andrewducker: (wikipedia)
[personal profile] andrewducker
Reading the article here I went through a variety of stages.  At the end of page one I felt that I would rather be dead than be in the same situation as Clive, trapped in a world that I could not understand, constantly living in terror and incomprehension.  And then by the end of page two I felt that maybe it would be something I could live with.  And then by the end of the article I just didn't know.

It's a fascinating piece, and it highlights just how fragile the world we live in is, dependent as we are on a small and easily damaged lump of grey porridge-like good.

[Poll #1338336]

Date: 2009-01-27 09:15 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rhythmaning.livejournal.com
But only just!

Date: 2009-01-27 09:37 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] martling.livejournal.com
I vote for dead.

Think of it this way: every "reawakening" of Clive is a fresh consciousness doomed to die in the next five seconds, and not have a great time in between.

The strain on the person's carers must be immense, too. I'd never want to cause that.

Date: 2009-01-27 10:54 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] martling.livejournal.com
My point isn't so much about the duration, as the clearly confused and uncomfortable nature of each period. And the near-certainty, based on thousands of previous trials, that this is what will happen each time.

Date: 2009-01-27 11:45 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ninebelow.livejournal.com
Er, singularly inappropriate cartoon. Does the New Yorker just insert them at random?

A very powerful article. I was really confused for a minute there because I was sure I'd read this in the Guardian. I had, Sacks is a canny bugger.

Date: 2009-01-27 11:59 am (UTC)
wychwood: G'Kar knows freedom is born in pain (B5 - G'Kar freedom)
From: [personal profile] wychwood
I said "rather be alive", based on the fact that apparently that's his decision too *g*. He seems quite happy. But obviously it would be a pretty sucky option either way...

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