George Saunders

You didn't choose to be the height you are.

I think we also understand intelligence.

You got the intelligence you wanted, right?

but then we get into some murky areas when people say, well, you could work harder.

You could work at it and freedom of choice, you know, which is, which is true, but even there, there's a, there's a limit to it.

And I would say, if you think of it in sort of calculus terms, if I want to improve my physical shape, for example, which would be a good idea.

Oh, thank you.

Don't say this.

It's layers.

It's layers.

But, but if you, but if you, if you, if you want us to do that, okay.

So you know you have to go to the gym.

You're going to find out that you have certain built-in limitations, your body and your muscle type, all that kind of thing, but also your willpower, your interest.

So my thought is that even those things are kind of pre-given to you at birth.

Now, I think people sometimes struggle with this, and I struggle with it, but the idea is this.

If you could imagine somebody that you cared about, and maybe you had a fraught relationship with that person, they just died, and they're lying there in front of you.

and you say, ah, I wish he'd been more X. I wish he'd been more understanding.

If he should have been more articulate, why wasn't he?

And I think if we dig deeply enough into it in this absolute sense, you'll find that there is a kind of inevitability to that.

Now, that's Jill's point of view.