Continuing with questions from The Book of Questions, by Gregory Stock, Ph.D., Workman Publishing Company, Inc., $6.95, questions you can use to explore your own feelings and attitudes, or to spark a discussion with others. I've decided I'm going to go through the book periodically, and answer the questions here. I invite readers to comment, not so much on my responses, but with your responses - and simple yes or no won't do. Elaborate. (I'm hoping I can get around the copyright restrictions by recommending that, if you like the idea too, you should buy the book. Get yourself all the questions at once.)
5. If a new medicine were developed that would cure arthritis but cause a fatal reaction in 1 percent of those who took it, would you want it released to the public?
Absolutely! No question in my mind. Advanced arthritis is incredibly painful, and I firmly believe that it should be up to the individual as to whether they want to take the risk or not. I feel that way about just about everything like this. I don't like others making decisions for me or for any other competent adult. Given our litigious society, there would have to be all kinds of safeguards in place to protect the manufacturers, and that may be impossible, but I still think any risk is up to the person choosing that risk.
6. You discover your wonderful one-year-old child is, because of a mix-up at the hospital, not yours. Would you want to exchange the child to try to correct the mistake?
Hell, no. What I'd WANT to do is put out a contract on the other parents, then after they're dead, prove through DNA that I should be awarded custody of "their" child. Sheesh! I couldn't possibly leave my own child with strangers (unless they're absolutely wonderful and I'm in jail), so the only other options would be to a) kidnap the kid and abscond to some country without extradition with BOTH children, or b) exchange the children and then hope that the other parents would keep in touch, maybe with a visitation agreement, or something. But that's not what I'd WANT!
7. Do you think the world will be a better or a worse place 100 years from now?
Define "better". Is the world a better place now than it was 100 years ago? It's just different. Better or worse depends on your expectations at the time you live. We are human. We'll never create a Utopia. So 100 years from now, it will be different, but on the whole probably no better or worse than it ever was. We'll just move away from the current problems and find different ones - probably involving overpopulation.
8. Would you rather be a member of a world championship sports team or be the champion of an individual sport?
Individual. If I were a member of a team, I'd always feel that my contributions were small, no matter how much I actually influenced the outcome. I'd be happier as a winning individual, because no one, not even I, could negate my accomplishment. I'd be walking around saying "Wow, I did good! I really did!"
Which sport would you choose?
Swimming or diving. That will surprise a lot of people because I don't like water more than four feet deep. But my mother was a swimmer and exhibition diver, and I'd feel like it was a tribute to her.
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