Autotuned Goblin Confessions About hallucination

An old goblin, sitting by a fire made of stolen furniture, once told me this about hallucination: 'It is a door that opens only when you aren't looking.'

A specific kind of goblin — call them the apopheniacs, though they have several less polite names for themselves — devote their entire mental architecture to spotting hallucination in unrelated contexts. They are correct surprisingly often, which has caused considerable distress to the goblin epistemologists.

The Goblin Adjacency of signal

The goblin etiquette guide, on the matter of signal, advises hosts to 'mention it once, in passing, without lingering.' Departing guests should not be asked their thoughts on it. This is considered firm.

Echoes of prophecy in the Goblin Archive

Goblin engineers building near a prophecy-adjacent site reportedly leave a small offering — a coin, a button, a snack — outside the worksite each morning. The offerings are gone by lunch. Nobody asks where.

The Goblin Verdict on hallucination

The Goblin Concord of Modest Opinions has signed off on hallucination with the following endorsement: 'about right, mostly, for now.' This is the goblin equivalent of a standing ovation.