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Life Is Short (2016)

paulgraham.com

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Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#271

Post by brutusborn »

dfadgasfdads wrote: post #238
brutusborn wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s why he said “religious constructs” and not “religions”. I believe religious systems are useful, but I agree with the parent that concepts like the afterlife are absurd concepts used to alleviate existential dread. Maybe this utility means it isn’t absurd, but I would say that many religions don’t have the concept of an afterlife, so other less-absurd concepts may provide the same functionality without the same…

As you're portraying believing in the hereafter as a cope for existential dread, you could say the opposite. The disbeliever tries to ridicule the concept of an afterlife as to allievate the dread of being held accountable for their deeds on the day of judgement which would likely lead them to an eternal and painful hell. In Islam, it's very clearly mentioned that each individual will be judged according to their dee…

I respect your passion and faith but I think you are very mistaken.

I tried to read some of the Quran but couldn’t find anything that spoke to me. Can you recommend any good sections or translations? Maybe the parts that make you so certain of the afterlife?

I will criticise one of your points since it seems fairly objective. Aren’t there many versions of Quran and countless hadiths? https://answering-islam.org/Green/seven.htm

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#272

Post by brutusborn »

feanaro wrote: post #223
brutusborn wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In this case I think that the mystery of life requires something to avoid existential angst, and some people use the afterlife as that something. Other religions (like Buddhism) might view the entire question of “what is this?” as absurd, and so use methods like meditation to help alleviate the angst, thus avoiding absurd beliefs. TLDR: the mystery isn’t the absurdity but our reaction to it might be absurd.

Buddhism has plenty of "absurd" beliefs of this sort. If anything, the delineation of "absurd" is anything but simple.

Yeah some sects can get whacky. I think the core Buddhist tenets are pretty much absurdity free but I agree that it’s not simple to determine.

Are there any beliefs in particular you were thinking of?

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#273

Post by paulryanrogers »

watwut wrote: post #259
paulryanrogers wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try not to judge, you don't know their circumstances. Some may have medical, family, or cultural challenges ("Homeschool is only way! Daycare is the devil!") that make time at home stressful.

> "Homeschool is only way! Daycare is the devil!" If they have either of those "cultural challenges", then they are literally dropping even more work and isolation on their wifes. That is why it is egoism. Because when they do this, their partner has no choice but to do it all. And the partner is getting no break. I do knows guys like that. They walk around happy. Their wife's walk around stressed, tired, loosing the…

> If they have either of those "cultural challenges", then they are literally dropping even more work and isolation on their wifes. That is why it is egoism.

No, I mean the breadwinner may be stressed because their SO has such an attitude. Therefore the kids are basically always home, and no one ever gets a break. Some folks also decide to have kids and agree to parenting strategies, only later to realize they're not working. If the stay-home partner insists on "the one true way" then even counseling may not be enough.

Again, the broader point is you may not have the whole picture. Try to assume good intentions, and if circumstances are undeniably out of balance look for constructive ways to help.

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#274

Post by andyjohnson0 »

tracyhenry wrote: post #235
andyjohnson0 wrote: post #231

An average-ish human lifespan of 80 years is approximately 1000 months, or 4000 weeks, or 10,000 days. It's frightening,but my memento mori is to remind myself of this periodically.

80 years = 29,220 days

Sigh... typo. Should have been 30,000. Thanks

It's still not enough.

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#275

Post by unity1001 »

Glawen wrote: post #156
unity1001 wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This had an unfortunate effect of creating a group of people who never worked and all they did was raise 3-5 children. You dont seem to be aware that such programs are designed to have people raise such 5-6 children while doing nothing else in order to bump up the declining population. And if you think raising 6 children is not work... boy...

I believe these program exist in the sole purpose of reducing criminality, so that the poor don't start thinking of robberies.

Nope. They were implemented to encourage people to have kids. When it was seen that it worked on immigrants too, it was an added bonus.

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#276

Post by unity1001 »

rvba wrote: post #237
unity1001 wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This had an unfortunate effect of creating a group of people who never worked and all they did was raise 3-5 children. You dont seem to be aware that such programs are designed to have people raise such 5-6 children while doing nothing else in order to bump up the declining population. And if you think raising 6 children is not work... boy...

The problem is that (1) those programs seem to "produce" (as awful as it sounds) undesirable people who dont work nor contribute to society. There are entire families (grandparents, parents, children) who lived their whole lives on benefits. So for the society they are a net loss. And on top of that they often do petty theft. (2) if you are in middle class, or low class (but still working) you are contributing for ot…

> The problem is that (1) those programs seem to "produce" (as awful as it sounds) undesirable people who dont work nor contribute to society

The problem is that (1) that is patently false.

Take the case of Germany. So many Turkish immigrants. So many used those programs and had many children. So many complained. Yet, Germany's most famous footballer, the makers of Crysis, the inventor of the Biontech vaccine (the one that you know as Pfizer) are all such kids born to such families.

Since your initial propositon is flat out false, I dont see the need to address the others.

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#277

Post by ramraj07 »

r3trohack3r wrote: post #216
ramraj07 wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This may be true, but this is not the majority of your life - unless you’re on some mission to repopulate the earth, you’ll have maybe 8-10 years when you have children who aren’t babies who want to play with you. Apparently people become magically wise during those years and then quickly forget these wisdom after. If that’s not true then you should be seeing a glut of extremely wise people who’ve been “corrected” by…

> Apparently people become magically wise during those years and then quickly forget these wisdom after. Sample size of 1, but there is a noticeable difference in my friend and family group between people with kids and without kids. Particularly around “having it together.” Children are little logistical nightmares, more so the younger they are. From scheduling around the kids schedules (I.e when they wake up, have d…

You don’t sell a pretty picture of child rearing and it’s purported benefits. “But it’s all worth it!” Doesn’t keep staying persuasive at some point you know!

Reg. Your grandparents forgetting the problems you have, consider that maybe they never had your problems to begin with! It’s a known fact that parenting has become a self inflicting masochistic venture in the recent generations, compounded by the increasingly nuclear nature of family structures.

I would still like to have kids but sincerely hope to not screw up my life in that endeavor (saving up for a night nanny and hoping to have our parents around to help out).

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#278

Post by ramraj07 »

xyzelement wrote: post #213
ramraj07 wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This may be true, but this is not the majority of your life - unless you’re on some mission to repopulate the earth, you’ll have maybe 8-10 years when you have children who aren’t babies who want to play with you. Apparently people become magically wise during those years and then quickly forget these wisdom after. If that’s not true then you should be seeing a glut of extremely wise people who’ve been “corrected” by…

I think you misunderstood the point. Most of the time, the things that are screaming for our attention are not the truly important things, so it's easy to get distracted and waste time. When we have little kids, they happen to be both important and screaming for our attention, which makes it much easier for us to focus on what's important. That's the point he was making. I actually observed this in my life a week ago…

I’d argue you misunderstood it. I’m hypothesizing that your lizard brain forces this “kids are important” attitude on you and is artificial and ephemeral. Not what truly makes you happy long term.

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#279

Post by dorchadas »

zemvpferreira wrote: post #219
r3trohack3r wrote: post #210

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…

This is inevitably going to sound facetious but you can always move back. Give up some things, gain others. Isn't that what this essay's about? I'm 40. My parents are 75 and I recently moved back next door to them. I expect to be here until they die. Is it my favourite place to live? No. Best for my career? Couldn't be worse. But I see my folks every day. I see my childhood friends every week. I see as much of my fam…

This is actually something that's been weighing on my mind heavily this holiday season, as I'm home in the first time for a year. It's...difficult for me. I love seeing my good friends and family, but there's also nothing in this town for me (apart from a job); it's in rural Kentucky, and there's nothing there to promote my interests (mainly academic) and good luck finding any long-term partners (I'm about as far from a Trump supporter as you can get). But, I truly miss seeing my family and friends regularly, more than I realised. It's a tough decision, and one I'll probably actually discuss with my friends on our annual New Years trip.

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#280

Post by dinosaurdynasty »

brutusborn wrote: post #269
dinosaurdynasty wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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!

I hope you succeed! Just don’t park too close :P

Well it'd be the last thing I see either way
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