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Re: Three Wishes
Posted By: BurgerKing, on host 142.227.192.29
Date: Tuesday, May 16, 2000, at 09:27:00
In Reply To: Re: Three Wishes posted by Brunnen-G on Tuesday, May 16, 2000, at 04:08:03:

> > Anyone else have a good wish?
>
> Strange. If it was *seriously* an option, I don't really think there's anything I would wish for. That doesn't mean my life is perfect, far from it, but I just would feel sort of weird and immoral about getting solutions to my problems handed to me for nothing. It would be *nice*, but I wouldn't feel right about wishing for it. Or praying for it, or anything else that means you don't have to go out and fight for it yourself.
>
> Maybe I'm just perverse and like having unnecessary obstacles? *shrug* Somehow it just seems wrong. I think that about wishing for solutions to world problems, too, so I'm not trying to appear selfless or anything.
>
> Brunnen-"I hope somebody can tell me what moral system that's based on, because I sure don't know"G

This whole thing reminds me of the story of "The Monkey's Paw". (In fact, the part in the X-Files episode about someone being wished back to life, but not being brought back as he originally was, seems to be taken directly from that story). The basic gist of the story, as I saw it, was that the universe doesn't allow quick fixes. If you tried to get one, even by wishing for the most innocent and seemingly harmless of things, it would be twisted around to seem like an almost normal event, which usually means there would be a price to pay for whatever you're getting. For example, wisdom usually comes from learning from experiences, often bad ones, and who can tell what experience you'd be given if you asked for wisdom as a wish?

Besides, most of life's best experiences come from working towards a goal, not the goal itself... and getting something you worked hard for usually feels much more rewarding than simply having something handed to you. Of course, I've never been offered any wishes before. If I was, I really don't know what I'd do.

There's a link to "The Monkey's Paw" for those who never had to read it in school, or act it out.

Burger"Sorry for being so serious about this topic"King


Link: The Monkey's Paw by W. W. Jacobs