4 ms·

Death is a bad thing. Anger is appropriate. We can probably fix it. If not in time to save ourselves, we might be able to save our children. We need to start no

Death is a bad thing. Anger is appropriate. We can probably fix it. If not in time to save ourselves, we might be able to save our children. We need to start now and spend a fortune. People need to stop pretending that it's ok.

peapicker 12y ago
Death is neither good nor bad. All life is terminal. You can't fix it, even if you can prolong it. The sooner you get this into your head and heart, the better you will live.
- goblin89 12y ago
  Every time I come across this sentiment—that death is natural, and we have to accept it, and so on—the Fable of Dragon-Tyrant[0] comes to mind. [0] http://www.nickbostrom.com/fable/dragon.html http://www.nickbostrom.com/fable/dragon.html
jkaunisv1 12y ago
I don't want my children to grow up in a world where you have to work at McDonald's for 100 years to afford buying a small house on the outskirts of a city. All because old wealthy people just keep accruing more wealth and never returning it to the cycle of the economy. When I look at the power structures of the modern world and the control that corporations have over our governments, I don't extrapolate positive changes should the powerful also start living forever. Death is part of life. People need to stop pretending it's bad. If you feel it is such a bad thing, will you also cure death for every spider, every frog, every crow, every ant, every tree? What do you think will happen then? Or is life only important when it's a human?
- orangecat 12y ago
  I don't want my children to grow up in a world where you have to work at McDonald's for 100 years to afford buying a small house on the outskirts of a city. All because old wealthy people just keep accruing more wealth and never returning it to the cycle of the economy. The economy doesn't work that way. You and your children are not poorer because Warren Buffett is rich. Death is part of life. So are Alzheimer's, cancer, polio, and people with bad vision being eaten by bears. Which of those should we not address?
  - jkaunisv1 12y ago
    While the economy isn't zero-sum, resources like land are. Warren Buffett isn't taking money away from people, but I still believe income & other inequality would rise if people lived forever. I think all of those problems are worth addressing, but I don't think we should be in a mad rush to cure death itself. It is a vital part of returning resources to the cycle of life to be used anew. I think our world would be worse off if humans lived forever, it would be stale and stagnant. Finally, I think we should fix some other problems that our overpopulation and thirst for growth are causing before we try to cement that growth with eternal life.
- johnaspden 12y ago
  But you do want them to die?
  - jkaunisv1 12y ago
    Yep. I don't have any yet, but should I have offspring, I would expect them to die eventually. Obviously I would hope for a full, rich life before their passing (as I do for myself) but I actually look forward to dying. Not that I want it to happen soon, but I am curious about the experience and I'm not scared of it. Things come and go all the time. I try not to cling to them. "This too shall pass" can be a very comforting mantra. Value things while they're around and know they won't always be around.

peapicker 12y ago

Death is neither good nor bad. All life is terminal. You can't fix it, even if you can prolong it. The sooner you get this into your head and heart, the better you will live.

goblin89 12y ago
Every time I come across this sentiment—that death is natural, and we have to accept it, and so on—the Fable of Dragon-Tyrant[0] comes to mind. [0] http://www.nickbostrom.com/fable/dragon.html http://www.nickbostrom.com/fable/dragon.html

jkaunisv1 12y ago

I don't want my children to grow up in a world where you have to work at McDonald's for 100 years to afford buying a small house on the outskirts of a city. All because old wealthy people just keep accruing more wealth and never returning it to the cycle of the economy. When I look at the power structures of the modern world and the control that corporations have over our governments, I don't extrapolate positive changes should the powerful also start living forever. Death is part of life. People need to stop pretending it's bad. If you feel it is such a bad thing, will you also cure death for every spider, every frog, every crow, every ant, every tree? What do you think will happen then? Or is life only important when it's a human?

orangecat 12y ago
I don't want my children to grow up in a world where you have to work at McDonald's for 100 years to afford buying a small house on the outskirts of a city. All because old wealthy people just keep accruing more wealth and never returning it to the cycle of the economy. The economy doesn't work that way. You and your children are not poorer because Warren Buffett is rich. Death is part of life. So are Alzheimer's, cancer, polio, and people with bad vision being eaten by bears. Which of those should we not address?
- jkaunisv1 12y ago
  While the economy isn't zero-sum, resources like land are. Warren Buffett isn't taking money away from people, but I still believe income & other inequality would rise if people lived forever. I think all of those problems are worth addressing, but I don't think we should be in a mad rush to cure death itself. It is a vital part of returning resources to the cycle of life to be used anew. I think our world would be worse off if humans lived forever, it would be stale and stagnant. Finally, I think we should fix some other problems that our overpopulation and thirst for growth are causing before we try to cement that growth with eternal life.
johnaspden 12y ago
But you do want them to die?
- jkaunisv1 12y ago
  Yep. I don't have any yet, but should I have offspring, I would expect them to die eventually. Obviously I would hope for a full, rich life before their passing (as I do for myself) but I actually look forward to dying. Not that I want it to happen soon, but I am curious about the experience and I'm not scared of it. Things come and go all the time. I try not to cling to them. "This too shall pass" can be a very comforting mantra. Value things while they're around and know they won't always be around.