Monday, May 3, 2021

The Ethicist: Refuse to Take No-for-An-Answer


Dear Ethicist: You don’t need to be paranoid to believe someone is following you. But obviously better to believe someone is following you. Why? Because you know what the problem is and can consequently feel a sense of agency. For instance, you can turn around and bark, “stop following me!” The same can be said of a long fallow period in which you’re turned down by everyone. You could just say it was bad luck, yet it’s better to think that you’re cursed or that there’s some kind of mole in every institution you’re dealing with who has been placed there to make sure you walk away feeling dejected. In the long run, it’s nicer to think some former lover has cursed you and put a pin in a voodoo doll than to simply find yourself rejected or worse ignored for no reason. Having the cosmos yawn (with a bored look) in your face is not fun for anyone. Oedipus listened to the oracle and brought about the very thing he feared. All this is better than having no explanation. What would you rather be faced with, hatred or indifference? You can see I’m stewing because I’m not getting attention. In addition, I’m impatient to get my needs satisfied, as someone my age could die any day. Should I refuse to take no for an answer or become accepting of what fate has in store for me. 

 

 Refuse to Take No-for-An-Answer?

 

 

 

Dear Refuse to Take No-for-An-Answer? If you don’t mind my saying it, you sound very primitive and at the very least self-involved. Do you even realize that other people have lives and for that matter needs and problems? Do you get that there are other people in the world besides you? My only advice is let go and let G-D.

 

 

Dear Ethicist: I didn’t think of that. Thanks for the advice.



Read "The Final Solution: When Big Brother is a Bully" by Francis Levy, HuffPost

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