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You are not running out of time

rahulbijlani.com

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Re: You are not running out of time

#81

Post by CamperBob »

pjscott wrote: post #76
CamperBob wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Put it this way, I'd like to see human mortality conquered, but I don't want to be alive when it happens. If you think class warfare is a problem now, wait until only the so-called "rich" get to live forever. The others will tear the world apart.

Why would only rich people get to live longer? Advanced technology has tended to get cheaper over time, often dramatically. I'm not saying that things wouldn't be scary and tumultuous for a while, but the alternative is to slowly sicken and decay into oblivion before you've had even a single century of life. This should not be a tough decision!

Yeah, it gets cheaper over time, but there will probably be at least a few years during which the technology will be more like private space travel.

Imagine if the few people who've been able to book passage to the ISS were instead the only ones who could afford immortality. Those are not going to be fun years.

Re: You are not running out of time

#82

Post by BasDirks »

"What that quickly meant to me was that wasting time and opportunities were criminal, with my own potential achievements as victims that needed to be rescued from the assault of lost hours and non-productivity."

Beautiful writing.

Re: You are not running out of time

#83

Post by keeptrying »

I think this only applies when your actively pursuing your dreams. Ie you keep challenging yourself and are never in autopilot mode. As soon as you become complacent I think you are again running out of time.

If you've never taken the time to pursue your own goals is another situation in which your definitely running out of time. For example: If you've always wanted to start your own company but you've never tried because of the fear of failure.

Re: You are not running out of time

#84

Post by nitrogen »

kiba wrote: post #32
Jach wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I can agree with the author's point I think it was poorly expressed (your summary is better) and the way he suggests embodying the point seems contradictory to making an effort against Death. Though I think if people did have a certain expectation to live billions of years we wouldn't have very many hurried people around, though that's just my own speculation. > Not to mention the disappointment you might feel…

They would also take great effort to find black swans and long shot. Living a really long life can make you ambitious. If you're an old 75 years old, than you might be predisposed to the short term. The young don't know they have it, and the old don't care. If you're going to live on the average lifespan of a 100,000 thousand years and improving, than 50 years is no problem to be wasting your time on big projects. Yo…

The unfortunate, but probably avoidable downside: the rich old people most interested in and capable of affording life extension therapy give so much inertia to the status quo that humanity's progress is thrown to a screeching halt.

Re: You are not running out of time

#85

Post by sayemm »

My econ professor in undergrad did some interesting research on utility and happiness: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mkimball/pdf/uhap.pdf

I think the sooner you figure out exactly what your utility curve is (e.g. what really drives you and what you're looking for out of life), the more successful you'll be at maximizing it and living a fulfilling life.

The meaning of life is to make the most meaning out of it.

Re: You are not running out of time

#86

Post by nitrogen »

danenania wrote: post #80
reasonattlm wrote: post #2

Beg to differ. I'd say that if you're not feeling pressed, that you have too little time left, then you don't have anywhere near an adequate view of the plausible future. A golden age lies ahead, of glittering marvels to make all that has come so far pale to insignificance. But unless we step up to the plate and master biotechnology a lot faster and better than is presently managed, all of us reading this now will mi…

Everyone and everything dies/decays/is destroyed eventually. Does it really matter if it happens after 100 years or a 1000 years or even a million? The universe will continue existing and existing and whatever time you were alive will become less than a speck of dust in relation. ¨Life is preparation for death¨ no matter how long it lasts. We are beings of transience and impermanence. If you aren´t satisfied with 80…

We are beings of transience and impermanence. If you aren´t satisfied with 80 years, you won´t be satisfied with 8000.

Satisfaction and permanence are not binary attributes. One needn't find complete contentment in any arbitrary lifespan to conclude that one could be more satisfied with a long life span than a short one. Plus, the longer one lives, the more likely it is that some true form of permanent conscious existence may be discovered and/or invented.

Re: You are not running out of time

#88

Post by flipside »

reasonattlm wrote: post #60
dasil003 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hope his optimism is unwarranted. While I certainly would have a hard time turning down the opportunity to live longer, I don't think greatly extending peoples lives will be good for the individuals, society or the planet. Life and death is a beautiful cycle; not something to be defeated due an overwhelming fear of death.

You'll have to explain a little harder how the great suffering currently afflicting hundreds of millions of people due to aging is both beautiful and good for them. Or the hundred thousand people who died from aging in the past 24 hours: was it good for them as individuals? How about their families and companions? In short, I don't think you've thought your position through particularly carefully.

Children only come into their own after their parents have left the picture, however it is that happens.

Can you imagine being a part of the younger generation when immortality is discovered or extended longevity? Would jobs ever open up, or promotions be available? Nobody will retire at the top, so there will be extremely little turnover. How can the young hope to surpass the old if the old hold all the keys and never let go?

Sure, aging is scary, but have you really thought through all the implications of curing it? Heck, have you even thought about why it exists in the first place? There are many cancer lines that never age, so why haven't organisms evolved that never get old? If you have an answer, I'd love to hear it.

Re: You are not running out of time

#89

Post by paganel »

grellas wrote: post #49

In a sense, each of us lives our life in Titanic style, setting forth in the confident assumption that we are unsinkable and placing an unduly high value on our capacity to meet any challenge, panicking (or at least feeling a sense of stoic distress) at the mid-point as it first truly hits us that we are about to slam into the iceberg of inevitable aging and decline, sweating it out over a seemingly interminable peri…

> panicking (or at least feeling a sense of stoic distress) at the mid-point as it first truly hits us that we are about to slam into the iceberg of inevitable aging and decline,

Maybe a little OT, maybe not:

> Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita

> mi ritrovai per una selva oscura,

> ché la diritta via era smarrita.

> Midway upon the journey of our life

> I found myself within a forest dark,

> For the straightforward pathway had been lost.

The first three lines of Dante's Paradise Lost.

Re: You are not running out of time

#90

Post by mapleoin »

paganel wrote: post #89
grellas wrote: post #49

In a sense, each of us lives our life in Titanic style, setting forth in the confident assumption that we are unsinkable and placing an unduly high value on our capacity to meet any challenge, panicking (or at least feeling a sense of stoic distress) at the mid-point as it first truly hits us that we are about to slam into the iceberg of inevitable aging and decline, sweating it out over a seemingly interminable peri…

> panicking (or at least feeling a sense of stoic distress) at the mid-point as it first truly hits us that we are about to slam into the iceberg of inevitable aging and decline, Maybe a little OT, maybe not: > Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita > mi ritrovai per una selva oscura, > ché la diritta via era smarrita. > Midway upon the journey of our life > I found myself within a forest dark, > For the straightforward…

Dante wrote The Divine Comedy. Milton wrote Paradise Lost.
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