4 ms·

That's one sort of life philosophy. There are others. If I had to point out exactly where I disagree with this, I'd say I don't view "doing a meaningful thing"

by blep_ 4y ago

That's one sort of life philosophy. There are others. If I had to point out exactly where I disagree with this, I'd say I don't view "doing a meaningful thing" as a thing you do once and then you're done with life. If I can do meaningful things for a few extra decades, that's a good thing.

braingenious 4y ago
It’s not that you do a meaningful thing and then you’re done with life, it’s that since you have limited time, it’s a good reason to at least attempt finding something meaningful to pursue or accomplish. When I’ve talked to longevity enthusiasts in the past I’ve never really gotten a good answer to “Why?” in a philosophical or even practical sense. It’s never “Outlive my enemies” or “Finish reading Gravity’s Rainbow”, it’s generally been “To avoid dying,” which to me is a pretty depressing proposition. It’s not for something, it’s running away from something, which is kind of the opposite of a search for a meaningful life.
- samus 4y ago
  Not all of us need a purpose in life. Only when life gets hard do we start to wonder why we keep going on. These people are probably just happy doing whatever else they have been doing so far in their life. Maybe some of these people actually have a passion for pushing the envelope. Sort of like people that pursue fitness as a lifestyle, where one can raise the same doubts about what they are actually training and living for.
  - braingenious 4y ago
    That’s an interesting perspective. I would still love to hear from somebody that is an actual longevity enthusiast rather than speculate as to their motives. As I’ve said, my previous actual conversations with longevity enthusiasts have been quite unsatisfying because I don’t buy “better telomeres for a higher number of years” as an actual pure human motivation. I would buy “a crippling fear of death” or “I want to spend every single dime I’ve ever accumulated” or “Finishing Dwarf Fortress” but the diehards always handwave and say they want to live forever… just ‘cuz. edit: I’ll rephrase the crux of my original question. Assuming you are able to find the magic potion that makes you live until 130 today, that means that you will outlive a whole lot of the planet. You’ll see people you care about die if they’re unable or unwilling to get said potion. If you reframe the question of “Who do you want to outlive and why?” then “idk lol” becomes a less understandable response.
    - blep_ 4y ago
      I kind of did answer your original question, but to do so more directly: I enjoy making stuff. More time to make stuff would mean more enjoyment. Recently, I've been experiencing burnout that interferes with my ability to do this. It will pass, with time. But it's easier to think about that the longer my life will be, because I would have lost a smaller proportion of my limited time to it. Repeat for any other thing that one might view as wasted time, and it adds up. The question you've turned this into in your last paragraph is a completely different one. I don't have any desire to outlive or not outlive any particular person. It's nice to have the company of people I like, but my sense of meaning, to the extent I have one, is unrelated to that. People move into and out of my life all the time for various reasons.
      - braingenious 4y ago
        Ah I didn’t realize that you considered yourself to be a longevity enthusiast. When you said: > Maybe some of these people actually have a passion for pushing the envelope. That sounded to me like you were speculating about a group rather than stating your personal stance. Yes, my last paragraph is a distinct wording of the exact same question, though it is meant to cut more to the core of what I’m asking about. Are you aware that during an average lifetime, you’ll see quite a few people around you die, and the longer you live the more that will happen? I’ve done end-of-life care for quite a few cancer patients in their late eighties to around 100. Even the ones in relatively good shape often like to talk about the people they’ve lost, it’s a natural part of aging that can’t be abated by metformin or intermittent fasting. Ignoring it doesn’t abate it either. The older they are, the more people they’ve lost. Living to 130 sounds honestly terrible to me unless you don’t have anybody you care about losing, or you’ve got people you look forward to losing. The point of living to 130 is not “living long”, it’s “living longer than [everybody/average people/some specific group].”
        agent008t 4y ago
        But 'living to 130' is an option, not an obligation. You can always leave sooner if you want.

by blep_ 4y ago

braingenious 4y ago

It’s not that you do a meaningful thing and then you’re done with life, it’s that since you have limited time, it’s a good reason to at least attempt finding something meaningful to pursue or accomplish. When I’ve talked to longevity enthusiasts in the past I’ve never really gotten a good answer to “Why?” in a philosophical or even practical sense. It’s never “Outlive my enemies” or “Finish reading Gravity’s Rainbow”, it’s generally been “To avoid dying,” which to me is a pretty depressing proposition. It’s not for something, it’s running away from something, which is kind of the opposite of a search for a meaningful life.

samus 4y ago
Not all of us need a purpose in life. Only when life gets hard do we start to wonder why we keep going on. These people are probably just happy doing whatever else they have been doing so far in their life. Maybe some of these people actually have a passion for pushing the envelope. Sort of like people that pursue fitness as a lifestyle, where one can raise the same doubts about what they are actually training and living for.
- braingenious 4y ago
  That’s an interesting perspective. I would still love to hear from somebody that is an actual longevity enthusiast rather than speculate as to their motives. As I’ve said, my previous actual conversations with longevity enthusiasts have been quite unsatisfying because I don’t buy “better telomeres for a higher number of years” as an actual pure human motivation. I would buy “a crippling fear of death” or “I want to spend every single dime I’ve ever accumulated” or “Finishing Dwarf Fortress” but the diehards always handwave and say they want to live forever… just ‘cuz. edit: I’ll rephrase the crux of my original question. Assuming you are able to find the magic potion that makes you live until 130 today, that means that you will outlive a whole lot of the planet. You’ll see people you care about die if they’re unable or unwilling to get said potion. If you reframe the question of “Who do you want to outlive and why?” then “idk lol” becomes a less understandable response.
  - blep_ 4y ago
    I kind of did answer your original question, but to do so more directly: I enjoy making stuff. More time to make stuff would mean more enjoyment. Recently, I've been experiencing burnout that interferes with my ability to do this. It will pass, with time. But it's easier to think about that the longer my life will be, because I would have lost a smaller proportion of my limited time to it. Repeat for any other thing that one might view as wasted time, and it adds up. The question you've turned this into in your last paragraph is a completely different one. I don't have any desire to outlive or not outlive any particular person. It's nice to have the company of people I like, but my sense of meaning, to the extent I have one, is unrelated to that. People move into and out of my life all the time for various reasons.
    - braingenious 4y ago
      Ah I didn’t realize that you considered yourself to be a longevity enthusiast. When you said: > Maybe some of these people actually have a passion for pushing the envelope. That sounded to me like you were speculating about a group rather than stating your personal stance. Yes, my last paragraph is a distinct wording of the exact same question, though it is meant to cut more to the core of what I’m asking about. Are you aware that during an average lifetime, you’ll see quite a few people around you die, and the longer you live the more that will happen? I’ve done end-of-life care for quite a few cancer patients in their late eighties to around 100. Even the ones in relatively good shape often like to talk about the people they’ve lost, it’s a natural part of aging that can’t be abated by metformin or intermittent fasting. Ignoring it doesn’t abate it either. The older they are, the more people they’ve lost. Living to 130 sounds honestly terrible to me unless you don’t have anybody you care about losing, or you’ve got people you look forward to losing. The point of living to 130 is not “living long”, it’s “living longer than [everybody/average people/some specific group].”
      - agent008t 4y ago
        But 'living to 130' is an option, not an obligation. You can always leave sooner if you want.