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I can't really see how not reading the list would require dishonesty towards others. It's probably a good idea to live your life as if you were going to die in

by foldr 6y ago

I can't really see how not reading the list would require dishonesty towards others. It's probably a good idea to live your life as if you were going to die in 10 years anyway. The chance of this happening is non-negligible unless you are very young. Similarly, as far as minimising risk of illnesses goes, 99% of what you could do is what everyone should be doing anyway: eating healthily and exercising. Fundamentally, the paradox here is that the extra stress caused by reading the list is likely to be much worse for you than the consequences of not knowing what's on the list.

DavidSJ 6y ago
Not reading the list doesn't require dishonesty toward others, but I was making a more general point: There are lots of people who are very ready to tell "white lies" to others for the sake of those others. As it happens, I think they are often the same people who wouldn't read the list. And these sorts of people don't really seem to understand the other sort: the sort who want to know the truth even if it's not instrumental. --- On the other topics: if I lived like I were going to die in ten years, then I'd have to abandon multiple projects of mine which I expect to take more than ten years to come to fruition. I don't think this would be appropriate unless I actually had a good reason to believe my premature death would come to pass.
- foldr 6y ago
  I mean live as if there's a reasonable chance that you'll die in ten years. But even so, do you get no intrinsic satisfaction from the work involved? Is there no-one who could continue the projects if you died? If it's 'no' to both questions, then maybe you should stop doing them anyway.
  - DavidSJ 6y ago
    There are always tradeoffs. I get intrinsic satisfaction from the projects. But I think both about the short-term and long-term. If I expected to die in 10 years, I'd do different things, because the balance of costs and benefits would work out differently.

by foldr 6y ago

DavidSJ 6y ago

Not reading the list doesn't require dishonesty toward others, but I was making a more general point: There are lots of people who are very ready to tell "white lies" to others for the sake of those others. As it happens, I think they are often the same people who wouldn't read the list. And these sorts of people don't really seem to understand the other sort: the sort who want to know the truth even if it's not instrumental. --- On the other topics: if I lived like I were going to die in ten years, then I'd have to abandon multiple projects of mine which I expect to take more than ten years to come to fruition. I don't think this would be appropriate unless I actually had a good reason to believe my premature death would come to pass.

foldr 6y ago
I mean live as if there's a reasonable chance that you'll die in ten years. But even so, do you get no intrinsic satisfaction from the work involved? Is there no-one who could continue the projects if you died? If it's 'no' to both questions, then maybe you should stop doing them anyway.
- DavidSJ 6y ago
  There are always tradeoffs. I get intrinsic satisfaction from the projects. But I think both about the short-term and long-term. If I expected to die in 10 years, I'd do different things, because the balance of costs and benefits would work out differently.