A Chuck Klosterman-ish Question
A Chuck Klosterman-ish Question to Ponder
If you are of Generation X, Y or one of the Millineals, and if you enjoy thinking outside the box, you should definitely check out some of Chuck Klosterman’s work. Specifically, I’d suggest, “Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs.”
Chuck has a brain that works like no one else I’ve read. He can take a hardcore issue like post colonialism or post modernism or chaos theory and teach it by relating it to something like Zack and Screech’s relationship in “Saved By The Bell.” Or, he’ll create a conversation topic over cocktail hour like sum up an entire television series in one rock and roll band. For example, U2 matched with “Northern Exposure” because it started strong, but got a little preachy as time went on.
So, the other day I was reading some Chuck and thought of this question:
If you could bring one person back to life, who would it be? But, here are the rules…
First, the person would be resurrected at the top of their life, profession, game, etc. They would then experience the rest of their existence in current times. Their life would not be guaranteed to last as long as it did originally, but, like everyone else, you can plan this person to have a long, happy life. Like, if you brought back JFK, it would be at the pinnacle of his presidency and you’d plan another 40 years of life, but there’s no guarantee he wouldn’t step out in front of a bus tomorrow. The person would have no guarantees they would not die in exactly the same way they died originally, but if their death was tragic, there’s also no reason to think that would reoccur.
When resurrected, this person would also have all the knowledge and technological advancements of the current day. Like, if you resurrected Jesus, he’d have a smart phone and an iPad at his disposal.
I’d try to resurrect someone who has the mind and talents to aid our world. My first thought was Lincoln. But then again, Lincoln’s strengths were with his compassion and leadership and communication. If he were resurrected in March 2014, he’d still be a great leader, obviously. But, would he help advance our world? That could be debated.
I posed this question to Marvelyne and Jordan, two of the most rational and intelligent people I know. We had a hard time nailing down just one, but I got my list down to two: Ghandi and daVinci. Ghandi because I think he could teach the world a thing or two today…except that no one listens to anything they don’t want to hear already. Ghandi would say the same things he said during his 20th century life, but the fact the world doesn’t much adhere to his teachings anyway, I’m not sure I wouldn’t be wasting this gift to resurrect.
The better choice is da Vinci. Leonardo da Vinci had the type of mind that, with 21st century knowledge and technology, I think he could launch our world into some completely new understandings of life. Think of the science da Vinci could uncover with 21st century tools and a mind that looks for possibilities. Think of the art he could create with the tools we have before us today. Da Vinci in 21st century earth is a pretty freaking awesome idea, I think!
But, what say you? I’m really interested to know!
