This is seer territory. One locks oneself in the Tower, constructs arcane diagrams and tries to imagine the actual experience for programme participants. Will it work? What could go wrong?

I’m not saying I’m special but most people don’t make this descent. They find a way to cut a deal with it. Maybe they have to, and some karmic equation or other allows it. Or by perverse resolve or sheer desperation they find a way to avoid looking into the void beneath their feet. Drink, drugs, work, religion, religious gym-going, a performative challenge.

I remember reading Ursula K Le Guin’s Earthsea books as a child. I remember enjoying them but not as much as I wanted to. I recognised in them a wisdom I did not yet understand.