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At 31, I have just weeks to live. Here's what I want to pass on

theguardian.com

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Re: At 31, I have just weeks to live. Here's what I want to pass on

#131

Post by Mediterraneo10 »

Cpoll wrote: post #94
Mediterraneo10 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surely mass cryogenics is a non-starter in this day and age when we are concerned with lowering carbon emissions. All that refrigeration in perpetuity would consume so much energy, and keeping the dead frozen would erase the gains that we expect to get from the gradual decline in birthrates.

Are the carbon emissions that big of a deal? Every house in North America has at least one freezer. What scale are you envisioning when you say "mass"? I've sometimes fancied that the discovery of immortality might be good for the environment, it changes the incentives for the biggest abusers. With that said, I'm not entirely confident of that in practice.

> Every house in North America has at least one freezer.

Cryonics requires the maintenance of a temperature far colder than any household freezer.

> What scale are you envisioning when you say "mass"?

I just mean that it might hardly seem acceptable to freeze more terminally ill people than just a few ultra-wealthy eccentrics.

Re: At 31, I have just weeks to live. Here's what I want to pass on

#132

Post by krageon »

NewOrderNow wrote: post #86
Smaug123 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For what it's worth, you asserted above that you are not rude, but telling a stranger they sound like a sociopath is generally considered rude. It may genuinely be that you have transcended social norms, but the rest of us haven't, and I'm afraid you're dealing with the rest of us!

Why is this considered rude instead of stating an opinion?

wow you sound like a serial killer

Perhaps that serves to illustrate why it is rude. If that doesn't help, then just remember that it is. Good manners don't always need to make sense to you, sometimes they only make sense to other people.

Re: At 31, I have just weeks to live. Here's what I want to pass on

#134

Post by SV_BubbleTime »

raxxorrax wrote: post #91
_ink_ wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would they not want to revive you? How awesome would it be, if we could revive someone who lived around the year 1500, 1000 or even 0? I expect people in the year 3000 (if there are still people around and if they have it relatively good) would see it equally when looking to the year 2000.

The novelty will probably fall off quickly.

“Ugh, another idiot we need to explain quantum tablets and sensory implants to!”

Re: At 31, I have just weeks to live. Here's what I want to pass on

#135

Post by komali2 »

podgaj wrote: post #25
sacado2 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a well known psychological phenomenon though. Losing a given sum of money is more painful than earning that same amount. if you find a $20 banknote on the sidewalk, you wont be as happy as the guy who lost lost it is pissed off.

What you do not have you cannot become attached to. You can still have something and not be attached to it. That is Buddhism/Daoism in a nutshell.

But simps, though.

Re: At 31, I have just weeks to live. Here's what I want to pass on

#136

Post by kinleyd »

goodcanadian wrote: post #87
dhsysusbsjsi wrote: post #8

The nicest bit for me was where he talked about growing old being a privilege and not to lament every grey hair and wrinkle. Puts it in perspective.

As I often say, "Growing old sucks, but it is better than the alternative."* *I can't take credit. I got it from someone else, but I don't remember who.

I have to stash this gem somewhere safe. Thanks.

Re: At 31, I have just weeks to live. Here's what I want to pass on

#137

Post by hyko »

fipar wrote: post #16
biolurker1 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the argument is this: certain death vs a miniscule one in a quadrillion chance or lower. It will always tilt the other way no matter what the current scientific status quo is saying because it's possible in theory and it has happened to living organisms before just not humans. Whether it's good for environment, your siblings pocket etc is not part of the core argument.

I think even if you ignore the environment, and cost, the argument for cryonics is not very good. Let's say someone is successfully revived, there's still heart attacks, cancer, crime (and not just "lowly" criminals, crime also happens within families for inheritance, for example), accidents (car, or just slipping in the shower), earthquakes, ... The list is pretty much endless. Death is unavoidable, IMHO it's best t…

Even though Death is unavoidable, it’s still a good idea to wear a seatbelt.

Edited to add: it’s hard to imagine a civilisation with the technology to successfully re-animate a corpse, but that is unable to treat heart disease & cancer. Not impossible I suppose, but seems highly implausible.

Re: At 31, I have just weeks to live. Here's what I want to pass on

#138

Post by xeromal »

timwaagh wrote: post #96
shekharshan wrote: post #46

“All that is mine, beloved and pleasing, will become otherwise and will become separated from me”— Siddhartha Gautama. As a Buddhist we do “contemplation of death” meditation on a regular basis. It involves imagining our last few hours on our deathbed. It is a wonderful exercise to help put things in context. It makes you behave differently towards people you meet, even strangers.

Doesn't this practice and especially the choice of adjectives make light out of something very serious and infinitely sad?

On the opposite, you'll appreciate those small moments more because this might be the last moment you have. Reminding yourself of death often keeps you from taking life for granted.

I think Americans hide from death too much. We try to put boxes around it. I say this as one. I envy cultures where they're more open and public about it. I'l say that New Orleans does something right. They have parade parties when a loved one dies.

Re: At 31, I have just weeks to live. Here's what I want to pass on

#139

Post by echelon »

_ink_ wrote: post #52
NateEag wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have not seen a reason to think cryonics will work at all. Even if we actually do find a way to restore frozen near-death people to life, you'd better write a heck of a pitch as to why future humans should spend resources on reviving and healing you. Never mind all the resources being spent on keeping you properly frozen all that time. That's all assuming the company running your freezer doesn't just go belly-up af…

Why would they not want to revive you? How awesome would it be, if we could revive someone who lived around the year 1500, 1000 or even 0? I expect people in the year 3000 (if there are still people around and if they have it relatively good) would see it equally when looking to the year 2000.

I'd be worried some rich psychopath (actually, probably an AI) would resurrect people and put them into a torture dungeon for eternity.

Imagine never being able to die. Only suffer.

No mouth, must scream vibes.

Who knows what the future holds.

But in the remote chance this is what the future holds, the AI may not even need your body. It might be able to simulate you up to the moment of your death. Or find some quirk of physics and pull you forward in time. To suffer forever.

Or maybe it's benevolent and lets us live in an eternity of bliss?

Maybe it gets bored and does this for all humans that ever lived. There might be some arbitrary criteria or some random number generator it uses to decide your fate.

I find all of this much more compelling than religion's perspective of the afterlife.

Take that, Basilisk. My machination is worse (or better).

Re: At 31, I have just weeks to live. Here's what I want to pass on

#140

Post by Andrew_nenakhov »

goodcanadian wrote: post #87
dhsysusbsjsi wrote: post #8

The nicest bit for me was where he talked about growing old being a privilege and not to lament every grey hair and wrinkle. Puts it in perspective.

As I often say, "Growing old sucks, but it is better than the alternative."* *I can't take credit. I got it from someone else, but I don't remember who.

Thing is, we don't quite know about the alternative. The undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveller returns and all that.
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