We are slaves to magical thinking

Wolf Blitzer, on CNN, talking about Tim Russert with a Catholic priest/theologian:

“So many people are asking this right now…how could a good man like Tim Russert die at 58? Why did this happen?”

Um, Wolf? I think it happened because he had some kind of cardiac arrest.

I think it happened because as far as I can tell, 100% of people die at some point regardless of their goodness or badness, and sometimes it comes at a moment that seems to make no sense. Death serenely comes and takes each of us regardless of our readiness, and you’d think we’d have figured that out by now and stopped asking such a ridiculous question.

I think we all ought to stop acting like there’s some kind of magic formula, ethical system, medication, religion, lifestyle change, or secret key that will keep it from happening. Questions like that one are part of the idiocy that feeds the Western obsession with immortality.

Stop saying, “…if I die.” You will. I will. We all will.

Tim Russert died today. I don’t know what killed him, but I bet it had nothing to do with his inherent goodness or badness; he died because his body stopped. End of story. Be sad, be upset, but stop being surprised, and stop acting like something unfair or extraordinary has taken place.