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I'm choosing euthanasia etd 1pm. I have no last words.

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Re: I'm choosing euthanasia etd 1pm. I have no last words.

#71

Post by icebraining »

Artoemius wrote: post #38
zump wrote: post #26

Erm, why is he not frozen?

For some reason, in Europe, even less people seriously consider cryonics as an option, despite the population being generally less religious. Some view it with cynicism. Others just laugh.

Maybe we Europeans just have less faith in the goodness of corporations. As it stands, they seem like the perfect opportunity for a scam - they'll freeze you up, then after some years they'll say "unfortunately there's still no cure", and your family can then opt between paying a large annual sum in perpetuity or killing you. While I hope my descendants would have the guts to tell them to burn me up, I can't in good conscience force them to make that choice.

Re: I'm choosing euthanasia etd 1pm. I have no last words.

#72

Post by mehdix »

Like many others, I've never met him, but he has touched my soul.

I enjoyed his writings on community building most. He himself being a very approachable person, taught me everything we do is about people, not software. I'll definitely miss him in the days to come.

Peace Peter.

Re: I'm choosing euthanasia etd 1pm. I have no last words.

#73

Post by emodendroket »

toxican wrote: post #44
fsloth wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We all die at some point. While I too abhor cancer I find hard to fear it more than any other thing that can kill me - a stroke, a car accident, etc. The universe is out to get us - we've evolved into tough bastard but we've not defeated mortality.

Cancer seems more scary to me than a stroke or a fatal car accident because you can try to prevent those things. Health choices can decrease chances of a stroke, being an alert/careful driver can decrease chance of an accident. Cancer though...I mean yeah you can avoid longterm sun exposure or not smoke, but there are so many out-there types of cancers that just swoop in out of nowhere that you don't stand a chance o…

When it comes to cars, nothing is stopping some yahoo not paying any attention from careening into you no matter how careful you are.

Re: I'm choosing euthanasia etd 1pm. I have no last words.

#74

Post by kuschku »

Artoemius wrote: post #38
zump wrote: post #26

Erm, why is he not frozen?

For some reason, in Europe, even less people seriously consider cryonics as an option, despite the population being generally less religious. Some view it with cynicism. Others just laugh.

And again others just accept that their death will have come to them, they’ll sort their lives out, tie up loose ends, and, feeling they’ve done everything worth doing, having lived a fulfilling life, just embrace death.

Cryonics is a very risky, and, with current technology, likely unreversable procedure, so relying on it to tie up your loose ends someday is silly. It’s almost religious in the unreasonable belief that someone higher – here "future humanity" – will be able to help you.

Re: I'm choosing euthanasia etd 1pm. I have no last words.

#75

Post by emodendroket »

Artoemius wrote: post #38
zump wrote: post #26

Erm, why is he not frozen?

For some reason, in Europe, even less people seriously consider cryonics as an option, despite the population being generally less religious. Some view it with cynicism. Others just laugh.

Probably because it's quackery. http://thebaffler.com/salvos/everybody-freeze-pein

Re: I'm choosing euthanasia etd 1pm. I have no last words.

#76

Post by dredmorbius »

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #17
shin_lao wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would it be the inevitability of death that disturbs you?

Nyah. I'm 51 years old and buried my parents. Death is real and probably closer than I imagine. Perhaps it's the productization of death? I received this news as a retweet in my Twitter feed. Next to it was a bit.ly link about Configuration Management tools, the announcement of a speaker at a conference, and a famous quote from Einstein. Right now on HN it's #4. Next to it is a blog post about tools and frameworks an…

I'm seeing a bit of Niel Postman's Technopoly criticism of media. We get these little news snippets, originally by wire to select locations, now anybody via Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, or HN. I see Pieter's notice sandwiched between police complaints / cameras, and the Nobel prize in physics. One out of two ain't bad.

Information, writing, and media have the ability to convey information totally unrelated to our present reality from anywhere on the planet, and a few points beyond. But leave us with having to contextualise all of it.

It's quite jarring. Not the first time I've received a death notice by (nominally) social media. Still carries a shock.

As for the "after he's gone" -- that's what death is, so far as I've realised. Life for the deceased stops, for the rest of us, it goes on. We have experiences, and conversations, and reminiscences, in which the dead are only memories.

Re: I'm choosing euthanasia etd 1pm. I have no last words.

#77

Post by _pmf_ »

lintiness wrote: post #49
toxican wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cancer seems more scary to me than a stroke or a fatal car accident because you can try to prevent those things. Health choices can decrease chances of a stroke, being an alert/careful driver can decrease chance of an accident. Cancer though...I mean yeah you can avoid longterm sun exposure or not smoke, but there are so many out-there types of cancers that just swoop in out of nowhere that you don't stand a chance o…

with terminal cancer, you get time to set your life in order, say goodbye to your friends and family, and try to make a difference (pertinent given the example set by p).

> and try to make a difference

The cynic in me assumes that with children and a spouse, you're most likely too busy filling out forms and applications that ensure that they will not be screwed over by insurance companies and medical providers.

Re: I'm choosing euthanasia etd 1pm. I have no last words.

#78

Post by ajb »

Odenwaelder wrote: post #42
fsloth wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you elaborate what makes cancer any more frightening than any other things that may get us? Is it the threat of pain? As long as we are mortal our journey is a finite one anyway.

I guess it's more frightening because we're more likely to develop cancer than most other diseases, it occurs for the most part purely randomly and chances are high that it leads to a slow and painful death. Cancers evolve to resist drugs and radiation, and due to the nature of evolution, you are unable to tell if and when it happens. As I wrote under another article, cancer is a fundamental dread of all higher multi…

Sibling comment by 'icantdrive' is 'dead', but I don't see why because it is not offensive.

Re: I'm choosing euthanasia etd 1pm. I have no last words.

#79

Post by Retric »

emodendroket wrote: post #73
toxican wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cancer seems more scary to me than a stroke or a fatal car accident because you can try to prevent those things. Health choices can decrease chances of a stroke, being an alert/careful driver can decrease chance of an accident. Cancer though...I mean yeah you can avoid longterm sun exposure or not smoke, but there are so many out-there types of cancers that just swoop in out of nowhere that you don't stand a chance o…

When it comes to cars, nothing is stopping some yahoo not paying any attention from careening into you no matter how careful you are.

In many ways it's not preventing accidents that's important it's preventing people getting hurt.

Being a defensive driver can drastically change your odds of being killed by some random yahoo. Further, the kind of car you drive can make a significant difference and improvements in car design are largely responsible for a huge reduction in fatalities.

Remember, our dealing with V^2 and slow reaction time so a 50MPH car has half the energy of a 70MPH car.

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