Robin Williams

Robin Williams died today of an apparent suicide. It may seem strange that I noticed or cared, given my contempt for America's celebrity culture is deep and long standing. But I enjoyed his manic humor and was touched by his work in “Good Will Hunting”, “Dead Poets Society”, and “Patch Adams”. He was, to me, a celebrity because he was an artist and thus in his own unique way a speaker of truth.

Truth is a rare commodity in our world. Politics is devoid of truth, as is religion. Business cares only for profit and will sacrifice truth, without thought, if a single penny can be added to the bottom line. So the loss of anyone who speaks to the truth of the human condition is a loss to be noted and felt.

There is another sad truth to his passing. With all the resources available to him, a loving family, money, access to the best health care available, and a community of people who respected his work, he was still unable to win a battle with depression. Just being a human was too heavy a burden for him to carry and his illness made death preferable to life. That is a sad and sobering thought.

I don't suffer from depression, which might seem odd given my generally poor view of human kind. One would think that being a member of a species as demented and self destructive as is ours would be enough to depress anyone. This is particularly true given the head long rush to insanity that drives every day's headlines. But, somehow, I bumble along finding tiny bits of joy midst the chaos.  We humans are likely a failed attempt in the evolution of a conscious universe. But a failed experiment is not a bad experiment so long as something is learned.  Even as we fail there and things to discover, children and grand children to love, and adventures to seek and enjoy.

Humans have proved that tribalism and hate will undo any society, regardless of its promise of intelligence and curiosity. It appears that true intelligence requires the skills of a tool maker for, without tools, learning and curiosity are truncated.  Without tools there is no ability to spread intelligence across the cosmos. But the tools of war based on tribalism and hate will negate an otherwise promising history.

Anyway, Robin Williams died today. The world is a slightly sadder place.