Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

What Dreams May Come

d4l3.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

211–220 of 399 posts

Re: What Dreams May Come

#211

Post by rosser »

sneak wrote: post #8
bherms wrote: post #2

It's sad that when we find out something this devastating (you're dying), that we have to spend our last weeks/months/years worrying about, of all things, money. Nobody deserves this sort of thing happening to them, and when it does happen, it hurts me to think they can't spend their last months on earth focused on enjoying time with their loved ones and instead have to live in fear that their family is going to be a…

We spend most of our lives, terminal or not, "worrying about" money. That's the beauty (or perhaps tragedy to some people) of a capitalist society. We are driven by our metric for value. It's not a bad thing.

We are driven by our metric for value.

A great many of us feel we're being driven by someone else's metric for value.

I, for one, don't find that a good thing at all.

Re: What Dreams May Come

#212

Post by toothbrush »

ilovecookies wrote: post #186
melling wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are over 7 billion people on the planet. A day doesn't go by without a story like this. We just don't hear about most of them. Someday a person like this will simply go to his doctor, get a prescription, and go on to live a normal life. Rather than dwelling on sadness, maybe we should ask if there isn't something we can do, as a group, to make that day arrive sooner. What would it take to cure, or at least trea…

This is also what I'm thinking. Yes, this is probably a terrible experience he is going through, but if people 'really' wanted to help maybe giving to a cancer research institution or donating to people that have 'real' needs, like putting food on the table or access to fresh water. Wouldnt that honestly be more fair and better than to a guy who needs to pay of his mortgage today? I mean the average time to pay of a…

Hm, unfortunately the misanthrope in me agrees with ilovecookies. My donation, too, will be going to feeding and providing basic medicine to underprivileged people, not financing some guy's huge car and 4 children in a 1st world home.

Re: What Dreams May Come

#213

Post by dllthomas »

theknown99 wrote: post #28
melling wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are over 7 billion people on the planet. A day doesn't go by without a story like this. We just don't hear about most of them. Someday a person like this will simply go to his doctor, get a prescription, and go on to live a normal life. Rather than dwelling on sadness, maybe we should ask if there isn't something we can do, as a group, to make that day arrive sooner. What would it take to cure, or at least trea…

Without sounding unfeeling, do we really want to add to the overcrowding and population explosion problem that much? Earth is full. Our population has doubled in the short time I've been alive. Doesn't that scare the shit out of anyone else? Imagine what would happen if you suddenly cured all forms of cancer. People would live even longer. Population would shoot up. Lack of housing, lack of jobs. More pensioners... e…

On a more poetic note: http://www.nickbostrom.com/fable/dragon.html

Re: What Dreams May Come

#214

Post by woobar »

johnward wrote: post #150
MisterBastahrd wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Life insurance is something that you have to purchase for sums of that magnitude, and a lot of people are too busy buying other things to worry about spending the 10-20 bucks a month that it costs. Usually an employer will give you an additional survivor's benefit, usually between 10K to up to a year's worth of salary.

Everyone keeps saying this. Where can you spend 10-20 bucks a month and get 100-200k coverage? I pay way more than that for like 50k coverage and I got the plane when I was 23.

Just shop around. I pay $350 for $1M term life policy. And I've got it when I was near 40.

Re: What Dreams May Come

#215

Post by terragold »

I have sympathy for this guy as a human being with cancer, especially with a family and all. But I have no sympathy for this guy as a person and for the financial choices he has made.

Having 4 kids, big house and car, expensive grave, need to travel, meet celebrities screams greed, irresponsibility and entitlement.

You could have not had 4 kids and had 2. You could have rented a place and bought a used car. The problem isn't wanting something better, the problem is that you decided to buy those things without earning it and with money you did not have. All these are choices you made as a person. And to take your family down with you is selfish and irresponsible.

Definitely won't be donating.

Re: What Dreams May Come

#216

Post by girvo »

MisterBastahrd wrote: post #10
girvo wrote: post #3

I feel nothing but sympathy for Jonathan. I can barely imagine the pain he and his family would be going through :( What are the medical costs for someone with terminal cancer in the USA? I assume they're pretty astronomical, so I can understand why he'd ask for help (I'm donating myself). In terms of his house and the like, I was always led to believe that life insurance was specifically for cases like his? Is life…

Life insurance is something that you have to purchase for sums of that magnitude, and a lot of people are too busy buying other things to worry about spending the 10-20 bucks a month that it costs. Usually an employer will give you an additional survivor's benefit, usually between 10K to up to a year's worth of salary.

Yeah I know you have to prchase it specifically, it's just that my family and family friends all have life insurance to specifically cover their mortgage. I was trying to work out whether that's just a quirk of my family/friend circle :)

Re: What Dreams May Come

#217

Post by timcederman »

robinhoode wrote: post #183
darthclue wrote: post #74

Jonathan here. Being woke up by my wife crying because the donations just aren't stopping is both heart-breaking and comforting. For those of you who haven't seen the 'Bucket List' post, here's what it says at the very top: As I try to deal with the reality that is my impending death I can't help but wonder how many things I might have been able to accomplish given just a little more time. When I was diagnosed, I had…

Have you considered cryonics at all? This woman was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and funded her procedure with donations: http://www.themarysue.com/woman-cryogenic-sleep/

I'm fairly sure you mean well, but this is actually a pretty tone-deaf comment.

Re: What Dreams May Come

#218

Post by talmir »

futurist wrote: post #131
lnanek2 wrote: post #125

Kind of bizarre seeing someone else's value system which is completely alien to my own. If I was leaving my wife and kids with mortgage and car loan debt, I wouldn't spend $10-20k on a graveyard plot, that's for sure. I don't think I would in any case, I'd just get cremated or whatever the cheapest option is.

Right. I think this is what bothers me about this list. It's material driven. There's a saying that goes (paraphrasing) "don't wish for better circumstances, wish to be a better person." For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Mark 8:36 KJV. Jonathan, you and your family must look to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is your judge. Through Him all things are possible.

Yep, lets just jump on the god-phone and call god to get him to help him out in this instance. Just like he helps starving or diseased people throughout the world every day. Or my uncle, who died of cancer recently.

The list seems material because he is worried about his family. They need to eat and they need a roof over their head. We are all a bit material. I notice you are using hacker news which suggests you must have some kind of an income and access to technology. He is dying. He is worried. Would you not feel the same?

How about, instead of quoting bible bullshit to help you not so silently judge a man with cancer, you shut the heck up and donate a tiny bit to the man so he can live the rest of his days with that much less worry?

Jonathan : Find solace where you can. My heart goes out to you.

Re: What Dreams May Come

#219

Post by kiba »

timcederman wrote: post #217
robinhoode wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you considered cryonics at all? This woman was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and funded her procedure with donations: http://www.themarysue.com/woman-cryogenic-sleep/

I'm fairly sure you mean well, but this is actually a pretty tone-deaf comment.

Why is it a tone-deaf comment?

Re: What Dreams May Come

#220

Post by timcederman »

kiba wrote: post #219
timcederman wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm fairly sure you mean well, but this is actually a pretty tone-deaf comment.

Why is it a tone-deaf comment?

For most folks in this position, particularly with 4 young children, cryogenics is not exactly at the top of their priority list.

Cryogenics might be an interesting "hail mary" for someone without a dependent family, but it seems crass suggesting it in this context.

Post reply on HN