4 ms·

How does someone dies of "natural causes" at 25? This sounds more like an unknown health condition.

by ssalazars 9y ago

mxschumacher 9y ago
dying from a disease is still a natural cause. Unnatural would be getting killed, suicide, accidents etc.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- goialoq 9y ago
  The term "natural causes" is a misnomer for "non-human-agent causes".
  - microcolonel 9y ago
    It fits the "natural versus artificial" dichotomy. i.e. anything is natural if it comes about without human agency.
    - lutorm 9y ago
      If I die from a lightning strike while hiking, I'm pretty sure that's not counting as "natural causes" either.
  - Retric 9y ago
    Not quite, 'Eaten by shark' for example is not usually lumped under natural causes. Even if that's a natural event.
revelation 9y ago
Preexisting congenital conditions. There is always one or two young people in any given year that decide to do some endurance event and simply drop dead from what looks like a heart attack.
ianadoctor 9y ago
I don't mean to be coy (just trying to be respectful), but you should ask your doctor this. I actually did last year, after wondering what my risks were.
majos 9y ago
Over at Scott Aaronson's blog his father has mentioned that, according to the coroner, he may have had undiagnosed type-I diabetes [1]. His father also mentions that Michael supported the charity givedirectly.org if anyone prefers to offer condolences that way. It's a sad event for the theoretical CS community. I didn't know Michael, but looking at some of the other memorials some prominent researchers have written ([2], [3]), he appears to have been an extremely promising researcher and collaborator. [1] https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=3468#comment-1746556 https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=3468#comment-1746556 [2] https://blogs.princeton.edu/imabandit/2017/09/28/michael-b-cohen/ https://blogs.princeton.edu/imabandit/2017/09/28/michael-b-c... [3] https://lucatrevisan.wordpress.com/2017/09/26/3915/ https://lucatrevisan.wordpress.com/2017/09/26/3915/
JauntTrooper 9y ago
I had two friends die of heart failure, one at age 15 and one at 25. Both healthy otherwise. One died after a soccer match, the other in his sleep one night. Very sad news about Michael. My heart is with his family and friends.
nugget 9y ago
Michael's father posted a comment to Scott Aaronson's blog where he confirmed it was not suicide or homicide, and speculated it might have been undiagnosed type 1 diabetes (among other contributing factors), but said they won't know for sure until the autopsy report is completed.

How does someone dies of "natural causes" at 25? This sounds more like an unknown health condition.

mxschumacher 9y ago

dying from a disease is still a natural cause. Unnatural would be getting killed, suicide, accidents etc.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
goialoq 9y ago
The term "natural causes" is a misnomer for "non-human-agent causes".
- microcolonel 9y ago
  It fits the "natural versus artificial" dichotomy. i.e. anything is natural if it comes about without human agency.
  - lutorm 9y ago
    If I die from a lightning strike while hiking, I'm pretty sure that's not counting as "natural causes" either.
- Retric 9y ago
  Not quite, 'Eaten by shark' for example is not usually lumped under natural causes. Even if that's a natural event.

revelation 9y ago

Preexisting congenital conditions. There is always one or two young people in any given year that decide to do some endurance event and simply drop dead from what looks like a heart attack.

ianadoctor 9y ago

I don't mean to be coy (just trying to be respectful), but you should ask your doctor this. I actually did last year, after wondering what my risks were.

majos 9y ago

Over at Scott Aaronson's blog his father has mentioned that, according to the coroner, he may have had undiagnosed type-I diabetes [1]. His father also mentions that Michael supported the charity givedirectly.org if anyone prefers to offer condolences that way. It's a sad event for the theoretical CS community. I didn't know Michael, but looking at some of the other memorials some prominent researchers have written ([2], [3]), he appears to have been an extremely promising researcher and collaborator. [1] https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=3468#comment-1746556 https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=3468#comment-1746556 [2] https://blogs.princeton.edu/imabandit/2017/09/28/michael-b-cohen/ https://blogs.princeton.edu/imabandit/2017/09/28/michael-b-c... [3] https://lucatrevisan.wordpress.com/2017/09/26/3915/ https://lucatrevisan.wordpress.com/2017/09/26/3915/

JauntTrooper 9y ago

I had two friends die of heart failure, one at age 15 and one at 25. Both healthy otherwise. One died after a soccer match, the other in his sleep one night. Very sad news about Michael. My heart is with his family and friends.

nugget 9y ago

Michael's father posted a comment to Scott Aaronson's blog where he confirmed it was not suicide or homicide, and speculated it might have been undiagnosed type 1 diabetes (among other contributing factors), but said they won't know for sure until the autopsy report is completed.