LIFE TURNS OUT TO BE ABOUT THE DESTINATION
Interviews with more than 1,000 people moments before they died revealed that contrary to popular wisdom, life is actually about the destination, not the journey, and the destination sucks, âIâm 87, Iâve been a lot of places and seen a lot of things in my life, but right here, now, in the hospital, at the end, I can tell you it bites the big one,â Cincinnati resident Richard Breen told researchers from Boston College. âIâve got tubes coming out of me everywhere, I havenât eaten in days, and my kids are going to sell my house the moment Iâm gone.In a side study, 75 percent of Boston College researchers said their study was horribly depressing.âSo donât tell me itâs about the journey,â he added. âFor me itâs all about the destination, and it sucks.âBreen reinforced his point by dying of kidney failure moments later.Researchers at Boston College who conducted the study said they were initially surprised that the aphorism, attributed to 19th Century poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, had proven to be untrue after all this time. However, after conducting the interviews, they soon recognized their perspective had blinded them.âWhen Emerson wrote âLifeâs a journey, not a destination,â he was still alive, and what we realized was that all the people who tell you life is about the journey are still on that journey, so of course theyâre going to say that,â said Philosophy Prof. Anders Pehrson. âBut itâs the people at the end, who have reached the destination, who really have the sense of what life is about, and, by and large, theyâre not pleased.âThe study immediately drew criticism from poets and theologians who argued that the moment before death is still part of the journey. But Pehrson disagreed, pointing out that poets and theologians didnât fund his study.Joel Kantz, a 66-year-old emphysema sufferer in London, agreed. âThey tell you the destination is the after-life, but the truth is the journey is over when you can no longer stand or dress yourself or go to the toilet,â said Kantz. âBut they donât want you to know about that, âcause if you did know youâd go and top yourself during the journey.âAsked who âtheyâ were, Kantz did not respond, as he had died.The death of interview subjects like Kantz was a constant irritant to researchers, said lead investigator Prof. Nicholas Joyce. To offset this, his team also spoke with surviving passengers of auto accidents in which the driver died instantly during head-on collisions. Eyewitnesses were asked what the driversâ last words were moments before impact â when each driver had, in that sense, reached his or her destination and could share their impression of it. In 68 percent of accidents, Joyce said, the driverâs final observation was reported to be, âOh shit.âIt was Joyce in fact who initiated the study five years ago while standing at the hospital bedside of his father, who was on life support. Several grandchildren were in the room as well, and Joyce felt he should console them.âDad had a tremendous life, a tremendous journey,â Joyce recalled saying. âAnd I know heâs at peace now that heâs at the end.ââDadddy that sounds nice. Can I go too?â his daughter asked.âGod no, donât be stupid,â Joyce snapped. âYou want to end up like this?âIt was then Joyce realized that no matter how much it is dressed up, man knows instinctively that the destination should be avoided.Â  âThe after-life may be a golden palace, but the stop before that is a Motel 6 in Jersey City,â he said.