Excellent post and survey to go with a great presentation! I thought it was really funny that guys are more afraid of death before being able to leave their mark, because it's true!! However I only think most of us (including myself) are very competitive, while there are some exceptions. The same goes for females (but reversed).
Best passage to me was,
" I learned from this project that teenaged males are probably more afraid of death than teenaged females are, and thus live in more misery. This conclusion is based on the assumption that Epicurus was right when he said that the ultimate cause of misery is the fear of death and the desire for immortality"
HOWEVER- I am not sure you are in a place to deal such an absolute about males living with more misery. You touch on this a little bit about the survey being on such a small scale but I would not go on to make this level of judgement quite yet. Also, I was somewhat disappointed at the abruptness of the ending of the post- I was looking for that one really, beautiful closer but I never got it.
Excellent work,
Evan
Best passage to me was,
" I learned from this project that teenaged males are probably more afraid of death than teenaged females are, and thus live in more misery. This conclusion is based on the assumption that Epicurus was right when he said that the ultimate cause of misery is the fear of death and the desire for immortality"
HOWEVER- I am not sure you are in a place to deal such an absolute about males living with more misery. You touch on this a little bit about the survey being on such a small scale but I would not go on to make this level of judgement quite yet. Also, I was somewhat disappointed at the abruptness of the ending of the post- I was looking for that one really, beautiful closer but I never got it.
Excellent work,
Evan
MY comment on Eloise's HW 30:
Eloise,
WOOOOAAHH!!!! You really went all out on this one! :)
You begin with a very heart-throbbing tale that I am sure was difficult and took much bravery to write. Then you go on to explain in detail a very interesting idea about 'how what is deemed important' and by whom, which directly challenged the dominant social practice of leaving fate and decisions in the hands of doctors.
Then the third paragraph. Or I should say the BEST paragraph! You bring an onslaught of insights and claims (which are backed up with excellent evidence) forth and the entire idea of the separation of the physical, social and emotional elements is a very interesting one. There are so many quotable parts in this paragraph, that I simply cannot choose any single one to highlight, so I will just go ahead and say pretty much EVERYTHING in that paragraph was the best.
The focus on arts and yoga in the hospital environment was very significant to me personally, having worked on art with hospice patients over many years. I wish you could've gotten to this in more detail in your presentation! Your narrative on Sandra was also engaging and kept me invested, and you conclude nicely.
If there's any room for improvement, I guess it'd just be to trim the less excellent writing from the already outstanding stuff. I can see you put a lot of effort into this, and if you perhaps kept everything a bit shorter (almost a precis of each paragraph but not quite as short), you'd have a very strong, short post that wouldn't take 30 minutes to read :)
Evan
WOOOOAAHH!!!! You really went all out on this one! :)
You begin with a very heart-throbbing tale that I am sure was difficult and took much bravery to write. Then you go on to explain in detail a very interesting idea about 'how what is deemed important' and by whom, which directly challenged the dominant social practice of leaving fate and decisions in the hands of doctors.
Then the third paragraph. Or I should say the BEST paragraph! You bring an onslaught of insights and claims (which are backed up with excellent evidence) forth and the entire idea of the separation of the physical, social and emotional elements is a very interesting one. There are so many quotable parts in this paragraph, that I simply cannot choose any single one to highlight, so I will just go ahead and say pretty much EVERYTHING in that paragraph was the best.
The focus on arts and yoga in the hospital environment was very significant to me personally, having worked on art with hospice patients over many years. I wish you could've gotten to this in more detail in your presentation! Your narrative on Sandra was also engaging and kept me invested, and you conclude nicely.
If there's any room for improvement, I guess it'd just be to trim the less excellent writing from the already outstanding stuff. I can see you put a lot of effort into this, and if you perhaps kept everything a bit shorter (almost a precis of each paragraph but not quite as short), you'd have a very strong, short post that wouldn't take 30 minutes to read :)
Evan
Eloise's comment on MY HW 30:
ok I am going to start with the negative and leave on a positive note.
I don't think you answered your own question as to why we want to live to a 100, or at least did not make it clear.
"I found it particularly interesting that something as simple as a sense of purpose could be considered a virtual life-extender, especially considering just how direct the other factors are toward maintaining health (keeping active, staying stress-free, being well supplied with care, a fixed diet, etc.)."I thought that this one of the most insightful quotes because you seem to sum up what makes a optimal life. I think you could have expanded on this point and make it stronger by relating to how this could be an effect of the social practices and if this is seen in our culture.
I don't think you answered your own question as to why we want to live to a 100, or at least did not make it clear.
"I found it particularly interesting that something as simple as a sense of purpose could be considered a virtual life-extender, especially considering just how direct the other factors are toward maintaining health (keeping active, staying stress-free, being well supplied with care, a fixed diet, etc.)."I thought that this one of the most insightful quotes because you seem to sum up what makes a optimal life. I think you could have expanded on this point and make it stronger by relating to how this could be an effect of the social practices and if this is seen in our culture.
Mom's comment on MY HW 30:
I learned a few interesting tidbits of how different cultures honor this milestone, and I am glad to hear my mother is bullish about living to be 100, to see how her grandchildren turn out. But I wish that there had been more depth to this blog entry and to the interview. I think it's nice, but not all that surprising (or interesting) to ask people if they want to live to be 100 and how they get there (good diet, spirituality, etc.). I think it would have been more interesting to ask how people at the 'midway' point of life feel knowing that they are closer to death than birth; how we view our own mortality and to what lengths we would be willing to go to stay alive (and ultimately, DNR or no DNR); if we would really want immortality if we could have it, and the ramifications both personally and as a society if there were such a thing; and more realistically, the ramifications of an ever-growing aged population due to the 'miracles' of science.
Aaron's comment on MY HW 30:
"In the end, whether it be the result of genetics or technique, men and women around the world continue to walk on the stones of years, effectively evading the least common denominator that has and will always catch us all: illness and death." This quote shows how you took a simple question about age and allowed it to connect to everyone from a elder in their 80s to a child. You show how we all must face death. From even just learning how to walk to lying down ill in a hospital, this question can relate to me, you, and anyone else. You show how we all can't be 100 yet we can all relate to it.
Casey's comment on MY HW 30...
Evan,
First of all, I laughed out loud at the two comments above :p
Second of all, I agree with Eloise about you answering your questions; your post was full of interesting ideas about perspective of death, and selflessness with age. (I especially enjoyed your metaphor in "In the end, whether it be the result of genetics or technique, men and women around the world continue to walk on the stones of years, effectively evading the least common denominator that has and will always catch us all: illness and death.") Although lovely to read and visualize, it still did not answer your question of the meaning and appeal of living to be 100.
Additionally, I recommend changing your introductory sentences; I know that you were trying to tie the reader in and be interesting, but truly, does EVERYONE want to live to be 100? is it really a dream commonly shared by ALL? Be careful with gross generalizations.
First of all, I laughed out loud at the two comments above :p
Second of all, I agree with Eloise about you answering your questions; your post was full of interesting ideas about perspective of death, and selflessness with age. (I especially enjoyed your metaphor in "In the end, whether it be the result of genetics or technique, men and women around the world continue to walk on the stones of years, effectively evading the least common denominator that has and will always catch us all: illness and death.") Although lovely to read and visualize, it still did not answer your question of the meaning and appeal of living to be 100.
Additionally, I recommend changing your introductory sentences; I know that you were trying to tie the reader in and be interesting, but truly, does EVERYONE want to live to be 100? is it really a dream commonly shared by ALL? Be careful with gross generalizations.
No comments:
Post a Comment