[lit-ideas] Re: FW: RE: Re: Just read a novel
- From: Eric Yost <eyost1132@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 13:10:57 -0400
Who cares?
Eric: If you don't, there's nobody to do it for you.
Steve: That's a very cynical reply, I believe ...
Eric: "Cynical" implies that the putative cynic believes the
worst human motives always prevail, and so caps her belief
with a sneer or smirk. That's not my intention at all.
Try this substitute. Accept the fact that you are dying,
probably a lot sooner than you expect, and that this is your
time to care about things. You won't have another chance to
care about things except in this brief interlude between the
maternity ward and the crypt.
If you still can't bring yourself to care about things,
recognize that you can end your life any time you choose.
You're free to press the "off button" any time you want, and
that gives you not only personal freedom and power, but also
a certain amount of invulnerability. Nothing can get quite
so bad that you can't end it by pressing "off," but it's up
to you. Yet if you decide not to shut it off, your life is
your responsibility, and it's up to you to care for it.
For another take on this, see Walker Percy's _Lost in the
Cosmos: the last self-help book_, in the chapter called "Why
Suicide is the Only Cure for Depression."
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