-has-indeed-been-hidden-in-plain-sight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2011\/09\/the-oldest-question-in-the-universe-it-has-indeed-been-hidden-in-plain-sight.html","title":{"rendered":"The Oldest Question in the Universe (It Has Indeed Been Hidden in Plain Sight)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I really and truly think I might know what \u201cthe oldest question in the universe\u201d mentioned on this season of Doctor Who is. And the answer really has been hidden in plain sight. But before proceeding, presumably I should quote the Doctor and say\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The question has been in our view (\u201chidden in plain sight\u201d) ever since they announced the title of the season finale, which is going to be \u201cThe Wedding of River Song.\u201d Ever since the Doctor first met River Song and she knew his name, and he wondered why he would tell her his name.<\/p>\n

The oldest question in the universe is perhaps:<\/p>\n

\u201cWill you marry me?\u201d<\/h2>\n

\u2013 or, since time travel makes it possible for that question to be asked later in the universe\u2019s history than this one, it might be:<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you take this man\/woman to be your lawfully wedded husband\/wife?\u201d<\/h2>\n

For those who have suspected that the question might be \u201cWhat is the Doctor\u2019s name?\u201d my suggestion is not entirely unrelated. At one\u2019s wedding, they have to be asked and answer the question using their own real name and not aliases.<\/p>\n

They could well cut to someone whispering in the audience when the questions that name the Doctor are asked, rendering his name inaudible. But I am starting to think that we have known the Doctor\u2019s name for a very long time, and that that too has been hidden in plain sight.<\/p>\n

What if the Doctor\u2019s parents named him \u201cSilence\u201d?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m still not certain whether the Gallifreyan word for \u201csilence\u201d might not simply be silence \u2013 the absence of sound \u2013 which would agree with his previous statement that his name is unpronounceable. But it could also be that the Doctor decided that being silent about his name would be an amusing construal of his name.<\/p>\n

And so the meaning of the prophecy that \u201cSilence will fall\u201d depends on the answer Melody Pond gives to the question(s) \u201cWill you marry me?\u201d and\/or \u201cDo you take this time lord\u2026?\u201d Either Silence will fall, and the Doctor will die, or Melody will say yes and will find a way to save him, and The Silence will fall.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I really and truly think I might know what \u201cthe oldest question in the universe\u201d mentioned on this season of Doctor Who is. And the answer really has been hidden in plain sight. But before proceeding, presumably I should quote the Doctor and say\u2026 The question has been in our view (\u201chidden in plain sight\u201d) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[133],"tags":[2765,2838,7245,8355,10438,13621],"class_list":["post-2028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-who-science-fiction","tag-doctor-who","tag-dr-who","tag-melody-pond","tag-oldest-question-in-the-universe","tag-river-song","tag-wedding"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Oldest Question in the Universe (It Has Indeed Been Hidden in Plain Sight)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I really and truly think I might know what "the oldest question in the universe" mentioned on this season of Doctor Who is. 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