5 ms·

Personal opinion and I realize that there would be absolute opposite school of thought as reflected in the article, nevertheless.. This obsession and tension a

by achow 4y ago

Personal opinion and I realize that there would be absolute opposite school of thought as reflected in the article, nevertheless.. This obsession and tension about the time 'left' I don't get it. As an example, sometimes I'm worried about very long life ahead for which I don't have enough savings to navigate in old age. When in misery (ex. out of job, out of long relationship, lonely.. etc) time stretches really long. But when ecstatic and happy, the past (unhappy) time doesn't really matter how much ever long it was. Time really does not matter.

2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago
- ramesh31 4y ago
  So is everyone else. The only difference is that we're honest in talking about the reality of it, rather than waiving it away with wishful thinking.
  - chitowneats 4y ago
    True faith is quite common among humanity. Removing existential dread is one of the core benefits that led to the adoption of this "religion" technology all over the world. You can argue it's cope but for many people it's as real as gravity.
    - nonameiguess 4y ago
      Maybe, maybe not, but I'd question some blanket assertion being made without evidence that deeply religious people experience less existential dread. It's going to depend on plenty of other cultural specifics, of course, but not all religions involve an afterlife and some involve the possibility of an afterlife that is much worse than simply running out of time. There is also the issue that common western manifestations of existential dread, i.e. the Nietzshe eternal return, Sartre's dilemma of having no choice but to make a choice but all of them are bad, even up to the contemporary worries about near-infinite compounding of sub-optimal ethics in far-future focused EA circles and AI-risk circles, are not in any way mitigated by the possibility of an afterlife. All the trillions of future people you cause suffering to will still suffer even if you end up in heaven.
      - chitowneats 4y ago
        > All the trillions of future people you cause suffering to will still suffer even if you end up in heaven. Yes, of course. God will forgive you though if you are penitent. Existential dread resolved. At least that's the Christian answer. Another wildly successful social technology.
    - jonfw 4y ago
      > for many people it's as real as gravity That would speak to those people's lack of understanding of gravity more than anything else in my view
- diob 4y ago
  What?
- danuker 4y ago
  I am godless and I will try to avoid death, but I know it's inevitable. So I enjoy life. As per Stephen Covey, only some things are in my circle of influence, so I don't bother with what's outside.
- avgcorrection 4y ago
  Maybe more averse to it than other cultures. But godlessness might not be the cause. (There are many Westerners that are godfull and yet this is a general Western thing.)
- disantlor 4y ago
  God was designed by proto-capitalists to free up worker brainspace to be directed towards company output
  - joenot443 4y ago
    The concept of God has existed long before any meaningful concept of capitalism.
- dangus 4y ago
  God-fearing Westerners are still afraid of death, that's why they turn to religion in the first place. One thing I notice about strongly Abrahamic religious people is that they are okay with eschewing the pleasures of life because they believe that heaven is their next step, and the only way to get there is to abstain from things they enjoy, are "tempted" by, and/or would otherwise be ambitious toward. They'll give up things like sex before marriage, education, household autonomy, careers, foods, non-heterosexual partnerships (suppressing their own attraction preferences), coffee, alcohol, being in the presence of the opposite sex...almost anything you can name will be something that someone religious will just give up because they think it will grant them favor by God. Religions that believe in things like faith healing will even give up medical care because they believe God will heal them. I know someone who is doing exactly this and is nearly immobile out of pure stubbornness. A quick and simple procedure could save them a whole bunch of pain and suffering and give them their abilities back. In contrast, I find some of the ideas of "pleasure activism" to be very interesting. We've been taught to avoid pleasure, that it's "sinful," that it's "embarrassing" (especially for women). But why? Why is it bad? Here's an example article: https://thefederalist.com/2019/10/18/gender-studies-professor-calls-twerking-with-lizzo-an-act-of-political-defiance/ https://thefederalist.com/2019/10/18/gender-studies-professo... Watch a televangelist like Sid Roth and you'll see that a large swath of Christianity revolves around sitting around and praying for good things to happen rather than making them happen through action. It's an incredibly selfish and futile form of Christianity.
  - marcinreal 4y ago
    > almost anything you can name will be something that someone religious will just give up because they think it will grant them favor by God. This is what the Pharisees were doing. Christ clearly refuted this kind of religious attitude. See Matthew 23. A couple of the things you listed are genuinely sinful. On the other hand, careers, food, alcohol etc. can be sinful, but are not always. See e.g. Judges 9:13 and many other verses. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=judges+9:13&version=ESV https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=judges+9:13&ver... Also see 1 Timothy 4:4. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+timothy+4:4&version=ESV https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+timothy+4:4&v...
- frisson 4y ago
  No, I'm just worried about old age. Pension? Health? Loneliness? That's what worries me about seniority. I don't care about what happens afterwards.
- dang 4y ago
  Maybe so, but please don't post religious flamebait to Hacker News. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- ericbarrett 4y ago
  This is a special way of being afraid No trick dispels. Religion used to try, That vast moth-eaten musical brocade Created to pretend we never die, And specious stuff that says No rational being Can fear a thing it will not feel, not seeing That this is what we fear—no sight, no sound, No touch or taste or smell, nothing to think with, Nothing to love or link with, The anaesthetic from which none come round. — Philip Larkin, Aubade
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
morninglight 4y ago
Exactly! Just point the watchdog to reboot. .

by achow 4y ago

2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago

ramesh31 4y ago
So is everyone else. The only difference is that we're honest in talking about the reality of it, rather than waiving it away with wishful thinking.
- chitowneats 4y ago
  True faith is quite common among humanity. Removing existential dread is one of the core benefits that led to the adoption of this "religion" technology all over the world. You can argue it's cope but for many people it's as real as gravity.
  - nonameiguess 4y ago
    Maybe, maybe not, but I'd question some blanket assertion being made without evidence that deeply religious people experience less existential dread. It's going to depend on plenty of other cultural specifics, of course, but not all religions involve an afterlife and some involve the possibility of an afterlife that is much worse than simply running out of time. There is also the issue that common western manifestations of existential dread, i.e. the Nietzshe eternal return, Sartre's dilemma of having no choice but to make a choice but all of them are bad, even up to the contemporary worries about near-infinite compounding of sub-optimal ethics in far-future focused EA circles and AI-risk circles, are not in any way mitigated by the possibility of an afterlife. All the trillions of future people you cause suffering to will still suffer even if you end up in heaven.
    - chitowneats 4y ago
      > All the trillions of future people you cause suffering to will still suffer even if you end up in heaven. Yes, of course. God will forgive you though if you are penitent. Existential dread resolved. At least that's the Christian answer. Another wildly successful social technology.
  - jonfw 4y ago
    > for many people it's as real as gravity That would speak to those people's lack of understanding of gravity more than anything else in my view
diob 4y ago
What?
danuker 4y ago
I am godless and I will try to avoid death, but I know it's inevitable. So I enjoy life. As per Stephen Covey, only some things are in my circle of influence, so I don't bother with what's outside.
avgcorrection 4y ago
Maybe more averse to it than other cultures. But godlessness might not be the cause. (There are many Westerners that are godfull and yet this is a general Western thing.)
disantlor 4y ago
God was designed by proto-capitalists to free up worker brainspace to be directed towards company output
- joenot443 4y ago
  The concept of God has existed long before any meaningful concept of capitalism.
dangus 4y ago
God-fearing Westerners are still afraid of death, that's why they turn to religion in the first place. One thing I notice about strongly Abrahamic religious people is that they are okay with eschewing the pleasures of life because they believe that heaven is their next step, and the only way to get there is to abstain from things they enjoy, are "tempted" by, and/or would otherwise be ambitious toward. They'll give up things like sex before marriage, education, household autonomy, careers, foods, non-heterosexual partnerships (suppressing their own attraction preferences), coffee, alcohol, being in the presence of the opposite sex...almost anything you can name will be something that someone religious will just give up because they think it will grant them favor by God. Religions that believe in things like faith healing will even give up medical care because they believe God will heal them. I know someone who is doing exactly this and is nearly immobile out of pure stubbornness. A quick and simple procedure could save them a whole bunch of pain and suffering and give them their abilities back. In contrast, I find some of the ideas of "pleasure activism" to be very interesting. We've been taught to avoid pleasure, that it's "sinful," that it's "embarrassing" (especially for women). But why? Why is it bad? Here's an example article: https://thefederalist.com/2019/10/18/gender-studies-professor-calls-twerking-with-lizzo-an-act-of-political-defiance/ https://thefederalist.com/2019/10/18/gender-studies-professo... Watch a televangelist like Sid Roth and you'll see that a large swath of Christianity revolves around sitting around and praying for good things to happen rather than making them happen through action. It's an incredibly selfish and futile form of Christianity.
- marcinreal 4y ago
  > almost anything you can name will be something that someone religious will just give up because they think it will grant them favor by God. This is what the Pharisees were doing. Christ clearly refuted this kind of religious attitude. See Matthew 23. A couple of the things you listed are genuinely sinful. On the other hand, careers, food, alcohol etc. can be sinful, but are not always. See e.g. Judges 9:13 and many other verses. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=judges+9:13&version=ESV https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=judges+9:13&ver... Also see 1 Timothy 4:4. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+timothy+4:4&version=ESV https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+timothy+4:4&v...
frisson 4y ago
No, I'm just worried about old age. Pension? Health? Loneliness? That's what worries me about seniority. I don't care about what happens afterwards.
dang 4y ago
Maybe so, but please don't post religious flamebait to Hacker News. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
ericbarrett 4y ago
This is a special way of being afraid No trick dispels. Religion used to try, That vast moth-eaten musical brocade Created to pretend we never die, And specious stuff that says No rational being Can fear a thing it will not feel, not seeing That this is what we fear—no sight, no sound, No touch or taste or smell, nothing to think with, Nothing to love or link with, The anaesthetic from which none come round. — Philip Larkin, Aubade

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

morninglight 4y ago

Exactly! Just point the watchdog to reboot. .