Gilbert's assertion that "surrogacy is a cheap and effective way to predict one's future emotions" can potentially change the way communities are conceived, formed, and sustained (p. 232). One aspect that Gilbert hints at but does not state outright is the matter of trust between human beings. When we accept another's experience as being valid enough to base our decisions on, we exhibit trust. We make a powerful statement about how we feel about that person in specific but also about how we feel about our connection to other people in general. Connection to other people can also be communicated through shared traumas and collective grieving. As Taylor points out in "False Identifications," experiencing the "death of a woman we didn't know" can create the "illusion of a cohesive, 'universal' audience," (p. 133; 135). Although the universality may be illusory it nevertheless sustains the community and creates cohesion. Didion's explication of her personal grieving becomes universal but for different reasons. We can share Didion's grief as we did for Diana, because of the principles Gilbert outlines in "Reporting Live From Tomorrow." Fully appreciating others' experiences, sharing universal experiences of emotion, and recognizing our common humanity can strengthen communities and the bonds between people.
             When Didion claims that "grief, when it comes, is nothing we expect it to be," she seems to contradict the points made by Gilbert (p. 10). Gilbert suggests that any future experience can be predicted via the experiences of others. In fact, Didion's essay substantiates Gilbert's argument completely. What Didion states is that the shock of grief is in itself a universal emotional phenomenon. Although the death of parents might make us believe that we know what true pain is, the sudden death of an intimate partner can never be fully known and that is the universal. The sudden death of Diana demonstrated that the shock of grief is a univer...