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Everyone should live their lives as if tomorrow may never come (after all, it might not!) I know a couple physically healthy, well-off people who would shoot th

Everyone should live their lives as if tomorrow may never come (after all, it might not!) I know a couple physically healthy, well-off people who would shoot themselves if the economy collapsed tomorrow and they lost everything.

cortesoft 6y ago
If you do that, though, you are screwed when tomorrow does come, and you have no money, destroyed your body, and have not prepared at all.
- cosmie 6y ago
  You and scarmig are both looking at the extremes. We're all screwed eventually, as death spares no life. But we never know when that day will come. So a more nuanced perspective would be to treat the now as your finale, and the future as your encore. That way, no matter when death knocks, you leave on a high note. If you put everything into your eventual encore, it's going to be one helluva encore if you get one, but incredibly bitter set piece leading up to it gets cut short, that chance never comes, and you realize just how flat your set piece ended up being. But it'll likewise be bitter if you pour everything into your finale, but end on a low note when you realize it's time for your encore and you've got nothing left for it. So avoid both extremes, and enjoy today while hedging for a potential tomorrow. As long as you keep that in mind, and consciously attempt to not invert it (i.e. maximize for a theoretical future by sacrificing your certain present), you'll generally be in a good place no matter when death knocks.
  - cortesoft 6y ago
    I agree with this.... I approach it as "now is as important as the future". Don't sacrifice your now for your future, but also don't sacrifice your future for your now.
imtringued 6y ago
That makes no sense. By that logic we shouldn't spend any effort on education, we shouldn't have children or any long term plans whatsoever. I think I already made that point in a comment long ago where someone said you can't take things with you if you die. Taken on an extreme. Imagine if a person dies and he could actually take anything he desired with him. He'd certainly bring his family and his house and the planet he lived on with him. The end result would be 8 billion dead humans who no longer have a planet and were left behind. Is that really the type of world you want? People committing vandalism and self destructive behavior because they have nothing to lose?

cortesoft 6y ago

If you do that, though, you are screwed when tomorrow does come, and you have no money, destroyed your body, and have not prepared at all.

cosmie 6y ago
You and scarmig are both looking at the extremes. We're all screwed eventually, as death spares no life. But we never know when that day will come. So a more nuanced perspective would be to treat the now as your finale, and the future as your encore. That way, no matter when death knocks, you leave on a high note. If you put everything into your eventual encore, it's going to be one helluva encore if you get one, but incredibly bitter set piece leading up to it gets cut short, that chance never comes, and you realize just how flat your set piece ended up being. But it'll likewise be bitter if you pour everything into your finale, but end on a low note when you realize it's time for your encore and you've got nothing left for it. So avoid both extremes, and enjoy today while hedging for a potential tomorrow. As long as you keep that in mind, and consciously attempt to not invert it (i.e. maximize for a theoretical future by sacrificing your certain present), you'll generally be in a good place no matter when death knocks.
- cortesoft 6y ago
  I agree with this.... I approach it as "now is as important as the future". Don't sacrifice your now for your future, but also don't sacrifice your future for your now.

imtringued 6y ago

That makes no sense. By that logic we shouldn't spend any effort on education, we shouldn't have children or any long term plans whatsoever. I think I already made that point in a comment long ago where someone said you can't take things with you if you die. Taken on an extreme. Imagine if a person dies and he could actually take anything he desired with him. He'd certainly bring his family and his house and the planet he lived on with him. The end result would be 8 billion dead humans who no longer have a planet and were left behind. Is that really the type of world you want? People committing vandalism and self destructive behavior because they have nothing to lose?