50 lines
2.5 KiB
Plaintext
50 lines
2.5 KiB
Plaintext
[Note: Mr. Herbert responded to THE QUESTION & ANSWERS SESSION question
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I posed in the Aug. issue of STTS about three days too late. His entry
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was so well written and, more importantly, insightful that I decided to
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give his reply article space in the Oct. issue. Thus, here is Mr.
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Herbert's reply to the question: "If you had one wish, what would you
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wish for and why?"]
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If I Had One Wish...
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Copyright (c) 1993, L.J. Herbert
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All rights reserved
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The falbed wish is something that has thrilled humankind throughout the
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ages, inspiring many myths wherin hapless men succumb to the follies the
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human mind is so capable of producing when it is offered such a tempting
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lure as "anything your heart desires". Through their fumblings we learn
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what NOT to wish for: wealth, status, the love of another, the death of
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another, more wishes, etc., but the mind always refuses be tethered and
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presses forward with yet more fantasic explorations of how this
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perplexing riddle might finally be solved by the wise man with "The
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Answer".
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Without claiming to be such a wise man, I'd like to establish for the
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criticism of others the conclusion my own mind comes to. My solution
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stems from a practice (made easier by this question's hypothetical
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nature, to be sure!) of resisting all initial urges to grab at pretty
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baubles so that I can attempt to trly answer the question in all its
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implications by pinpointing the ONE thing I desire above all other
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objects. The frequent context of this question--a myth--will be my
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guide in this pursuit.
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In exposing the eternal frailty of human beings, this myth reminds me
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that I too am human, hinting at universal implications. Thus, a spark
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of insight tells me that I must search for a universal wish, one which
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all men and women would agree with. This seems difficult only if I
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forget the frame of myth, for what is myth if it is not the ultimate
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expression of human solidarity? To be sure, myths are particular in
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detail, but their underlying purpose, from Gilgamesh to Star Wars, is
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always the same: the search for an enlightened understanding of our
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confusing existence; in other words, a knowledge of how to LIVE.
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When this is understood, what else is there to wish for but the ability
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to interperate Nature with wisdom and so to live well in this hostile
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world? This is what all of we homo sapiens would wish for if we merely
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reflected on our innermost longings. The proof is in the very origin of
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this question: the myth.
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