3 ms·

Are you mad at the various random mutations of genes, of countless other stochastic processes that leave some people in his situation and others perfectly healt

Are you mad at the various random mutations of genes, of countless other stochastic processes that leave some people in his situation and others perfectly healthy? Then I share your frustration. I don’t know why anyone has to suffer or why I am privileged beyond someone else. What did I do to deserve my health? How did I win the evolution lottery? It’s just random chance I tell myself and to that end true randomness makes it a bit more fair, though it doesn’t feel right. All I can do is support the good in the world, and help those with less than me. This story is inspiring. And I’m grateful that it was shared.

melling 7y ago
Well, I don’t know why he’s mad, but after living 5 decades, I’m a little frustrated myself. It’s great that people turn out in support of others. However, you’ve got to wonder if we’d made more of an effort over the past half century in research, many fewer people would have died prematurely. Great progress has been made in childhood cancers, for example: https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-in-children/key-statistics.html https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-in-children/key-statist... 20% more yearly research compounded over the last 5 decades and we might not be reading this story today. 50 years from now this person would not die in childhood from cancer.
- cheschire 7y ago
  If we reduce the number of people dying, you will still see stories just like this because they have an impact and they cause reflection. They're meaningful stories. Many fewer people did die prematurely in the last 50 years, precisely because people did the work you're wanting them to do. The reason this story even could happen is because it's so rare to hear stories like this anymore. It's not like the middle ages where 30-50% infant mortality was common. People wouldn't have the energy to organize emotional support for every child that died in those days. Child mortality is dropping ridiculously fast. You can't get to zero though. https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality
  - melling 7y ago
    You’re sort of taking a tangent on what I was saying. It’s not really relevant to my point. Yes, the world is a much better place. Your article summarized it nicely: “Rising prosperity, rising education and the spread of health care around the globe are the major drivers of this progress.” My point is that more research compounded over decades would help us cure more people sooner. I didn’t say we can cure everyone but perhaps we can make it extremely rare.
    - mruts 7y ago
      Things like this are already extremely rare. The number of kids that die from cancer has to be a very very large sigma event.

melling 7y ago

Well, I don’t know why he’s mad, but after living 5 decades, I’m a little frustrated myself. It’s great that people turn out in support of others. However, you’ve got to wonder if we’d made more of an effort over the past half century in research, many fewer people would have died prematurely. Great progress has been made in childhood cancers, for example: https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-in-children/key-statistics.html https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-in-children/key-statist... 20% more yearly research compounded over the last 5 decades and we might not be reading this story today. 50 years from now this person would not die in childhood from cancer.

cheschire 7y ago
If we reduce the number of people dying, you will still see stories just like this because they have an impact and they cause reflection. They're meaningful stories. Many fewer people did die prematurely in the last 50 years, precisely because people did the work you're wanting them to do. The reason this story even could happen is because it's so rare to hear stories like this anymore. It's not like the middle ages where 30-50% infant mortality was common. People wouldn't have the energy to organize emotional support for every child that died in those days. Child mortality is dropping ridiculously fast. You can't get to zero though. https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality
- melling 7y ago
  You’re sort of taking a tangent on what I was saying. It’s not really relevant to my point. Yes, the world is a much better place. Your article summarized it nicely: “Rising prosperity, rising education and the spread of health care around the globe are the major drivers of this progress.” My point is that more research compounded over decades would help us cure more people sooner. I didn’t say we can cure everyone but perhaps we can make it extremely rare.
  - mruts 7y ago
    Things like this are already extremely rare. The number of kids that die from cancer has to be a very very large sigma event.