I heard a great story on the radio. There was this husband and wife team who were very popular magicians in the late '40's and '50's. They had one amazing trick that sealed their fame. I missed the part where the trick was described, but it was very complicated. Eventually, the couple retired and grew very old.
They decided never to reveal how they accomplished the trick. Famous magicians like Penn and Teller begged them to let them in on the secret. "We'll name the trick after you," they said. "You will live on in magician history."
After the husband had died and the wife was on her deathbed, she was asked one last time. "No," she said, "I believe it's better if you figure it out for yourself."
So now the question is: Would you rather be like most of us who strive to set things up for our children? Wills, tax shelters, executors, etc. Or, are you among the few who believe that you deserve to find your own fate and your sense of accomplishment in the process?
Is it better if you have to figure it out for yourself?
There have actually been experiments asking people whether they'd rather be connected to a machine giving them a blissed out experience of a real life or accept the genuine article. They choose the latter.
ReplyDeleteI remember an old Twilight Zone episode where the main character always determined his fate. Nothing was a surprise. It became his definition of hell.
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