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Skyhook
Original Post
A term used by Daniel Dennet in his book Darwin’s Dangerous Idea to illustrate a fantastical, "false" approach to evolutionary development. As if by an illusory hook from the sky or deus ex machina the design of a species could leap forward, rather than being developed infinitesimally by the blind trial and error process of natural selection. Skyhooks don’t work, he says. Prozak takes a "skyhook" approach to her depression by "hooking," seeking to o’er leap the mind numbing pain she feels in an extreme ritual that does land her in a different place. She ends up in a coma, in the hospital, a prolonged dream, where her unconscious does the healing via the Platypus. In the realm of our psyches, if not in science, "skyhooks" while dangerous sometimes work.

Comment from KellyAnne Hanrahan on 4/21/2009

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Go ahead, click it. I dare you.