That Funny Feeling

Is it possible that we have come to feel responsible for too much, for everything, even things outside of our control, and that this makes us feel like gods who have been unfairly disempowered? Isn’t it depressing, feeling like a demoted god? Doesn’t it fill us with despair, which might make us less effective if a time comes when we actually can do something, and might also mess with the enjoyment we should be feeling re the rest of our lives?

— George Saunders, “Five Thought Experiments Concerning The Underlying Disease,” The New Yorker