7 ms·

So I'm somewhat confused by the responses to this post. It seemed to me that his long hours at work contributed to his developing the disease. But ppl seem to b

So I'm somewhat confused by the responses to this post. It seemed to me that his long hours at work contributed to his developing the disease. But ppl seem to be responding as if he had a natural inclination to developing it, and that we should accept it. So there's absolutely nothing to learn here aside from "visit the doctor often"?

japhyr 12y ago
His long hours at work probably masked the symptoms. He didn't think "I have cancer", he thought "I'm not getting nearly enough sleep." Everyone around him thought the same thing.
peterwwillis 12y ago
I think there isn't really a lesson at all. It's like if a meteor falls on someone walking through town. Is there really a 'lesson' you can take from that? Sure, you could dig into the person's life and try to find some underlying meaning, or something important this person should have said or done before said meteor came shooting through the sky. But in the general scheme of things, we are tiny ants crawling over the dry parts of an ant-hill floating on a small blue puddle somewhere in the backwater bayou of the universe. Our lives amount to the goings-on of ants, and we can be squashed at any moment by unseen cosmic feet. The truth of this - that life, and mortality, and our existence, is a fleeting and inconsequential part of everything in the universe - really puts into perspective getting pissed off at immigration reform, or the barista that didn't make your coffee right, or not making enough money, or not getting to see that one movie before it left theaters. We're so unimaginably lucky to be wandering around this ant-hill, and meeting other ants, and getting to start a tiny little ant family. When it ends, it ends. You should also probably get regular checkups with your doctor, and exercise regularly, don't smoke or drink to excess, and try to get 8 hours of sleep each night. That won't stop the meteors from crashing down on you, but it might help you walk around the ant-hill a little bit longer.
seren 12y ago
This is rather a memento mori, a stark reminder than it could happen to any of us at any time.
phkahler 12y ago
>> It seemed to me that his long hours at work contributed to his developing the disease. What on earth makes you say that? Is there a documented link between working long hours and getting cancer? Citation please.
- pond_lilly 12y ago
  You people are all insane. I know it is HN, so my comment will be seen as blasphemy, but working long hours, lack of sleep, stress, constant exposure to technology, EMR, coupled with messed up environment, poor diet could absolutely lead to cancer along with some other numerous issues. The commenters in here are absolutely naive and clueless about all that. A typical 20-something invincibility complex.
- cpncrunch 12y ago
  http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/stress http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/stress "Evidence from experimental studies does suggest that psychological stress can affect a tumor’s ability to grow and spread. For example, some studies have shown that when mice bearing human tumors were kept confined or isolated from other mice—conditions that increase stress—their tumors were more likely to grow and spread (metastasize). "
  - phkahler 12y ago
    From that very same link: "Although stress can cause a number of physical health problems, the evidence that it can cause cancer is weak." But they do make some statements that seem to support the idea as well.
    - cpncrunch 12y ago
      I think it's more along the lines of "stress isn't proven to cause cancer, but if you have cancer then it may cause it to regress". Also, given that stress significant suppresses the immune system, and that the immune system is important for protecting against cancer growth, I think it is highly unlikely that stress wouldn't affect cancer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancer_immunology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancer_immunology

japhyr 12y ago

His long hours at work probably masked the symptoms. He didn't think "I have cancer", he thought "I'm not getting nearly enough sleep." Everyone around him thought the same thing.

peterwwillis 12y ago

I think there isn't really a lesson at all. It's like if a meteor falls on someone walking through town. Is there really a 'lesson' you can take from that? Sure, you could dig into the person's life and try to find some underlying meaning, or something important this person should have said or done before said meteor came shooting through the sky. But in the general scheme of things, we are tiny ants crawling over the dry parts of an ant-hill floating on a small blue puddle somewhere in the backwater bayou of the universe. Our lives amount to the goings-on of ants, and we can be squashed at any moment by unseen cosmic feet. The truth of this - that life, and mortality, and our existence, is a fleeting and inconsequential part of everything in the universe - really puts into perspective getting pissed off at immigration reform, or the barista that didn't make your coffee right, or not making enough money, or not getting to see that one movie before it left theaters. We're so unimaginably lucky to be wandering around this ant-hill, and meeting other ants, and getting to start a tiny little ant family. When it ends, it ends. You should also probably get regular checkups with your doctor, and exercise regularly, don't smoke or drink to excess, and try to get 8 hours of sleep each night. That won't stop the meteors from crashing down on you, but it might help you walk around the ant-hill a little bit longer.

seren 12y ago

This is rather a memento mori, a stark reminder than it could happen to any of us at any time.

phkahler 12y ago

>> It seemed to me that his long hours at work contributed to his developing the disease. What on earth makes you say that? Is there a documented link between working long hours and getting cancer? Citation please.

pond_lilly 12y ago
You people are all insane. I know it is HN, so my comment will be seen as blasphemy, but working long hours, lack of sleep, stress, constant exposure to technology, EMR, coupled with messed up environment, poor diet could absolutely lead to cancer along with some other numerous issues. The commenters in here are absolutely naive and clueless about all that. A typical 20-something invincibility complex.
cpncrunch 12y ago
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/stress http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/stress "Evidence from experimental studies does suggest that psychological stress can affect a tumor’s ability to grow and spread. For example, some studies have shown that when mice bearing human tumors were kept confined or isolated from other mice—conditions that increase stress—their tumors were more likely to grow and spread (metastasize). "
- phkahler 12y ago
  From that very same link: "Although stress can cause a number of physical health problems, the evidence that it can cause cancer is weak." But they do make some statements that seem to support the idea as well.
  - cpncrunch 12y ago
    I think it's more along the lines of "stress isn't proven to cause cancer, but if you have cancer then it may cause it to regress". Also, given that stress significant suppresses the immune system, and that the immune system is important for protecting against cancer growth, I think it is highly unlikely that stress wouldn't affect cancer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancer_immunology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancer_immunology