Chance plays a large part in the life of every person – every living thing, really. Where will that tree fall? Which disease will I contract? Will the car accident sever the wrong vertebra, or just leave bruises? There are random conditions that are temporary and those that are permanent. Some of these are mildly inconvenient, and some of them are absolutely debilitating. There is a continuum between them; there is no stark divide between those that are temporary and inconvenient – a broken arm or the common cold – and those that are permanent and incapacitating – a severed spinal cord or a persistent vegetative state. Indeed, the other combinations are possible: temporarily incapacitating and permanently inconvenient. In many, perhaps all, of these conditions, some degree of dependence on another person is required. This need many manifest itself in a variety of ways: a helping hand to get out of bed or open jars, a driver to take a person to work or the doctor, or even a full-time caretaker to clothe, bathe, or even feed a person.
But even those of us without significant physical or mental impairments rely on others for a great deal. John Donne was the first to say, in Devotions upon emergent occasions and seuerall steps in my sicknes - Meditation XVII (sic), “No man is an island” (1624). Indeed, no person can successfully navigate all the pitfalls and dangers of today’s world alone. But even if a person was able, physically and mentally, to make their way through life completely alone, would they want to? A fuller account of Donne’s words follows: “No man is an island, entire of itself...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.” Although Donne’s words may have a spiritual meaning to him (and many others), the basis is unchanged: human beings are social animals. We are not a race of hermits, but constantly intertwined, each community in its own way.
The way the members of a small village in the African Bush rely on each other is no less significant than the way a bed-ridden person relies on his caretakers. The interplay between members is not just beneficial, but necessary to their way of life. I can cite no sources here; I must rely on my own experience in rural West Africa. Every member of a village relies entirely on the other members of the society, and not just politically or economically, but for the continuation of their way of life. The degree to which their lives are interwoven is hard to overstate, but I can say that for all people, there is a reliance. For some, there is an absolute reliance, and here it is easy to identify a continuum. In these small villages, the severely mentally and physically handicapped simply do not survive, and so we only have the able-bodied and able-minded among which to draw a comparison. There is absolutely a continuum of dependence: some exhibit it only slightly, while others do so entirely. But again, “No man is an island.”
But even in our society, it is easy to see how we are all impaired in some way to an extent that we rely, however slightly, on others. This dependence is easy to see in those that have a significant disability, but it is just as real for those of us that are only slightly impaired. Even the most able-bodied among us need others for social interaction, as Donne says. There are those who enjoy their solitude, certainly – we all do – but very few of us are capable of existing without any form of interaction. And that interaction is a form of dependence. It is not as readily apparent as the kind of physical dependence of one who cannot get out of bed, or who cannot form meaningful relationships with their peers easily, but it most certainly exists. Our permanent dependencies may, for a lucky few, be only social, but they are just as real, and their absence just as damaging.
In addition to permanent conditions, there is also the matter of temporary dependence. There are people in comas, otherwise fully “productive” members of society, who for a short time are fully dependent on others for every aspect of their survival. Or for other, less severe examples, there are car accident victims, wounded soldiers, and those with temporarily debilitating diseases such as influenza. Socially speaking, people who encounter times of great stress or sorrow will very often turn to those around them, relying on their friends, family, and professional help for stability and to regain their mental and emotional footing. This again is a type of dependence, less severe, but no less real than that of a person socially challenged by a condition such as Asperger’s syndrome.
There is absolutely a major difference between the type of dependence that a person with a lifelong, incapacitating condition has toward those around him and the rest of the continuum of need. A person who requires only social interaction from those around him has such a different level of dependence than a person with a severe mental of physical disorder that he does not even equate the two conditions, but they are alike. Each needs the others around him to fulfill functions that he himself cannot – the very definition of dependence. Even between those who, like a person in a persistent vegetative state – the most extreme example of dependence we may encounter outside the womb – are completely dependent on those around them, and those who only require a great deal of care, such as those with severe disorders, there is still a small continuum, with room to place many other, slightly different cases of dependence. So while there is a major divide between the extremes, a definite line at any point becomes quickly blurred and confused when studied more closely.
So while there are cases of dependence so extreme that some cannot relate to the experience, and cases so minor as to be perhaps negligible, these cases are related. Each person relies on another, just as we all do. John Donne, in the same work – in fact, in the same paragraph – wrote, “All mankind is of one author, and is one volume.” Again, his words have an overtly religious tone, but there is a corollary to this discussion. We are all inextricably linked, and whether that link is as overt as that of a professional medical practitioner or as subtle as a shoulder to cry on, it exists. It is only chance that divides us among the heavily dependent, and the largely independent. The random events of our lives and random artifacts of our genetics determine more of our existence than we may be comfortable with. There is a continuum of benefit and detriment, good luck and bad luck, and independence and dependence.
But even those of us without significant physical or mental impairments rely on others for a great deal. John Donne was the first to say, in Devotions upon emergent occasions and seuerall steps in my sicknes - Meditation XVII (sic), “No man is an island” (1624). Indeed, no person can successfully navigate all the pitfalls and dangers of today’s world alone. But even if a person was able, physically and mentally, to make their way through life completely alone, would they want to? A fuller account of Donne’s words follows: “No man is an island, entire of itself...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.” Although Donne’s words may have a spiritual meaning to him (and many others), the basis is unchanged: human beings are social animals. We are not a race of hermits, but constantly intertwined, each community in its own way.
The way the members of a small village in the African Bush rely on each other is no less significant than the way a bed-ridden person relies on his caretakers. The interplay between members is not just beneficial, but necessary to their way of life. I can cite no sources here; I must rely on my own experience in rural West Africa. Every member of a village relies entirely on the other members of the society, and not just politically or economically, but for the continuation of their way of life. The degree to which their lives are interwoven is hard to overstate, but I can say that for all people, there is a reliance. For some, there is an absolute reliance, and here it is easy to identify a continuum. In these small villages, the severely mentally and physically handicapped simply do not survive, and so we only have the able-bodied and able-minded among which to draw a comparison. There is absolutely a continuum of dependence: some exhibit it only slightly, while others do so entirely. But again, “No man is an island.”
But even in our society, it is easy to see how we are all impaired in some way to an extent that we rely, however slightly, on others. This dependence is easy to see in those that have a significant disability, but it is just as real for those of us that are only slightly impaired. Even the most able-bodied among us need others for social interaction, as Donne says. There are those who enjoy their solitude, certainly – we all do – but very few of us are capable of existing without any form of interaction. And that interaction is a form of dependence. It is not as readily apparent as the kind of physical dependence of one who cannot get out of bed, or who cannot form meaningful relationships with their peers easily, but it most certainly exists. Our permanent dependencies may, for a lucky few, be only social, but they are just as real, and their absence just as damaging.
In addition to permanent conditions, there is also the matter of temporary dependence. There are people in comas, otherwise fully “productive” members of society, who for a short time are fully dependent on others for every aspect of their survival. Or for other, less severe examples, there are car accident victims, wounded soldiers, and those with temporarily debilitating diseases such as influenza. Socially speaking, people who encounter times of great stress or sorrow will very often turn to those around them, relying on their friends, family, and professional help for stability and to regain their mental and emotional footing. This again is a type of dependence, less severe, but no less real than that of a person socially challenged by a condition such as Asperger’s syndrome.
There is absolutely a major difference between the type of dependence that a person with a lifelong, incapacitating condition has toward those around him and the rest of the continuum of need. A person who requires only social interaction from those around him has such a different level of dependence than a person with a severe mental of physical disorder that he does not even equate the two conditions, but they are alike. Each needs the others around him to fulfill functions that he himself cannot – the very definition of dependence. Even between those who, like a person in a persistent vegetative state – the most extreme example of dependence we may encounter outside the womb – are completely dependent on those around them, and those who only require a great deal of care, such as those with severe disorders, there is still a small continuum, with room to place many other, slightly different cases of dependence. So while there is a major divide between the extremes, a definite line at any point becomes quickly blurred and confused when studied more closely.
So while there are cases of dependence so extreme that some cannot relate to the experience, and cases so minor as to be perhaps negligible, these cases are related. Each person relies on another, just as we all do. John Donne, in the same work – in fact, in the same paragraph – wrote, “All mankind is of one author, and is one volume.” Again, his words have an overtly religious tone, but there is a corollary to this discussion. We are all inextricably linked, and whether that link is as overt as that of a professional medical practitioner or as subtle as a shoulder to cry on, it exists. It is only chance that divides us among the heavily dependent, and the largely independent. The random events of our lives and random artifacts of our genetics determine more of our existence than we may be comfortable with. There is a continuum of benefit and detriment, good luck and bad luck, and independence and dependence.
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