I think the journalistic conceit behind the “how are you coping” question in this context amounts to treacle, and I see value in the frame of eschewing genre. Where I get stuck is that I think the trope/response that the question is intended to elicit would, under the indulged journalistic narrative, play more along the lines of a rational restatement of the Serenity Prayer. In other words, in the script as put, the Eliezer Yudkowsky “character” is being prompted not to give vent to emotive self-concern, but to articulate a more grounded, calm and focused perspective where reasonable hope exists in tension with what might be received or branded as stoic resignation. “How are you coping” is still suspect as a genre prompt, to be sure, just as it is when posed to ordinary people facing any impending or probable tragedy. But I think the implicit narrative expectation and preference, for the journalist who performs their role, is to run with words of ostensible wisdom. I don’t consider this to be a less cynical reading; it merely aligns with my reading of how media narratives are contrived.
I think the journalistic conceit behind the “how are you coping” question in this context amounts to treacle, and I see value in the frame of eschewing genre. Where I get stuck is that I think the trope/response that the question is intended to elicit would, under the indulged journalistic narrative, play more along the lines of a rational restatement of the Serenity Prayer. In other words, in the script as put, the Eliezer Yudkowsky “character” is being prompted not to give vent to emotive self-concern, but to articulate a more grounded, calm and focused perspective where reasonable hope exists in tension with what might be received or branded as stoic resignation. “How are you coping” is still suspect as a genre prompt, to be sure, just as it is when posed to ordinary people facing any impending or probable tragedy. But I think the implicit narrative expectation and preference, for the journalist who performs their role, is to run with words of ostensible wisdom. I don’t consider this to be a less cynical reading; it merely aligns with my reading of how media narratives are contrived.