3 ms·

please consider revisiting this post when/if you or a loved one are on the receiving end of a terminal illness diagnosis. which i don’t wish on anyone.

serf 1y ago
as someone who lives in that perspective, and has lots many loved ones to such diseases.. I wonder if you have ever really considered the prospect of immortality and the implications. A lot of our worldly meaning is derived from the fact that the clock is ticking. Death of progenitors increases the quality of life for the offspring in almost every single metric, more so for long-lived species that require little protection past a certain growth milestone, and personally I see it as a specific 'human arrogance'; if someone had the idea of "Let's make all the field mice immortal" the first opinion would be "that's ridiculous, the ecosphere would be thrown entirely out of balance, the entire predatory chain would be upheaved."... but when we talk about human immortality it always falls back to "Well, don't you miss dear old Grandma serf?" I miss her dearly, but the fact of the matter is that the world wouldn't survive long without a death/life cycle for its' inhabitants, and I think that should include the ones that are the most dangerous to the world at large. p.s. if you need a laymen excuse : i've read enough scifi dystopia tales that begin with the concept of human immortality and the gradual fall of every single moral barrier or raison d'etre ; I don't think that premise is too far from what may happen if humanity is ever given a choice against death.
- coderatlarge 1y ago
  i am sorry to hear about the losses you’ve had to endure. i feel it’s an over-large step to go from which factors should guide research to whether humanity should seek immortality. if a child is stricken with glioblastoma before they’ve had a chance to experience life, i would argue that it would be positive and humane for society to have developed the tools to give that young life a chance and their family some hope.
kulahan 1y ago
My mother died when I was on the verge of turning my life around. There are new developments in treating the cancer - glioblastima - than there were at the time. She was worried sick about me and knew I was on the right path, but never actually saw me succeed. I think about it a lot. I still fully believe we need to start discussing how long we want to live. Along-side maybe getting to show my mom my fortunate outcome, Putin could be up for another 25 elections. We shouldn’t arrive at that moment without an answer to that question. Besides, death comes for us all. It’s the most natural thing of all. We should be less scared of it, and instead use it to understand we have a limited time we must make the most of.
- coderatlarge 1y ago
  thank you for sharing this story and i hope the miracles in glioblastoma treatment continue to astound. i do agree that it’s fundamental to live life knowing there are no guarantees and that we must therefore make the best of every allotted bit of time. there is a famous saying about science progressing one funeral at a time because new perspectives sometimes require that the old guard step aside before they can take hold.

serf 1y ago

as someone who lives in that perspective, and has lots many loved ones to such diseases.. I wonder if you have ever really considered the prospect of immortality and the implications. A lot of our worldly meaning is derived from the fact that the clock is ticking. Death of progenitors increases the quality of life for the offspring in almost every single metric, more so for long-lived species that require little protection past a certain growth milestone, and personally I see it as a specific 'human arrogance'; if someone had the idea of "Let's make all the field mice immortal" the first opinion would be "that's ridiculous, the ecosphere would be thrown entirely out of balance, the entire predatory chain would be upheaved."... but when we talk about human immortality it always falls back to "Well, don't you miss dear old Grandma serf?" I miss her dearly, but the fact of the matter is that the world wouldn't survive long without a death/life cycle for its' inhabitants, and I think that should include the ones that are the most dangerous to the world at large. p.s. if you need a laymen excuse : i've read enough scifi dystopia tales that begin with the concept of human immortality and the gradual fall of every single moral barrier or raison d'etre ; I don't think that premise is too far from what may happen if humanity is ever given a choice against death.

coderatlarge 1y ago
i am sorry to hear about the losses you’ve had to endure. i feel it’s an over-large step to go from which factors should guide research to whether humanity should seek immortality. if a child is stricken with glioblastoma before they’ve had a chance to experience life, i would argue that it would be positive and humane for society to have developed the tools to give that young life a chance and their family some hope.

kulahan 1y ago

My mother died when I was on the verge of turning my life around. There are new developments in treating the cancer - glioblastima - than there were at the time. She was worried sick about me and knew I was on the right path, but never actually saw me succeed. I think about it a lot. I still fully believe we need to start discussing how long we want to live. Along-side maybe getting to show my mom my fortunate outcome, Putin could be up for another 25 elections. We shouldn’t arrive at that moment without an answer to that question. Besides, death comes for us all. It’s the most natural thing of all. We should be less scared of it, and instead use it to understand we have a limited time we must make the most of.

coderatlarge 1y ago
thank you for sharing this story and i hope the miracles in glioblastoma treatment continue to astound. i do agree that it’s fundamental to live life knowing there are no guarantees and that we must therefore make the best of every allotted bit of time. there is a famous saying about science progressing one funeral at a time because new perspectives sometimes require that the old guard step aside before they can take hold.