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To some degree, I blame religion for this. Not the organized, dogmatic kind but the pervasive moral one, which whispers that it is not "right" to want more from

To some degree, I blame religion for this. Not the organized, dogmatic kind but the pervasive moral one, which whispers that it is not "right" to want more from life then your peers and your ancestors. Also I think this is the same wider sentiment which applies not only to extending life span but to any kind of enhancement. At least in my culture, talking to a doctor about yourself without having any illness will get you a long stare.

tptacek 17y ago
Probably because they're pretty busy treating people who do have illnesses.
- scorpioxy 17y ago
  I think he was referring to what people consider to be a life-threatening illness. Then again, who's to say what an illness is. Are illnesses only thing that have an immediate threat on your life? What about ones that stop you from doing your job? What about conditions that stop you from living your life normally? In my country and culture, psychological and mental illnesses, which are also "real illnesses" by medical terms, are also given the same stare.
  - deleted 17y ago
    [deleted]
  - asciilifeform 17y ago
    http://yarchive.net/med/lifestyle_drugs.html http://yarchive.net/med/lifestyle_drugs.html
  - jimmyjim 17y ago
    (I'm so very very sorry, but this is an off-topic comment. It seems that I can't comment on old threads, and I cannot send private messages to users either... so I'm stumped, and here I am. You mentioned in one of your posts that you're an owner of the Natural 4000 keyboard - I just received mine from amazon (after picking up some symptoms of RSI) -- I love it, except one little thing that has me thinking that I should return this: the space bar is abnormally hard to depress. Is that so for your 4000 as well? Should I just return this keyboard and get another brand, or should I request a different 4000 without this 'defect'? Thanks, and sorry again for the odd manner of messaging.)
    - scorpioxy 17y ago
      You can always email me, my email is in the profile. But as for your question. No, mine is fine although it is somewhat harder than on other keyboards. You just get used to it over time. 4000s are odd, i have 2 and each have different quirks(but nothing too serious), so try replacing it.
- radu_floricica 17y ago
  When you're talking about cars or computers there is a large market in optimizing performance and various tune-ups. Not so for the human body, at least not in the official establishment. Doctors are not a finite resource, and they are not busy all the time. And still pretty much the only thing which is socially acceptable is having regular checkups. Anything else, from provigil and viagra to trying to get a customized diet is frowned upon. Why do you think there are so many diet sites out there? Because the people who could and should help you don't. I think the custom diet is a great example. I have a slight calcium deficiency and I tend to drink coca-cola, which means I should compensate by taking occasional calcium supplements and staying in the sun. It is by no means an illness, and still this kind of things added over a 70 years life-time can really make a difference. And yet I don't see any services oriented to finding and solving small problems like that.

tptacek 17y ago

Probably because they're pretty busy treating people who do have illnesses.

scorpioxy 17y ago
I think he was referring to what people consider to be a life-threatening illness. Then again, who's to say what an illness is. Are illnesses only thing that have an immediate threat on your life? What about ones that stop you from doing your job? What about conditions that stop you from living your life normally? In my country and culture, psychological and mental illnesses, which are also "real illnesses" by medical terms, are also given the same stare.
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]
- asciilifeform 17y ago
  http://yarchive.net/med/lifestyle_drugs.html http://yarchive.net/med/lifestyle_drugs.html
- jimmyjim 17y ago
  (I'm so very very sorry, but this is an off-topic comment. It seems that I can't comment on old threads, and I cannot send private messages to users either... so I'm stumped, and here I am. You mentioned in one of your posts that you're an owner of the Natural 4000 keyboard - I just received mine from amazon (after picking up some symptoms of RSI) -- I love it, except one little thing that has me thinking that I should return this: the space bar is abnormally hard to depress. Is that so for your 4000 as well? Should I just return this keyboard and get another brand, or should I request a different 4000 without this 'defect'? Thanks, and sorry again for the odd manner of messaging.)
  - scorpioxy 17y ago
    You can always email me, my email is in the profile. But as for your question. No, mine is fine although it is somewhat harder than on other keyboards. You just get used to it over time. 4000s are odd, i have 2 and each have different quirks(but nothing too serious), so try replacing it.
radu_floricica 17y ago
When you're talking about cars or computers there is a large market in optimizing performance and various tune-ups. Not so for the human body, at least not in the official establishment. Doctors are not a finite resource, and they are not busy all the time. And still pretty much the only thing which is socially acceptable is having regular checkups. Anything else, from provigil and viagra to trying to get a customized diet is frowned upon. Why do you think there are so many diet sites out there? Because the people who could and should help you don't. I think the custom diet is a great example. I have a slight calcium deficiency and I tend to drink coca-cola, which means I should compensate by taking occasional calcium supplements and staying in the sun. It is by no means an illness, and still this kind of things added over a 70 years life-time can really make a difference. And yet I don't see any services oriented to finding and solving small problems like that.