This is a philosophical essayette on the condition of mankind.  A learned gentleman once remarked within my hearing that he would prefer to remain in control over his intellect in the final days before his body gave out.  This assumes that the human condition is comprised of body and intellect.
The learned gentleman to whom I made reference is Tom Scandlyn, a fellow I have known since 1958.  I find no fault with his logic.  As a matter of fact, I heartily endorse the logic of Tom Scandlyn as it refers to the eventual playing out of the human condition.
So we start with the premise that we have the body on one hand and the intellect on the other.   Now for the sake of argument, I would cite a woman of my years who seems to have suffered damage to her intellect while her body remains reasonably strong.  So we have here a bit of a conundrum.  On one hand we have the case where the intellect remains intact of being able to measure the decline of the body.  On the other hand we have the decline of the body which goes unmeasured or unrecognized by the intellect.  Needless to say, my body is not as good as it once was.  I believe it would be fair to say that I am not half the man I was at the advanced age of 75.  But there is no choice but to live with it.
The lovely woman whose intellect has failed her has no choice but to continue to live with it.  Similarly, those of us who have retained our intellect are required to put up with our failing bodies.  There is something to be said for the case involving the failed intellect in that the person whose intellect has failed is largely unaware of that fact.
But in the final analysis, I hold with my good friend Tom Scandlyn with the thought that it is better to retain control over the intellect even as our bodies falter.  I realize that this essayette has settled nothing with respect to mind over body.
There are some who would retain control of their intellect and there are others who would want to retain control over their bodies.  But when push comes to shove, I always stand with a pianist, composer, and entertainer par excellence.  He knew that “One never knows, do one?”  This was the philosophy of Thomas Wright Waller, better known as Fats Waller, who lived from 1904 until 1943.  In profound cases such as this question here, I cannot help but repeat, “One never knows, do one?”
 
E. CARR
October 28, 2011
Essay 588
~~~
Kevin’s commentary: I’m holding out for the put-my-brain-in-a-robot-body option. The only way to go!