For those who grew up on science fiction The Cold Equations (full text here) was a jarring read. Although it was an artificially-created scenario, unlikely to bear analogy to any real events even out of spaceships, most readers recognised a core truth. Sometimes reality does not do what we want it to, and it is we who have to adjust, because some realities are unbending. Wishing won't make it so, the grandmothers used to say. Social science, and because of that politics, is increasingly about people wishing to make it so.
Maybe we should blame Bobby Kennedy for that.
Asking "why not?" can be a very useful exercise--if you're honestly looking for the answer.
ReplyDeleteNot very many people approach the question that way.
I read that story, yearrrrrrrrrrrrs ago.
ReplyDeleteI just used the expression "cold equation" earlier today, and I was thinking of this story when I did. I first read it when I was a kid.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how often, if ever, I've heard "Why not?" asked non-rhetorically.
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