THE PYRAMID A digital version A word definition appears on the computer screen. It is an active link. You can click it and then another screen appears with a sentence composed of several or maybe a dozen of words. It is a definition of the notion definition. Each word in this sentence is an active link, since all of them appear for the first time – you can click each of them and thus skip to a phrase defining this word. And so on. You don't know how long. Until there's enough zealousness, strength, passion, imagination to grasp multiplying sentences and phrases. Of course, the words already defined are not defined again; they don't have to be active links sending us to their former definitions, though they can. Certainly they can be defined anew, differently. Maybe this would be interesting, would make the structure of this virtual pyramid more complex, more tangled, the structure that seems so clear ...... It must be emphasized that the definitions would not be copied directly from dictionaries or encyclopaedias – in spite of all appearances this is an adventurous book, not a thesaurus.

An analogue version Here is a true paper pyramid. All pages are square. One side is used for binding, as a back, while each of the three left is occupied by one language. On the top page there's only one word: DEFINITION. The next page is a bit bigger, larger, and on each edge appears a definition of the notion definition. The third page is bigger than the second one and phrases defining the words from the second page appears on its edges. And so on. On every page the text spreads towards the page's centre and is printed with letters fading out, thus giving an impression of falling into the white hole.... (A version with no binding, no spine, with pages not necessarily square, would be possible, and even more interesting. Then the sheets would have a hole in the centre and would be stacked on a stick fixed to a stand, like toy pyramid for children, or they would have no hole but would be pierced with a metal rod – thus they could be easily removed and the whole pyramid turned upside down.)

Well... With no doubt every word appearing for the first time should be defined with words already defined. Only then we would be sure that a new word was explained properly, in a way bringing no doubts and needing no additional explanations which would be inevitable when a word not yet defined was used by chance. However, such a rule can result in very serious complications and finally in a paradox that cannot be overcome, because the first phrase-definition (the one defining the notion of definition) would have to be described with one, not defined word, namely definition. It looks like we should begin with choosing and accepting a few words-axioms – what makes all other definitions not really reliable. But if we didn't accept any words-axioms then our story would end at once, on this very word, and the pyramid of words definition could not be build since the not defined notions could not be used. It is better not to accept this rule, which would result, though logic and consequent, in a total paralyse and powerlessness and mental impotence. And if we put the pyramid upside down? Then at first all words will appear on the screen (how? scrolling?) and we would be able to use them because all of them would be defined (and even more than all, since many words would appear in many definitions found on the lower strata – or upper if the pyramid had not been reversed). However we would have to face another problem. If the pyramid was put upside down, every next stratum would have less words on it. We could achieve this only when a definition was shorter than the defined notion (so it would have a negative number of words), or the next stratum was a result of erasing, wiping the words out, or merging them into one notion ..... And so on. Up to one word on the very top (or very bottom – now the top is the bottom, whatever it looks like). I wonder what word it would be. It should be a word definition – we have just reversed the definition pyramid. However we can not be sure. Just remember, it's an adventurous book, not a thesaurus, so the end can be very surprising, although as obvious as death is. <<<