We've had a pleasant quiet Christmas here, just the seven of us. Today brought the last NYT magazine of the year, the one that's always filled with the stories of people who died. This year there were so many deaths that took me by surprise, like Scalia and Prince and Alan Rickman -- and I just found out that George Michael died as well.
Here is the thing I am wondering: is it just an inevitable part of getting older, that every year's obituaries make you say "You too? Gone already?" Or is 2016 unusual?
I'm hoping it's Option B.
The year our daughter was born we had 13 funerals to attend. A couple of grandmothers, a godfather, several friends and business associates. It seems to come in waves.
Posted by: Calee | December 26, 2016 at 09:36 AM
I am reading a book about how the human mind almost can't help but see patterns where patterns don't exist. We interpret random variation as meaningful clustering automatically and search for causes where there is only randomness.
Posted by: bearing | December 27, 2016 at 08:05 AM
I've been rather befuddled by the meme about 2016 killing all the celebrities. Is it really more than any other year? I like bearing's point about the need to see patterns. Also, I think it gets back to the original meaning of the word "meme" as a unit of cultural transmission passed from one person to another, almost a viral idea. The idea of the year personified as a sort of vengeful deity or grim reaper seems to have taken on a life of its own.
Posted by: Melanie B | January 01, 2017 at 03:15 PM
I think, also, it has to do with our age and the rise of pop culture. A lot of iconic figures from the 60s, 70s, and 80s died this year. People who figured largely in our (Gen X) youth. We were the kids who grew up on TV--watching reruns of shows from the 50s and 60s, plus all our own 70s and 80s TV. Then came MTV. Our youth is rooted in media in a way that I think is different from previous generations. The later Baby Boomers got a taste of it. Subsequent generations may experience this kind of "everyone is dying!" thing even more thickly because there are a lot more kinds of pop culture now, and consumption has definitely increased. Add to that the broadening of our personal connections (online friends, etc) and we've exponentially increased the chances that on any given day, we'll hear about the death of someone we care about.
But, I mean, if only Prince and David Bowie had died in 2016, it would have felt like a massive impact, an unusual year. Those two plus all the others...I can't think of a year quite like it. But my guess it may become the new normal.
Posted by: Lissa | January 02, 2017 at 07:27 PM