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51 hours left to live

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Re: 51 hours left to live

#111

Post by khafra »

kenjackson wrote: post #36
throwaway_2011 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My worst fear is actually not to die. I don't believe in hell and the worst that can happen is that I stop to exist. My worst fear is the process of dying itself. After watching a close family member die of cancer, that process frightens me. If I end up in a similar situation, I'll move to Oregon as well.

My worst fear is to stop existing. I can't fathom that one day I'll just be done. That's it. Not watching the world on some big screen TV. Not appreciating what I've done. Just done, and eventually no one will have ever known I was here. I used to hope that as I approached death that I'd be so fulfilled with life that I'd be ready to go. I still hope that, but I'm less convinced that it will be so. It almost seems li…

That is not dead which can eternal lie; and with strange aeons even death may die.

http://alcor.org http://www.cryonics.org

Re: 51 hours left to live

#114

Post by jpadkins »

old-gregg wrote: post #81

The most shocking to me was this quote: "I don't have a home, it was consumed in medical bills."

why is that shocking? Not to sound heartless but doctors, nurses and medication are expensive. Treatment for cancer is expensive. People who work in healthcare deserve to get paid, right? Houses are usually people's largest source of savings. So when people deplete their savings to save their life, why is it shocking?

Re: 51 hours left to live

#115

Post by forwardslash »

georgieporgie wrote: post #62

Isn'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.

Your suspicion has been echoed in other threads since the poster has yet to confirm you who he is in real life, 'just found reddit' and knew enough to create an AMA and 'lost his password'. In all likely-hood this could be a Munchausen by Internet[1].

[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BCnchausen_by_Internet

Re: 51 hours left to live

#116

Post by DanielBMarkham »

lwhi wrote: post #86
DanielBMarkham wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I think, the issue is - we're still figuring out how to have conversations in crowds. This is still relatively new to human society. Twitter provides a way to shout out sentences to the world in general - and to listen out for voices that we care about. Forums allow us to converse with multiple people and actually form relationships - relationships which might eventually cross over into meatspace. The ability to conv…

It's interesting that right now on HN there's another post about Facebook and how having one place for all of your conversations is harmful. I think the two topics are related.

It's not a matter of ignoring or running away from death, it's a matter of treating every piece of conversation that comes from my keyboard as all being the same.

There's been no time in human history where we had such a "flat" model of interactivity. Even in small hunter-gatherer societies it's common for information to be withheld from some, shared with only a select few, etc. Man is a social animal, and these types of channel-selection and social posturing are a critical part of his healthy existence.

We programmers have created the internet, and to us all of that social posturing stuff is just nonsense. Everything is just a bit on a disk somewhere.

While that's true in a physical sense, it's tragically false in practice. The way we discuss philosophy, death, religion, politics, science, history, and the rest of it varies according to the crowd and the mood. It's not all just bits.

But your point is spot on: we're still trying to figure out how to have conversations online.

I think we are making a LOT of mistakes that are going to come back and bite us one day, one of which is thinking that democratic metaphors are applicable in all situations, but that day may be many decades off, after I'm dead myself, so aside from complaining about it I'm really not worried about it too much :)

Re: 51 hours left to live

#117

Post by [deleted] »

billpaetzke wrote: post #73

His 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 sw…

[deleted]

Re: 51 hours left to live

#118

Post by camdykeman »

I was going to write on this yesterday but decided not to at the last minute for whatever reason. At that time there were 4 comments on this post. Between then and now there have been an additional 104. Whether you approve of the post or not, I think we can all agree that there is value to be found in the level of response it has received. Maybe the post is appropriate, maybe its not. But its gotten people talking about something we often try to ignore and in that sense I cant help but appreciate it.

Re: 51 hours left to live

#119

Post by runjake »

I feel saddened but fortunate this person shared their last days on Earth with a bunch of us strangers. I've done a lot of reflecting on what was said & discussing it with my family, one of whom (my mother) having terminal cancer herself. We faced a lot of uncomfortable issues honestly after we had read the thread.

I avoid Reddit these days, but this is gold. I'm indebted to this man/woman for their effect on my life. This person will leave strong echoes in the world after their passing.

Re: 51 hours left to live

#120

Post by old-gregg »

jpadkins wrote: post #114
old-gregg wrote: post #81

The most shocking to me was this quote: "I don't have a home, it was consumed in medical bills."

why is that shocking? Not to sound heartless but doctors, nurses and medication are expensive. Treatment for cancer is expensive. People who work in healthcare deserve to get paid, right? Houses are usually people's largest source of savings. So when people deplete their savings to save their life, why is it shocking?

Because charging money for medical treatment is medieval. But apparently one needs to be born and raised outside of the US to see that clearly.
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