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> Why quantity over quality? Reminds me of Seneca's De Brevitate Vitae[1], an essay about (as the title suggests) the shortness of life. He argues that what ma
by trappedfly 11y ago
> Why quantity over quality?
Reminds me of Seneca's De Brevitate Vitae[1], an essay about (as the title suggests) the shortness of life. He argues that what matters is not how long one lives, but what he accomplishes and/or how "well" he lives.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Brevitate_Vitae_(Seneca) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Brevitate_Vitae_(Seneca) (english translation in External links, worth a read if you have some spare time)
- reasonattlm 11y agoIt is important to recognize that arguments for quality over quantity are written from the perspective of operating within an absolute and unchangeable limit, and an absolute and largely unchangeable high risk of unexpected death before that limit due to infectious disease. We've done a lot to reduce the latter, and now the former is up for grabs as well. This is not the same landscape for the human condition as occupied by Seneca and his peers. We can work towards both quality and quantity. That is the point of technology, to make everything better, to remove limits, to enable the human condition to be more than it was before, to give us choice where there was no choice. The choice to fly, to talk to distant people, to be healthy, to live rather than to die before we want to.