Here are some thoughts from Michael Tymn (whose own blog is here) about the hullabaloo surrounding the release of Randy Pausch’s book.
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I am curious as to how some of your blog readers react to supposed sage advice being given by the dying professor, Randy Pausch, in The Last Lecture. The media is treating it as if he has given some very profound advice, when all he has said is "always have fun." His secondary messages are: dream big, ask for what you want, dare to take a risk, look for the best in everybody, make time for what matters, let kids be themselves. All that seems basic stuff to me.
Actually, I think I would take issue with the "having fun" part of it. That’s the problem with the world today — everyone is trying to have too much fun, especially the younger generation. Of course, "fun" can be interpreted in different ways. But do people need to be told to have fun? I’m sure there are some people who, given only a few months to live, would stay in bed and mope, but does anyone really think that such a person would jump out of bed and start having fun just because another dying person suggests it. Moreover, it is one thing for a man with a wife and three children to have fun (he can have fun though his children), quite another for someone without such a family to have fun. What exactly does "having fun" mean? Does it mean further escaping into novels or movies? Does it mean going to Atlantic City or Vegas and playing the slots? I can’t think of anything I would do differently if given only three months to live. I might consider an around-the-world cruise, but lack of medical care on the ship and in foreign countries would prevent that. I’d have to continue with the same humdrum "fun" I am having.
I’m very curious as to what I am missing in Professor Pausch’s message and why it is being made into such a big deal.