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Life Is Short (2016)

paulgraham.com

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Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#281

Post by testing404 »

rscho wrote: post #249
digbybk wrote: post #239

I really like this, but to to add an alternate perspective: I’m skeptical of deathbed regrets, and regrets in general. I don’t think your present self actually knows what your past self went through. We remember events but are bad at remembering emotions except in very broad, general ways. You might say “I wish I had spent more time with my kids and less time at work”. But you won’t remember the feeling of dissatisfa…

> the pride you felt when you delivered on a difficult project. Never felt that way. Which is why family always comes first for me.

Test

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#282

Post by gamechangr »

Glawen wrote: post #158
msie wrote: post #73

At 51, I am trying to come to grips with wasting my life in my 20s, 30s and 40s. I don't remember doing anything memorable during that time. I spent too much time doing bullshit programming or doing the same old comfortable things with friends. I wish I dated more. Tried more things that young people can do. I was too scared to make mistakes. Now I can't go back. It's driving me nuts.

What can young people do now that you could not do ? Internet stuff? The way I see it, young people now can do less than when I was young. For example lots of dangerous activities got prohibited (e.g. fireworks) or they added too much regulations (alcohol, cigarettes, mopeds). For good or worse, no more compulsory army at 18. We live in a very protective society where every threatening activity gets banned. As a Euro…

I wish that I had hiked the Appalachians mountains. its a 7 month journey one of my friends did it in his 20's. I'm in my 40's and in good shape, but im not sure I could do that one anymore.

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#284

Post by erenyeager »

brutusborn wrote: post #271
dfadgasfdads wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

When you say different versions of Quran, what you are talking about is very different from something like different Bible versions and edits and translations etc.

The Quran is multi form. Oral texts tradition and from the Hadith we know that the Quran was recited in different modes by the Prophet Muhammad pbuh. But these are all valid revelation. Actually one of the “miracles” linguistically about the Quran is how the authentic Qiraa’aat (the reading-out of the Quran) can be traced back to a chain of reciters authentically. And each Qiraa’aat adds eloquence to the Quran and it also speaks to the people of a certain dialect. Think about British English and American English and how the same word can be pronounced differently, and you begin to approach an understanding of Qiraa’aat.

Actually, different Qiraa’aat are essential to the revelation of the Quran and giving evidence about how it has been revealed as an “Arabic Quran” in which many examples of mankind and prophets are related.

These qiraa’aat add enhancement to the meaning of the Quran. For example, if you look up tafsir Al-Qurtubi [not sure if there is an English translation but you can find the Arabic text on Quran.com] (tafsir is an explanation of the Quran), of (verse 87 from chapter 20)[https://quran.com/20/87 ] you will find that the word ملكنا has three different readings مِلكنا ، مُلكنا، مَلكنا which when we transliterate to English we get: mulkinaa, milkinaa, malkinaa. Malkinaa and milkinaa translate to “our will”. Mulkinaa translates to “our power”.

And all together in the verse it enhances the meaning that shows that the Children of Israel were made to carry the burdens of weight of the jewelwery/ornaments from the Pharoah’s people.

Also in this verse, we have two readings for حملنا which are: حُمِّلنا and حَمَلنا which is hummilnaa, and hamalnaa, respectively. Hummilnaa is the passive voice and means “we were forced to carry”. While “Hamalnaa” translates to “we carried”.

Both of these convey a similar meaning of carrying, they enhance aspects of what is happening in the verse. Passive voice focuses on how people were forced to Carry while the active voice focuses on how people indeed did carry.

This is just one example of how important and helpful knowing Qiraa’aat are and Arabic.

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#285

Post by ElFitz »

keewee7 wrote: post #195
ElFitz wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If anything, human life got remarkably longer in the last century. Well, yes and no. That we live longer than our ancestors seems obvious and is a very common belief. And average life expectancy has indeed increased. But it really isn’t that clear cut. For example: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20181002-how-long-did-anc...

Everytime someone posts the correct fact that average lifespan has drastically increased in the past century someone will wrongly claim that it is only because we got better at lowering child morbidity. They might even link to the garbage BBC article that only looks at data for rich privileged people who did indeed live long lives centuries ago. However the rich and privileged of old times were not representative of…

Please do enlighten me as to how and where I aggressively stated anything here.

In the meantime, I will gladly point out that anyone who actually read said garbage article couldn’t have helped but notice how the author, very quickly establishes the difference between life expectancy and lifespan, before also pointing out how the data presents multiple huge biases.

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#286

Post by onei »

stormking wrote: post #207
ido wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I'd call it understatement. Rather than write it all off as fabrication, I'm open to believing there's elements of truth mixed in.

I don't believe Noah lived for 1000 years and had 2 of every animal on a boat. But I could believe there was a tsunami that killed thousands. I could also believe it was rationalised as a an act of god and eventually became the great flood that appears in the Bible.

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#287

Post by Glawen »

gamechangr wrote: post #282
Glawen wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What can young people do now that you could not do ? Internet stuff? The way I see it, young people now can do less than when I was young. For example lots of dangerous activities got prohibited (e.g. fireworks) or they added too much regulations (alcohol, cigarettes, mopeds). For good or worse, no more compulsory army at 18. We live in a very protective society where every threatening activity gets banned. As a Euro…

I wish that I had hiked the Appalachians mountains. its a 7 month journey one of my friends did it in his 20's. I'm in my 40's and in good shape, but im not sure I could do that one anymore.

Nothing is stopping you except family/work obligation. But I believe you can take a month off or at least 2 weeks to do a part of the trail, no?

I'm also perusing of doing a pilgrimage, not because I'm religious, but because it has a lot of facilities along the way. The real thing stopping me is to take the time off to do it.

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#288

Post by 5tefan »

I try not to regret. It is a pain to do so. You can't go back in time and you can't change a thing but we torment ourselves with the wish to do so. Stop doing that. We live now and if we want to spend more time with our loved ones we have to do it. Now. Not later.

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#289

Post by zemvpferreira »

dorchadas wrote: post #279
zemvpferreira wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 fro…

Here are options you could consider if your career supports remote work, all with their perks:

-Move to the nearest city that will support your interests and allow for weekly visits. Make Saturday or Sunday a family day.

-Work from your parents' town during the week and escape to a place in the city on the weekend.

-Spend different seasons in different places. I'm moving to Tokyo for 3 months next year as a breather.

There are no answers that don't require sacrifice but life design is ripe for parallel thinking. Don't settle for preconceived options without having a go at some different ways of being.

Re: Life Is Short (2016)

#290

Post by xyzelement »

ramraj07 wrote: post #278
xyzelement wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

First, I was just explaining what I thought the author meant. I guess you are making a parallel point.

Second, I haven't met many people who are "happy long term" who don't have children front and center in their lives. Have you? What is the thing that is giving your life meaning that during your days and on your death bed you will feel great about?

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