Dennett’s brush with death
3 November 2006 by Ron
Dan Dennett, famous philosopher-atheist (is that redundant?) had a brush with death recently (a “dissection of the aorta”), and now writes about it (Thank Goodness!). Did he give up his atheism when on death’s door? What do you think? Here’s a bit of his report:
Had I had an epiphany… or was my atheism still intact and unchanged?
Yes, I did have an epiphany. I saw with greater clarity than ever before in my life that when I say “Thank goodness!” this is not merely a euphemism for “Thank God!”… There is a lot of goodness in this world, and more goodness every day, and this fantastic human-made fabric of excellence is genuinely responsible for the fact that I am alive today. It is a worthy recipient of the gratitude I feel today, and I want to celebrate that fact here and now.
To whom, then, do I owe a debt of gratitude? To the cardiologist who has kept me alive and ticking for years, and who swiftly and confidently rejected the original diagnosis of nothing worse than pneumonia. To the surgeons, neurologists, anesthesiologists, and the perfusionist, who kept my systems going for many hours under daunting circumstances…
What, though, do I say to those of my religious friends (and yes, I have quite a few religious friends) who have had the courage and honesty to tell me that they have been praying for me? I have gladly forgiven them, for there are few circumstances more frustrating than not being able to help a loved one in any more direct way… I have resisted the temptation to respond “Thanks, I appreciate it, but did you also sacrifice a goat?” I feel about this the same way I would feel if one of them said “I just paid a voodoo doctor to cast a spell for your health.” What a gullible waste of money that could have been spent on more important projects! Don’t expect me to be grateful, or even indifferent. I do appreciate the affection and generosity of spirit that motivated you, but wish you had found a more reasonable way of expressing it…
It’s a good read; go check the rest out yourself. Get well soon, Dan.
3 November 2006, on 9:32 pm
To whom, then, do I owe a debt of gratitude? To the cardiologist who has kept me alive and ticking for years, and who swiftly and confidently rejected the original diagnosis of nothing worse than pneumonia. To the surgeons, neurologists, anesthesiologists, and the perfusionist, who kept my systems going for many hours under daunting circumstances…
All the prayers and wishful thinking in the world are worthless. But competent, skilled and dedicated humans are to be given our thanks, praise and admiration.
3 November 2006, on 11:36 pm
Ramen, Ron and Star!
3 November 2006, on 11:43 pm
Interesting and amusing excerpt from Dennett’s bio:
Dennett is notable for his personal appearance; his beard, bodily weight and face are sometimes thought to resemble Santa Claus:
The doctor for these difficulties looks like Santa Claus. His name is Daniel Dennett. He is a renowned philosopher, an atheist, and the possessor of a full white beard. I suspect he must have designed this Father Christmas look intentionally, but in fact it just evolved. “In the ’60s, I looked like Rasputin,” he says. Children have come up to him in airports, checking to see if he is on vacation from the North Pole. When it happens, he does not torment them with knowledge that the person they mistake him for is not real. Instead, the philosopher puts his fingers to his lips and says conspiratorially: “Shhhh.”
4 November 2006, on 12:01 am
Didn’t a recent survey just show that it is bad to tell an ill person that they are prayed for? Are they doing this on purpose?
4 November 2006, on 12:34 am
not a survey roya, but an actual study by the hacks at Harvard Medical School.
Now, when my mother goes into surgery (chronic rheumatoid arthritis, sorry for the spelling) i assure her that i WILL NOT be praying for her.
4 November 2006, on 12:50 am
roya, I found the link:
Prayers don’t help heart surgery patients
Some fare worse when prayed for
excerpt:“Prayers offered by strangers did not reduce the medical complications of major heart surgery. Not only that, but patients who knew that others were praying for them fared worse than those who did not receive such spiritual support, or who did but were not aware of receiving it.”
4 November 2006, on 1:10 am
I’m trying to think of a good response to someone telling me that they were praying for me during a serious or life-threatening illness. Perhaps this response? “Well, I’m certainly glad the doctors were listening. They did a fine job.”
His religious friends are not likely to doubt the effectiveness of their prayers anyway so I suppose it’s wasted breath telling them otherwise.
We should all adopt a “Thank good science!” phrase whenever our lives are saved or improved by scientific discoveries. Thank good science I can correspond with other atheists around the globe via this amazing internet!
4 November 2006, on 3:10 am
Really! Thanks to great scientific achievement
my new knee implants are working fine!
That sounds so natural!
4 November 2006, on 3:52 am
I thought the picture was of a goat - hairy SOB
4 November 2006, on 10:34 am
Rumor has it that, on his death
bedcross- just as ol’ Longinus was poking him with a spear, Jeebus was heard to sing; “Don’t Pray for Me, Mama, I’m An Atheist Now”, which has morphed over the intervening years to become Jason & the Nashville Scorchers’ “Pray for Me, Mama, I’m A Gypsy Now”.4 November 2006, on 11:12 am
I remember with gratitude my late friend and Tufts colleague, physicist Allan Cormack, who shared the Nobel Prize for his invention of the c-t scanner.
Must be cool to have known the person who invented the thing that saved your life…
4 November 2006, on 11:46 am
“Well, I’m certainly glad the doctors were listening. They did a fine job.”
Lynda, excellent response.
I think this is the condition (not sure) that killed actor John Ritter because they didn’t diagnose it in time and by the time they got him into the operating room it was too late.
4 November 2006, on 12:33 pm
Last Saturday, my white trash, alcoholic BIL was shot in a barfight. He was shot five times in the ass. The bullets exited his groin, ripping up his femoral vein, and he almost bled to death. He took 16 units of blood.
Anyway, when I get to the waiting room, I see my sister fingering some rosary beads (they were plastic ones in a package that were lying around the waiting room). We’re not catholic, so she didn’t know what to do with them, besides hold them for comfort. My mother kept murmuring “Jeebus,” and my sister was mumbling some prayers under her breath. Mind you, despite my paternal grandfather being a minister, we were not raised to be particularly religious. I think I went to church a half dozen times in my life.
Anyway, when the surgeon came and told us he would live, my sister starts talking about how things are gonna change. They are gonna start going to church now. Well, the first thing is my BIL needs is anger management and AA. I think it’s ridiculous to start going to church. Jeebus didn’t save my BIL, the surgeon did. And even if there were a god, a church would be the last place to find him, anyway.
What’s funny is that although my family wants to credit god or Jeebus for saving my BIL, they would never think of NOT going to the hospital and just praying over him instead.
You know, I’m feeling just cantankerous enough that if anyone in my family mentions god saving my BIL again, I just might ask them why they didn’t just pray over him and not let the surgeon do anything.
6 November 2006, on 9:21 am
What’s BIL?
6 November 2006, on 12:24 pm
Will, I’m guessing “brother-in-law”.