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Life Is Short (2016)

paulgraham.com

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Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#201

Post by osrec »

> If you had a handful of 8 peanuts, or a shelf of 8 books to choose from, the quantity would definitely seem limited, no matter what your lifespan was.

I find this argument strange, especially since he uses the word "seem". "Seem" does not mean "is".

If you really want to make life seem short, measure it in millennia. You only get a fraction of one.

Personally, I feel it's about your state of mind. If you're depressed, life feels unbelievably long. If things are going well, then you don't want the good times to ever end, and it seems short.

I don't really know how to conclude whether life is or isn't short. All I can conclude from the article is that PG is quite happy with his!

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#203

Post by xvilka »

raydiatian wrote: post #24

Here’s my perspective on life: dying is probably the whole point of your life, or perhaps coming to terms with it, and conquering your fear of it. All other forms of “importance” derive from this root. - It is is unlikely anything you do will “matter”. Out of ~117 billion people to have ever lived over countless millennia, the lives of note throughout history are what? 10k? 100k? Even if it’s 1b meaningful lives that…

> It is is unlikely anything you do will “matter”. Out of ~117 billion people to have ever lived over countless millennia, the lives of note throughout history are what? 10k? 100k? Even if it’s 1b meaningful lives that weren’t just an aggregate in the wave of babies, you’ve got a worse than 1% chance of being meaningful. Or, perhaps all lives are significant on a level we are incapable of comprehending. If it defies comprehension, what is the use in crafting a meaningful life?

Forward few million years to the future. It turned nobody mattered, talented or not, recorded in history or not. High chances the whole civilization will disappear without any trace. So, essentially, nothing ever matters except now.

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#204

Post by dinosaurdynasty »

brutusborn wrote: post #50
epicureanideal wrote: post #39

...but it doesn't need to be. There are people working on real, scientific, anti-aging technology, like the Longevity Escape Velocity (LEV) Foundation, SENS Foundation (I prefer LEVF though), and the many individuals involved, but especially Aubrey de Grey. One of the reasons I got into software development was to try to make enough money to contribute to these causes, or to work on the problems directly in bioinform…

What got you interested in life extension? And how long would you want to live for? I’ve never understood the philosophy behind life extension research, because to me it seems like a case of spending a lot of resources in the hope of improving something that isn’t really broken. However I love people with passion and I value freedom, so I’m glad that people get to work on it even if I feel like it’s probably a bit of…

I (not OP) want to see the death of a supermassive black hole, so 10^106 years or so. I'm sure I can figure out what to do in the meantime!

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#205

Post by davidmpaz »

> If you're a freelancer or a small company, you can do this at the level of individual customers. If you fire or avoid toxic customers, you can decrease the amount of bullshit in your life by more than you decrease your income.

This have been proven true to me so many times!

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#206

Post by theGnuMe »

Nomentatus wrote: post #68
isoprophlex wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or when they're hungry. Or over-stimulated, under-stimulated, tired, anxious over something that happened at school, hyped for the holiday season. Guilt-tripping someone who shares that they're not always having a good time as a parent is not cool. Your comment is over-generalizing, and IMO quite mean.

Yet there is a very large societal problem here worth pointing at. Parental time with children in this society is bizarrely low by anthropological standards. You can get a look at the stark difference by reading the book "The Old Way," about a nomadic society.

It's actually higher:

https://ourworldindata.org/parents-time-with-kids

I don't think nomadic parenting time is really a useful comparison.

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#207

Post by stormking »

ido wrote: post #196
stormking wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Biblical lifespans seem nice, but only if you wholly believe the stories. Given how often the same stories come up across different civilisations, I'm sceptical they're accurate. WTF? "Skeptical", probably not "accurate"? You have to be absolutely nuts to think that they're even remotely true.

I think you're taking a humorous tone[0] too literally. The poster you answer to was saying that they think the biblical stories are myths/legends. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Understatement

I'm usually very good at detecting irony, tongue-in-cheek and similar "humorous tones". I see nothing indicating it here.

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#209

Post by epicureanideal »

xvilka wrote: post #200
epicureanideal wrote: post #39

...but it doesn't need to be. There are people working on real, scientific, anti-aging technology, like the Longevity Escape Velocity (LEV) Foundation, SENS Foundation (I prefer LEVF though), and the many individuals involved, but especially Aubrey de Grey. One of the reasons I got into software development was to try to make enough money to contribute to these causes, or to work on the problems directly in bioinform…

Beating death is good. I think it will not happen any time soon though. In a few centuries, maybe. Certainly not in my lifetime.

The leading organizer of research in the field thinks it has a 50% chance of being achieved in 15 years.

Specifically, longevity escape velocity being achieved, meaning for each year you live the technology improves fast enough that you get another year.

Whatever can be done to raise the odds is obviously preferable, because there’s also a chance it won’t happen in our lifetime and that would be really bad.

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#210

Post by r3trohack3r »

My daughter is turning 5 in a few weeks. I realized I only have 3 more of these until she’s (likely) moving out. 4x5=20, and she’ll likely be living her own life by 20. Most of the time you spend with your kids is spent by the time they’re 16.

I moved away from my hometown. I see my immediate relatives twice a year now, once at Christmas and once in the summer. Most of my family is getting old. I probably have 125 or so more visits with my parents, 20-50 with my grandparents, and less than 10 with my great grandpa. I keep these numbers in mind every time I go home.

Life isn’t short. Meaningful moments are. Don’t take them for granted.

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