A COLIN WILSON GLOSSARY

The following are terms and motives that occur frequently in Wilson's work, and which I feel capture the essence and spirit of his thought. This is a work-in-progress, so I make no claim to its thoroughness at this point.

St. Neot margin: A term coined by Wilson based on a personal experience. According to his autobiography, Voyage to a Beginning, Wilson was hitchhiking one day and not having any luck. He was also on his way to meet his girlfriend's parents, and did not expect a warm reception, and thus was particularly unenthusiastic about the trip to begin with. One driver finally picked him up, but then broke down a short time later, and Wilson again found himself in the same position. Finally, another trucker picked him up. He thought about the possibility that this truck might break down as well, and noticed that he greeted the idea with complete indifference. Pondering this, he concluded that there is a state of mind in which only pain or discomfort can disturb. Wilson found this puzzling, wondering why it is so impossible for people to appreciate the overwhelming sensation of being alive at all moments, and thus avoid this state. The truck happened to be passing through the town of St. Neots, and thus Wilson named this term after his experience. Wilson has said that a better name for it may be the "indifference margin," and it is this feeling that Wilson believes we must learn to banish from our minds in order to achieve a new consciousness.