I felt compelled to collect his responses.
51 hours left to live
71–80 of 121 posts
Re: 51 hours left to live
#72Re: 51 hours left to live
#73His best quotes:
On life:
Nothing we have is worth hurting anyone else for. It's all fleeting, people. Stop seeing race, color, sex, religion, etc... They're all just people, and if you try to love them you won't lose anything.
On suicide (of an otherwise healthy person):
It's not living that's failed him, it's life. We can always change our life as long as were living.
On regret:
Yes, one. I bought my high school sweetheart an engagement ring and never gave it to her. Life happened, meaning I was dumb. I went in the military after a dumb fight and... yeah just one.
On fear:
What long term risk is there in saying hello? I can't find any. Worst case is you get some possessive asshole that thinks your hitting on his sister, and you get a black eye. Total pain and shame lasts maybe a month. Meeting the right girl though lasts forever. So you tell me, would you trade a month of shame for a life of happiness?
Re: 51 hours left to live
#74I found this post on reddit uncomfortable, and I'm not sure why. It's not because of death with dignity -- I'm a big fan. It's not because of not wanting to face my own mortality -- I know death awaits us all, and for me or some others it may come very soon indeed. Who knows when we will die? But something about it just didn't ring true as something I would want to make happen over and over again. I think perhaps it…
It's heartbreaking.
I think there's an uncomfortable novelty in having access to such personal period in this person's life. Sometimes, technology can create distance and remove immediacy and impact - but I don't think that's true in this case. There's an obvious undeniable gravity at work - it's important.
This kind of story usually only touches us if we're unlucky enough to have friends or family who are experiencing the same.
But I find it so difficult to comprehend. Life is fleeting. I know every stage is finite - but it's easy to forget that everything really is temporary.
This brings that home for me.
Re: 51 hours left to live
#75I really enjoy HN commentary about Reddit. It's like an audit--a smaller, more focused group offering insight about all the stuff that goes on in the bigger group.
Re: 51 hours left to live
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
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EDIT: The deleted post asked what I thought about assisted suicide. I don't know why it was deleted. It seemed like a perfectly reasonable question to me. So I am leaving my reply, for better or worse. -------------- It is not anything I have come up with some "position" on. I know I wanted to die ten years ago and saw that as the only hope of an end to my suffering. I know that I continue to routinely feel like "god…
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Re: 51 hours left to live
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
EDIT: The deleted post asked what I thought about assisted suicide. I don't know why it was deleted. It seemed like a perfectly reasonable question to me. So I am leaving my reply, for better or worse. -------------- It is not anything I have come up with some "position" on. I know I wanted to die ten years ago and saw that as the only hope of an end to my suffering. I know that I continue to routinely feel like "god…
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Re: 51 hours left to live
#78Isn't it a bit odd that everyone takes this at face value? Doesn't it seem like a bit of a fantastic story to appear on Reddit on Saturday? I'm suspicious that people are having their emotions toyed with for someone's entertainment.
A lot of IAMAs are trolls. But it doesn't mean everyone believes, it's just selection bias. The people who don't take it at face value stay quiet because you're not supposed to be skeptical about it, that would be "insensitive".
Personally I find it odd that someone who "has just found Reddit" would take the trouble to do an IAMA instead of, I dunno, anything else in their last hours.
Re: 51 hours left to live
#79I found this post on reddit uncomfortable, and I'm not sure why. It's not because of death with dignity -- I'm a big fan. It's not because of not wanting to face my own mortality -- I know death awaits us all, and for me or some others it may come very soon indeed. Who knows when we will die? But something about it just didn't ring true as something I would want to make happen over and over again. I think perhaps it…
It's heartbreaking. I think there's an uncomfortable novelty in having access to such personal period in this person's life. Sometimes, technology can create distance and remove immediacy and impact - but I don't think that's true in this case. There's an obvious undeniable gravity at work - it's important. This kind of story usually only touches us if we're unlucky enough to have friends or family who are experienci…
I agree, and I would have never posted my comment over on the reddit thread. It was displeasurable enough to post it here.
I have thought that when faced with my last days, I would like to write a blog article (or, knowing me, a freaking series) kind of wrapping things up. I consider HN sort of my home audience, so I would post these articles over here.
But this has got me rethinking that idea. The problem is that then people's lives and final words start competing against each other. What if nobody upvoted my life? Would pg's final words be more important than say, tptacek's? It's just too weird.
So yes, every now and then it is humbling and good to be reminded of the extremely temporary nature of our existence. As an existentialist, I try to do so on a daily basis.
But in a community of 100K, sadly, somebody is going to be dying on a fairly regular basis. I cannot imagine that having their words competing with the latest iPad for the community's attention. It is not something I want to participate in.
But I might be wrong. Like I said, it got me thinking. I am still unsure how I feel about it. My heart goes out to the author of the post over on reddit.
Re: 51 hours left to live
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's heartbreaking. I think there's an uncomfortable novelty in having access to such personal period in this person's life. Sometimes, technology can create distance and remove immediacy and impact - but I don't think that's true in this case. There's an obvious undeniable gravity at work - it's important. This kind of story usually only touches us if we're unlucky enough to have friends or family who are experienci…
I agree, and I would have never posted my comment over on the reddit thread. It was displeasurable enough to post it here. I have thought that when faced with my last days, I would like to write a blog article (or, knowing me, a freaking series) kind of wrapping things up. I consider HN sort of my home audience, so I would post these articles over here. But this has got me rethinking that idea. The problem is that th…
Not to argue with you or anything, but the guy is really not going to see if other people get upvoted more or something. And he recently got an ipad. He was not lucid enough to do stuff on the internet for a long time. He lost his house to his medical bills. The ipad he was probably given as a last wish is probably the coolest, most alive thing he has gotten to do in a long, long time. Talking to a jillion people at the same time when you have had no real social life in ages is like snorting cocaine or something -- woohoo! give me more of that shit! He said it was his best hour of 2011.
I hope your final days or hours are good enough that some of the concerns you have expressed will still be relevant for you. But I really don't see how any of them apply in this particular instance.