Jonathan asked Chris Northern:

I was wondering about you the other day. I'm glad to hear that for the most part you are coping with life in captivity. As usual I hope you get the bug again and finish up some more books. I miss my old friend Sumto you know. Take care and remember, in the end, everything is OK. If it's not OK, it's not the end. And since this won't send until I put a question mark in it, Why do we fear things that can't harm us?

Chris Northern All depends on the point of reference used, doesn't it? At one end of the scale, we all die, so up to and including that moment, there's literally nothing to fear. At the other end of the scale, what is thought of one can effect others actions, which can negitively impact careers, social life, and so on (sorry about the "one" thing, English is clumsy in that regard - Spanish is better with su and tu making it clear who is meant). I read Dune early and kind of adopted the mantra against fear, slightly unnecessarily as I always had an innate gallic shrug about danger of any kind, a natural 'whatever' approach. Lately I've been fretting some about politics, which can go nasty places - as whitness much of human history - but politics is kind of dull for this chat.

Sumto is getting kind of antsy himself, nagging at me to get on, so I likely will soon. Soon.

And yeah, if it's not OK, it's not the end.

All the best.

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