Mixed into to the stream are human beings who are capable of interpreting events and making judgements about them. I’m told that in quantum theory, just observing a particle’s behavior changes its behavior. The same seems true for people. Watch what they do and they change what they do (so long as they know they are being observed). That, too, is the way things are.

And that’s what I think!

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.

Personally, I actually side more with Sabio‘s take on the realization that it’s all a little arbitrary makes me love less, or rather that I don’t concentrate much on making new friends but instead cling tight to the very few I have. I’d rather be true to a few than a little something to many, and I consider myself fairly rich in life that way. The notion of hope I have is that it this would suggest helping someone out of a depression, or helping someone live a meaningful life, may be as simple as just being a good friend.

But back to your theme here, I think you’ve worded your post very well to get people thinking in terms of these arbitrary assignments of worth and meaning of a life worth preserving if they hadn’t thought of it before in that light. Such a subtle approach is probably ideal for your purpose; encouraging diverse thought in a way which would not automatically spin up the defense mechanisms.

I thought Big Fish was a fine movie, one of the few I’ve watched twice. Once with Kathryn, the other time with Robin. Robin thought it was ridiculous.

@Sabio: I hadn’t thought about the tribalism aspect, but I do see this little bird as mine—not mine, exactly, but something I’m involved with. I see what you mean by relaxed sympathy. It’s hard to care about everything. But… I did have a specific theme in mind, which I only alluded to in the paragraph about my cracking of the eggs (I cut out the more overt references before publishing): Whereas the pro-lifers feel driven to protect the unborn, they don’t seem to concern themselves with the human toll of war, the death penalty, and myriad other instances of “man’s inhumanity to man.”

It was just a subtle, well-disguised socio-political statement.

I recently found out that there are people who have no physiological response to pain. In extreme cases, they cannot feel it at all. Their experiences make it obvious that fear is the whole purpose of pain. This is a quote from an article about some children: “One day they climbed on a ledge, put their arms around each other and dived head first on the floor. They couldn’t stop laughing. Another time, Paul held Vicky’s head and rammed it straight through a six-foot sheet of glass….That’s how they play.”
http://www.thefactsofpainlesspeople.com/The_children_who_feel_no_pain.html

Then my son scrapes his knee and all that philosophy goes out the window.
Like cracking an egg for breakfast.

Fun story, thanx.