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Death is just another part of life. It's going to get you eventually. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memento_mori https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memento_mori

Neslit 11y ago
Personally, I really like living, mainly because there's a lot of awesome stuff to do and see and build, stories to tell, people to be with, etc. The logical next step is that I don't want to die, at least any time soon or involuntarily. Avoiding death may be difficult, but it seems rather sad to just give up; and anyway, say what you will about humans, but we are pretty goddamn clever occasionally. So it seems quite worth it to fight death. I don't know if avoiding involuntary death should seem so implausible---humans are machines that can be fixed when they start breaking; that's how ordinary medicine works! I think it would actually be surprising if we could extend lifespans from 30 years all the way up to 100+ years, but couldn't possibly go much further, even given massive future advances in our understanding of biology, neurology, and technology.
- shopkins 11y ago
  Except we're not machines. "You're the same decaying organic matter as everything else," as Tyler Durden would say. Some might say the next logical step isn't to wish to live forever, but to die, and hope your genes and ideas live on. We're not the eternal ones in this universe, no matter how big our capacity to wish for that.
  - Neslit 11y ago
    >Except we're not machines. I only mean that we're machines enough so that medical techniques work. We are made of parts that break and can be fixed. This is on extremely solid empirical footing. >Some might say the next logical step isn't to wish to live forever, but to die, and hope your genes and ideas live on. We're not the eternal ones in this universe, no matter how big our capacity to wish for that. Do you say that? I wish to live a very long time, and I wish the same for my loved ones and anyone who wants. I would keep wishing this even if it were an impossible wish. Also, it happens to probably not be impossible.
aninhumer 11y ago
Death is not a part of life, it is its destruction. That it is currently inevitable does not mean it doesn't suck, or that we shouldn't try to change that.
- alanwatts 11y ago
  >Death is not a part of life, it is its destruction. Life and death are part of the same simultaneous process. For a living thing to grow, it must die at the same time. Death is life's change agent. "Controlled death of cells is as much a part of embryonal development as is cell proliferation and differentiation." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8801138 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8801138
  - Neslit 11y ago
    But, do you agree that the part where the whole human mind (not just some cells) has to die---a soul annihilated permanently---is not really a good thing, even if it happens to be the state we find nature in?
    - alanwatts 11y ago
      Not necessarily. The "whole human mind" and the "soul" are very metaphysical concepts so it's tough to say. In my estimation, the "whole human mind" or "soul" of a person is not annihilated when someone dies. Our minds are an amorphous network constantly in intercourse with and dependent upon eachother. When a loved one dies, all of the love they gave and words they said exist in some form or another within us, within our hearts and minds which we then pass on to others in turn. Picture a field full of one type of flowers. If that one type of flowers grows old but never dies, soon enough there is no room for newer or better flowers to grow and evolve. So as old minds pass away, new minds are born which draw upon the old minds' knowledge but also build upon that knowledge with newer and better ideas. Alan Watts - Acceptance of Death https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qK1BJkBJdtY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qK1BJkBJdtY
      - 11y ago
anonymous778 11y ago
I have built a hexapod robot with six legs, 18 servos, a single board computer and a camera. It can walk and recognize simple objects. If one or 10 of the servos break, I can use spares to fix my robot. Why can't I fix my body when it breaks? Why shouldn't I be able to do it? Why hide our inability to fix ourselves behind beautifully written but empty centuries' old concepts ("memento mori") ?

Neslit 11y ago

Personally, I really like living, mainly because there's a lot of awesome stuff to do and see and build, stories to tell, people to be with, etc. The logical next step is that I don't want to die, at least any time soon or involuntarily. Avoiding death may be difficult, but it seems rather sad to just give up; and anyway, say what you will about humans, but we are pretty goddamn clever occasionally. So it seems quite worth it to fight death. I don't know if avoiding involuntary death should seem so implausible---humans are machines that can be fixed when they start breaking; that's how ordinary medicine works! I think it would actually be surprising if we could extend lifespans from 30 years all the way up to 100+ years, but couldn't possibly go much further, even given massive future advances in our understanding of biology, neurology, and technology.

shopkins 11y ago
Except we're not machines. "You're the same decaying organic matter as everything else," as Tyler Durden would say. Some might say the next logical step isn't to wish to live forever, but to die, and hope your genes and ideas live on. We're not the eternal ones in this universe, no matter how big our capacity to wish for that.
- Neslit 11y ago
  >Except we're not machines. I only mean that we're machines enough so that medical techniques work. We are made of parts that break and can be fixed. This is on extremely solid empirical footing. >Some might say the next logical step isn't to wish to live forever, but to die, and hope your genes and ideas live on. We're not the eternal ones in this universe, no matter how big our capacity to wish for that. Do you say that? I wish to live a very long time, and I wish the same for my loved ones and anyone who wants. I would keep wishing this even if it were an impossible wish. Also, it happens to probably not be impossible.

aninhumer 11y ago

Death is not a part of life, it is its destruction. That it is currently inevitable does not mean it doesn't suck, or that we shouldn't try to change that.

alanwatts 11y ago
>Death is not a part of life, it is its destruction. Life and death are part of the same simultaneous process. For a living thing to grow, it must die at the same time. Death is life's change agent. "Controlled death of cells is as much a part of embryonal development as is cell proliferation and differentiation." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8801138 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8801138
- Neslit 11y ago
  But, do you agree that the part where the whole human mind (not just some cells) has to die---a soul annihilated permanently---is not really a good thing, even if it happens to be the state we find nature in?
  - alanwatts 11y ago
    Not necessarily. The "whole human mind" and the "soul" are very metaphysical concepts so it's tough to say. In my estimation, the "whole human mind" or "soul" of a person is not annihilated when someone dies. Our minds are an amorphous network constantly in intercourse with and dependent upon eachother. When a loved one dies, all of the love they gave and words they said exist in some form or another within us, within our hearts and minds which we then pass on to others in turn. Picture a field full of one type of flowers. If that one type of flowers grows old but never dies, soon enough there is no room for newer or better flowers to grow and evolve. So as old minds pass away, new minds are born which draw upon the old minds' knowledge but also build upon that knowledge with newer and better ideas. Alan Watts - Acceptance of Death https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qK1BJkBJdtY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qK1BJkBJdtY
    - 11y ago

anonymous778 11y ago

I have built a hexapod robot with six legs, 18 servos, a single board computer and a camera. It can walk and recognize simple objects. If one or 10 of the servos break, I can use spares to fix my robot. Why can't I fix my body when it breaks? Why shouldn't I be able to do it? Why hide our inability to fix ourselves behind beautifully written but empty centuries' old concepts ("memento mori") ?