Just maybe, Vonnegut, many are overcoming their fear but differ in the whys, ways and means by which they do. Not all efforts to overcome fear and survive lead to constructive results, and not all deaths are meaningless.
I’d argue that unfortunately, the real test of being human is being completely unable to define good and evil of ourselves and (barring outside intervention) being so hell-bent on proving otherwise. And there, we all pass with full marks. Animals don’t have that problem.
Authors Herbert, Vonnegut, Heinlein, Asimov, etc., etc. - as much as I respect their genius - are prime examples of the problem. And by nature, so am I and so is everyone else. It’s the core of the human condition. (I believe that more than human orneriness is involved, but leave that aside.)
Calvin once asked Hobbes (essentially) if he believed in the Devil and his influence. Hobbes replied, “I’m not sure that humans need the help.” As Calvin noted to himself, “You just can’t talk to animals about these things.”
Just maybe, Vonnegut, many are overcoming their fear but differ in the whys, ways and means by which they do. Not all efforts to overcome fear and survive lead to constructive results, and not all deaths are meaningless.
I’d argue that unfortunately, the real test of being human is being completely unable to define good and evil of ourselves and (barring outside intervention) being so hell-bent on proving otherwise. And there, we all pass with full marks. Animals don’t have that problem.
Authors Herbert, Vonnegut, Heinlein, Asimov, etc., etc. - as much as I respect their genius - are prime examples of the problem. And by nature, so am I and so is everyone else. It’s the core of the human condition. (I believe that more than human orneriness is involved, but leave that aside.)
Calvin once asked Hobbes (essentially) if he believed in the Devil and his influence. Hobbes replied, “I’m not sure that humans need the help.” As Calvin noted to himself, “You just can’t talk to animals about these things.”