From April 30, 2020, A Short Review and Link to Edgar Allan Poe's "Descent into the Maelstrom"
Many of you have heard use of the word, "counterintuitive". It's a nice word, that describes a conflict between a strongly held popular belief, and a thought object which can seem unexpected, unlikely, even absurd on the surface as in, "that was the last thing I would have thought would be true", or "actually I thought the opposite would be the case".
Poe presents his short story, "Descent into the Maelstrom," describing the peril faced by three brothers, Norwegian fisherman, who because of an unexpected Hurricane, missed their time deadline for returning to shore safely, which causes them to be sucked into the vortex of the daily Maelstrom, the mile wide whirlpool in the Norwegian Fjords, which destroys everything into which is pulled.
The story is obviously metaphor. Without spoiling it, the narrator, the brother who survives, has an epiphany while facing his doom. Knowing he is about to die, and coming to grips with his own mortality, he relaxes. He overcomes the terror, and reflects on the wonderment of what he sees and hears, and feels honored to be able to die amidst such an incredible natural phenomena. He observes, reflects, reasons, and evaluates. Then he realizes that he can survive, by doing what seems to be the craziest, most reckless and unimaginable thing, that nobody else would do. And it works!.
There is a life lesson here, and I hope you read the story and absorb it. People who are preoccupied with personal survival, rarely survive. (The Biblical expression is to paraphrase, "they who love their lives shall lose them") People who are prepared to give their lives for another out of love, who have accepted their mortality as inevitable, can think more clearly, often have the higher moral and scientific ground, and are more likely to survive.
Once again, for Poe, the inevitability of mortality is the equalizer, the forcing medium that judges our actions and thoughts as valid and moral, or not. And it is thoroughly applicable to our current situation, in terms of a way to see ourselves coming through this crisis, and getting to the other side. Don't "tie yourselves to a sinking ship". Jump ship, while you still can, and live!. (Sorry for the little spoiler)
Poe presents his short story, "Descent into the Maelstrom," describing the peril faced by three brothers, Norwegian fisherman, who because of an unexpected Hurricane, missed their time deadline for returning to shore safely, which causes them to be sucked into the vortex of the daily Maelstrom, the mile wide whirlpool in the Norwegian Fjords, which destroys everything into which is pulled.
The story is obviously metaphor. Without spoiling it, the narrator, the brother who survives, has an epiphany while facing his doom. Knowing he is about to die, and coming to grips with his own mortality, he relaxes. He overcomes the terror, and reflects on the wonderment of what he sees and hears, and feels honored to be able to die amidst such an incredible natural phenomena. He observes, reflects, reasons, and evaluates. Then he realizes that he can survive, by doing what seems to be the craziest, most reckless and unimaginable thing, that nobody else would do. And it works!.
There is a life lesson here, and I hope you read the story and absorb it. People who are preoccupied with personal survival, rarely survive. (The Biblical expression is to paraphrase, "they who love their lives shall lose them") People who are prepared to give their lives for another out of love, who have accepted their mortality as inevitable, can think more clearly, often have the higher moral and scientific ground, and are more likely to survive.
Once again, for Poe, the inevitability of mortality is the equalizer, the forcing medium that judges our actions and thoughts as valid and moral, or not. And it is thoroughly applicable to our current situation, in terms of a way to see ourselves coming through this crisis, and getting to the other side. Don't "tie yourselves to a sinking ship". Jump ship, while you still can, and live!. (Sorry for the little spoiler)
