3 ms·

> Bezos inadvertently reveals an abiding fear of oblivion. This is a universal human fear for the entire recorded history of everything and is one of the funda

> Bezos inadvertently reveals an abiding fear of oblivion. This is a universal human fear for the entire recorded history of everything and is one of the fundamental drives behind everything people do. The author is clearly familiar with the Pharoahs, did he think that at some point between then and today that the fear of death stopped being a motivator? Did the author feel like it also applying to Jeff Bezos is some sort of big tell? Is the next piece going to be "man admits to requiring oxygen?"

Barrin92 5y ago
I'm going to tell you, my grandfather and grandmother, simple people growing up on farmland seemed to harbor no such feelings of dread, accepted their death with dignity, in fact always saw it as a vital part of life (probably not unrelated to their lived experience as farmers, and when they died, they did so without much grief or terror. What they definitely didn't do was build a Ziggurat to cryofreeze their corpses in or put their heads in jars. I don't think the kind of ego that is required to engage in these immortality ventures is that common, that's just yet another thing that Bezos et al tell themselves
- dbtc 5y ago
  Your grandparents sound like awesome people. Do you know what their beliefs were about post-death / after-life?
  - Barrin92 5y ago
    They were raised in a Christian household and I think kept a lot of the practical ethics of it but I don't think they were genuinely religious later in life or had any spiritual beliefs. I don't think I ever asked them directly but I suppose they were just agnostic about it and it didn't occupy them much.
- CobrastanJorji 5y ago
  Accepting an inevitable death with dignity and grace is great and a blessing, but when we've got other options, we take them. I go to the doctor when I'm sick, I get vaccinated when there's a plague, I'll let surgeons cut me open if something is going very wrong inside, and if there were a magic "stop aging" pill, I'd take it, and I suspect you'd find nearly everyone else would indeed have that kind of ego.
- Chris2048 5y ago
  > What they definitely didn't do was build a Ziggurat to cryofreeze their corpses was that an option? what you attribute to lack of ego, could also be lack of funds.
hodgesrm 5y ago
It's not the fear of death that is the tell. It's the attempt to fix it through money and technology. What I have read of Jeff Bezos reminds me somewhat of the fictional Walter Faber, the main character in the novel Homo Faber by Max Frisch. [1] Walter starts an affair with a much younger woman partly in an effort to recapture his youth. Controlling the world through technology is a leitmotiv in the story. To the extent his motivations are similar, Jeff Bezos is certainly far from the only real character to express this idea. p.s., I recommend Homo Faber very highly. Along with Faust by Goethe it is invaluable reading for anyone interested in technology and the human condition. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_Faber_(novel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_Faber_(novel)

Barrin92 5y ago

I'm going to tell you, my grandfather and grandmother, simple people growing up on farmland seemed to harbor no such feelings of dread, accepted their death with dignity, in fact always saw it as a vital part of life (probably not unrelated to their lived experience as farmers, and when they died, they did so without much grief or terror. What they definitely didn't do was build a Ziggurat to cryofreeze their corpses in or put their heads in jars. I don't think the kind of ego that is required to engage in these immortality ventures is that common, that's just yet another thing that Bezos et al tell themselves

dbtc 5y ago
Your grandparents sound like awesome people. Do you know what their beliefs were about post-death / after-life?
- Barrin92 5y ago
  They were raised in a Christian household and I think kept a lot of the practical ethics of it but I don't think they were genuinely religious later in life or had any spiritual beliefs. I don't think I ever asked them directly but I suppose they were just agnostic about it and it didn't occupy them much.
CobrastanJorji 5y ago
Accepting an inevitable death with dignity and grace is great and a blessing, but when we've got other options, we take them. I go to the doctor when I'm sick, I get vaccinated when there's a plague, I'll let surgeons cut me open if something is going very wrong inside, and if there were a magic "stop aging" pill, I'd take it, and I suspect you'd find nearly everyone else would indeed have that kind of ego.
Chris2048 5y ago
> What they definitely didn't do was build a Ziggurat to cryofreeze their corpses was that an option? what you attribute to lack of ego, could also be lack of funds.

hodgesrm 5y ago

It's not the fear of death that is the tell. It's the attempt to fix it through money and technology. What I have read of Jeff Bezos reminds me somewhat of the fictional Walter Faber, the main character in the novel Homo Faber by Max Frisch. [1] Walter starts an affair with a much younger woman partly in an effort to recapture his youth. Controlling the world through technology is a leitmotiv in the story. To the extent his motivations are similar, Jeff Bezos is certainly far from the only real character to express this idea. p.s., I recommend Homo Faber very highly. Along with Faust by Goethe it is invaluable reading for anyone interested in technology and the human condition. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_Faber_(novel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_Faber_(novel)