> -----Original Message----- > From: SciFiNoir_Lit@yahoogroups.com > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Carole McDonnell > If Isaac had said, "I won't sue because I have had a long productive > life," then I'd be cool with it. It would've been Isaac's opinion of > his own life. But when someone A says that someone B can not fight > for his life, or fight against those who are taking his life, then I > get pissed at it. We as a culture are always thinking we can judge > other folks' lives...and we're always shoulding on people. What if > Isaac had said, "I am not happy to be dying," would we be pissed that > he didn't accept his death? It seems that some of us would be. > Because we're all-knowing and we have it like that. But alas, I'm not > wise about how other folks should react to their own lives. And I > don't use the "after all, they lived a good productive life" to knock > people into grave or into submission to the evils of life. > PS: I like you Nora but I've got to say I think you're trying to > misunderstand what I said. Or maybe I'm not being clear. <-- this > last part included as a kind of etiquette but not something I really > believe, BTW.
I'm not trying to misinterpret anything, Carole -- I was trying to correct what seemed to me to be a misinterpretation you were making. I think, and this is not meant as an attack in any way, that you have a lot of personal feelings tied up in this based on your own situations. I'm not saying you shouldn't personalize things; we all do this. I'm just saying you may be personalizing this in Asimov's case -- i.e., interpreting his situation through the lens of your loved ones -- while other people are speaking generally or hypothetically (since in Asimov's case *none* of us know the real deal). I don't think there's a problem with either interpretation, but I think that mixing the two can lead to misunderstanding, as it seems to be doing in this case. It's natural for people to judge other people's lives. This is a human thing, not a culture-specific thing. This is how we decide who our heroes and villains are. And when we hear about someone who's done exceptionally well in relation to the rest of us, it's natural for us to feel admiration (or envy!) of that person. In the case of Asimov, I'm not trying to sweep what happened to the man under the carpet, or shuffle him off to a grave -- even though he's been in one for years now -- or dismiss his final suffering. It may be that you empathize more with that final suffering than I do, because you've had to see a loved one go through it. I have too -- in my case for a relatively young woman (47), who I also came to understand had lived a full life. So for me, the notion of living a full life means focusing on how a person has lived, rather than how they're dying/have died. All I'm saying is that there's many ways the concept can be interpreted, that's all. Nora ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Something is new at Yahoo! Groups. Check out the enhanced email design. http://us.click.yahoo.com/SISQkA/gOaOAA/yQLSAA/DtIolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Community email addresses: Post message: SciFiNoir_Lit@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe Digest Mode: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SciFiNoir_Lit/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SciFiNoir_Lit/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
