3 ms·

I think is worth reflecting about the last stages of life, and how you would like to live them. For me I would like: 1- A Healthy life. There is plenty you ca

by huherto 18y ago

I think is worth reflecting about the last stages of life, and how you would like to live them. For me I would like: 1- A Healthy life. There is plenty you can do, nutrition, exercising, regular check ups, etc. 2 - A productive life. Make sure that every day you produce something of value. 3 - Prepare to die. Understand that is going to happen no matter what. 4 - The present is the best time to enjoy life. You may become a millionaire, but all that money will not buy you more healthy time alive.

byrneseyeview 18y ago
4 - The present is the best time to enjoy life. You may become a millionaire, but all that money will not buy you more healthy time alive. Incorrect. A huge fraction of medical expenses are from the last few months of life. That money will keep you alive. It's probably not worth staying alive at that point, of course. I also think it's a little sad that you're so ambitious, but you've given up on living forever. Accepting even a small chance of not-dying, or of living for 200 years, can radically change some of the calculations you might make.
- huherto 18y ago
  Interesting, what would those calculations be?
  - byrneseyeview 18y ago
    If you expect to die, things like crossing the street, eating unhealthy food, doing drugs, etc., are just going to affect the timing. But if you think there's a chance you won't die, you can think of these things as slightly killing yourself, instead of changing the date of your death. So it makes you more conservative. But it also makes you more optimistic! Someone who admits to maybe living for a very long time will probably want to invest a lot in having multiple possible careers, not to mention lots of money saved up. This basically amounts to maximizing positive surprises (you can take advantage of more career and investment opportunities) and minimizing negative surprises (losing a job when you have a month's worth of savings is a crisis -- losing your job when you've saved forty years of expenses is a blip).
    - wallflower 18y ago
      In the movie "Big Fish" by Tim Burton, an excellent film about father-son relationships, there is a scene where the son goes to an oracle and learns how he is going to die. After learning how he is going to die, he takes on various death-defying stunts without consequence - for he knew that was not the way he was going to go.
      - alex_c 18y ago
        You mean the father. Great movie.
- wallflower 18y ago
  "Spending on intensive care, which today comprises 30-40 percent of hospital costs, may go even higher as the population ages, according to a new Mayo Clinic study." Here is a tough question. If the bulk of a person's lifetime medical costs are incurred in the literal last days of their life (ICU), is that right from a profit (HMO) or ethical (family, loved-ones) perspective? http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.com/inside.asp?AID=4088&UID= http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.com/inside.asp?AID=4088&#38...
  - byrneseyeview 18y ago
    It's probably a cognitive bias that would not be hard to correct by making arrangements in advance. I've made it clear to lots of people that I'd much rather be killed cheaply than be a burden to everyone -- almost certainly not the choice I'd make in the last few days of my life. It might help for insurance companies to make it even more broad: to ask people "Do you think people should spend tens of thousands of dollars on living another agonizing week, or that they should die?" and use the customer's general answer as a guide in specific circumstances.
    - time_management 18y ago
      I think you underestimate the power of denial, as I did before I read Sherwin Nuland's book, How We Die. In a lot of terminal cases, neither the patient nor the patient's family know that the case is hopeless, because the doctors don't want to break the news, and may not have accepted it themselves, since doctors often tend to regard saving the patient's life as a matter of success and failure and will try nearly anything not to fail. There are clear-cut cases, but most people die in cases where the probability of recovery is very low but not zero.
    - swombat 18y ago
      I believe that the most precious thing in our lives is being alive, and I spit in the face of anyone who is cowardly enough to give up on his life at any point, past, present or future. Sorry for being harsh, but that's how I feel about it. Yes, spend every resource on the planet to keep me alive for one more second.

by huherto 18y ago

byrneseyeview 18y ago

4 - The present is the best time to enjoy life. You may become a millionaire, but all that money will not buy you more healthy time alive. Incorrect. A huge fraction of medical expenses are from the last few months of life. That money will keep you alive. It's probably not worth staying alive at that point, of course. I also think it's a little sad that you're so ambitious, but you've given up on living forever. Accepting even a small chance of not-dying, or of living for 200 years, can radically change some of the calculations you might make.

huherto 18y ago
Interesting, what would those calculations be?
- byrneseyeview 18y ago
  If you expect to die, things like crossing the street, eating unhealthy food, doing drugs, etc., are just going to affect the timing. But if you think there's a chance you won't die, you can think of these things as slightly killing yourself, instead of changing the date of your death. So it makes you more conservative. But it also makes you more optimistic! Someone who admits to maybe living for a very long time will probably want to invest a lot in having multiple possible careers, not to mention lots of money saved up. This basically amounts to maximizing positive surprises (you can take advantage of more career and investment opportunities) and minimizing negative surprises (losing a job when you have a month's worth of savings is a crisis -- losing your job when you've saved forty years of expenses is a blip).
  - wallflower 18y ago
    In the movie "Big Fish" by Tim Burton, an excellent film about father-son relationships, there is a scene where the son goes to an oracle and learns how he is going to die. After learning how he is going to die, he takes on various death-defying stunts without consequence - for he knew that was not the way he was going to go.
    - alex_c 18y ago
      You mean the father. Great movie.
wallflower 18y ago
"Spending on intensive care, which today comprises 30-40 percent of hospital costs, may go even higher as the population ages, according to a new Mayo Clinic study." Here is a tough question. If the bulk of a person's lifetime medical costs are incurred in the literal last days of their life (ICU), is that right from a profit (HMO) or ethical (family, loved-ones) perspective? http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.com/inside.asp?AID=4088&UID= http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.com/inside.asp?AID=4088&#38...
- byrneseyeview 18y ago
  It's probably a cognitive bias that would not be hard to correct by making arrangements in advance. I've made it clear to lots of people that I'd much rather be killed cheaply than be a burden to everyone -- almost certainly not the choice I'd make in the last few days of my life. It might help for insurance companies to make it even more broad: to ask people "Do you think people should spend tens of thousands of dollars on living another agonizing week, or that they should die?" and use the customer's general answer as a guide in specific circumstances.
  - time_management 18y ago
    I think you underestimate the power of denial, as I did before I read Sherwin Nuland's book, How We Die. In a lot of terminal cases, neither the patient nor the patient's family know that the case is hopeless, because the doctors don't want to break the news, and may not have accepted it themselves, since doctors often tend to regard saving the patient's life as a matter of success and failure and will try nearly anything not to fail. There are clear-cut cases, but most people die in cases where the probability of recovery is very low but not zero.
  - swombat 18y ago
    I believe that the most precious thing in our lives is being alive, and I spit in the face of anyone who is cowardly enough to give up on his life at any point, past, present or future. Sorry for being harsh, but that's how I feel about it. Yes, spend every resource on the planet to keep me alive for one more second.