Beyond fate
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation /House of Anansi Press, 2002. CBC Massey lecture. Paperback. xii, 168, [1] p. Very fine copy. ISBN 0-88784-679-3. "People today are afflicted with a sense that they cannot change things for the better. They feel helpless, constrained, caught - in a word, fatalistic. Beyond Fate /.../ examines why. In her characteristically lively and highly engaging prose, Visser investigates what fate means to us, and where the propensity to believe in it and accept it comes from. She takes an ancient metaphor where time is 'seen' and spoken of as though it were space; she examines how this way of picturing reality can be a useful tool to think with - or, on the other hand, how it may lead us into disastrous misunderstandings. There are ways out. We begin by observing how fatalism expresses itself in our daily lives, in everything from table manners and shopping to sport. Having learned to detect the signs by which fatalism begins to manifest itself, we can go on to consider how to limit its influence over us. Beyond Fate provides a timely and provocative perspective on modern life, both personal and social."
