The Curmudgeon

YOU'LL COME FOR THE CURSES. YOU'LL STAY FOR THE MUDGEONRY.

Wednesday, June 07, 2017

Happy Endings

As everyone knows who has kept company with "life-affirming" persons, shared public transport with a child or awaited the profitable departure of a wealthy relative, death is generally underrated. Its virtues are not often discussed even with regard to the demise of others; nevertheless, some brave psychological researchers at the University of North Carolina have proclaimed that one's own death can also be a positive experience. Their conclusion is based on word-counts from a representative sample of humanity, comprising terminally ill bloggers and Texas death row inmates. The writings of these lucky folk were found to be increasingly positive in emotional tone as the end approached, "with an increased focus on meaningful (sic) topics such as family and religion." Since there is self-evidently no such human activity as bravado or false optimism, especially on the internet or on death row in Texas, it appears self-evident that dying can be nice after all; though the question remains how many members of the psychology department at the University of North Carolina would care to volunteer for the privilege.

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