deaths in GR&elsewhere

[Tim Ware]

Responding to Aaron's post, I think von Braun's epigraph supports the 
contention that GR DOES allow death, but also "the continuity of our 
spiritual existence after death."  I do agree that the way death is 
portrayed is, however, in a non-binary fashion; one isn't simply either 
dead or alive, but dead, alive or in the next world.

TW

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ timware at crl.com
If you are dealt a lemon ... play lemonade - CD-ROM DOS


On Tue, 14 Mar 1995, Aaron Yeater wrote:

> hi.  i've been listening for a while, but this is my first 
> contribution, if you can call it such...
> 
> i've been rereading vineland, and noticing the status of death 
> therein.  some characters are 'unkillable,' like Vond, the 
> Roadrunner, eluding death confidently.  others, from Takeshi on down, 
> are in various 'stages' of death, the Thanatoids being "like death, 
> only different."  No one is really dead-no one ever dies (like tv, 
> kinda?)  perhaps what TRP presents is the end of death, the 
> breakdown of the 1 and 0 into something more 
> complicated--transformation.  but into what? is it salvation, 
> immortality, the ultimate promise of the conspiracy?  or dissolution, 
> entropy?  thus in GR people don't die, they disappear, cross over, 
> form and reform, and if transformation does not take place (as von 
> Braun tells us in the epigraph it always will) then there is 
> dissolution, hopelessness, chaos.  and the pynchonian dilemma 
> remains: will you be 'part of the system', choosing to sacrifice your 
> will and individuality to the 'grand design' for salvation of your 
> soul?  or will you fight cooptation by the conspiracy and in stead 
> simply fall apart, dissolve, collapse, be crushed by pessimism? 
> 
> anyway, my $.02.  if inappropriate, i apologize in advance.
> 
> aaron yeater
> kennedy school of guv
> 
>