What he does is create imaginary friend Charles in First act when he is stressed over not succedibg in finding his original idea and he calculates while watching events trying to get an idea worthy of recognition.
He entertains,Charles when Hansen taunts him about being a faiure
But what is his immediate reaction? Hansen tells him heās not the smartest person there or whatever, and then beats him at the game. Isnāt seeing that heās not the best there a present consideration that has him storming off and knocking over the board?
And when he doesnāt get a position because his work is t good enough, he goes to his room and bangs his head against the glass.
And then he gets on the cover of that magazine and scoffs because he doesnāt think the others are worthy of being on the cover with him. So I feel like Conscious is looking pretty good.
Want to try to take Present a little further than Mikes suggestion?
Sorry, iām Getting a little rushed. I
Mean to let you work through most of it without trying to give too much away. If I skip to the next one before your ready, let me know.
We can. So present is the IC concern. I am really weak at this level. What do you see.
Ok. I think I need to pause a bit, review some scenes to straighten the story out in my mind. I donāt want to interrupt you at work either. Letās get back at this a little later if that works for you. ?
So Mike already pointed out that Charles and Parcher arenāt actually Present. So I think thatās one example. But I think we can find an example of Charles, Parcher, and Marcee all influencing John through the Present.
Marcee is the easiest because weāve already discussed it. I think seeing that she is presently the same age sheās always been kind of works.
How does Charles influence him through the present? I donāt remember the scene very well, but John is banging his head against the window, freaking out, and talking about quitting. What does Charles do?
Charles expresses alarm, tries to intervene but then tells,John to just go ahead and do it, crack his head open. Ultimately they conclude itās not Johns problem and push the desk out the window.
How, if at all, is that having an influence of The Present? Is Charles dealing with the Present or influencing John to deal with the Present?
By the way, I was going to wait until we got back to Issue to say this, but Iāll probably forget so Iām throwing it out there now. I suggested Deduction more in a āletās get everybody talking about itā kind of way than an āI think this is the correct term for the problemā kind of way. In fact, Iām almost certain that the process of making deductions isnt itself what solves the problem.
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Charles is influencing John to deal with the present when giving him another point of view to consider, that itās not his problem but theirs.
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I think so. And I really couldnāt remember much about that scene, it was just sort of a shot in the dark.
So hereās the fun one that Iām going to need your help on. How is the relationship between John and friends concerned with gathering info or experience?
Edit:wait wait wait! I forgot Parcher! How does Parcher have a problem of Present or influence John to deal with the Present? (This one was a little tricky when watching the movie. I kept wanting to put Parcher scenes in the OS and I donāt think I should have been)
Well, certainly the entire relationship with Parcher has to do with gathering dicephered information from news clippings. When Nash tells Parcher he wonāt gather the coded information anymore Parcher threatens that would terminate their relationship and Nash would no longer have his protection. So at least with Nash and Parcher gathering information is a big concern.
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A BEAUtIFUL answer! 
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Charles often prefaced his reason for showing up again as there being a lecture, a chance to learn, that he wants to attend. This is probably a shot in the dark, but best I can do with Charles. I am sure there is a context I am supposed to be more focused on when considering the question.
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Thanks for the compliment, my confidence was waning!!
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Youāre doing great! I didnāt pick up on the stuff you mentioned with Charles at all.
So are we pretty happy with this level then?
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Yes. Happy with this level.
For the MC I like reappraisal as Nashās issue since he has to reconsider his previous determination that Charles and Co were real.
Because the delusions will never cimpletely go away Nash is constantly balancing his original assessment that his delusions are real with his more informed reconsideration they are not real. ???