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On Old Age

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Re: On Old Age

#91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He or she did indeed do that. I find the constant ranting about taxation here very trying, I frequent many financial and more "right-wing" forums, but HN is the only place I commonly see the taxation is theft argument made seriously on a regular basis. I'd love to know why that is, but it appears to be one of life's great mysteries. My mother's advice on this still stays with me: never look at your gross pay, and you…

You might want to consider reading my reply before you start spouting nonsense about right-wing forums , it might answer your question about why I chose taxation as an example of something which is seen as normal in current society but might be seen in a totally different light in some imaginary future society. It might help you understand that your rant is misplaced since my comparison only works because taxation is…

Dude, I'm totally with you on the broader point (that things that seem normal today will seem bizarre in the future).

However, I note that I didn't refer to HN as one of these "right-wing forums", rather I was speaking about financial news, which I would naively have expected to be more anti-taxation than a forum populated by people working on the fruits of a massive forty year defence project (the Internet/WWW).

Like, I personally disagree with you that taxation will be seen in those terms, but given that both of us will (probably) be dead before such a matter compiler exists, it's probably a moot point.

And by the way, my comment was not a rant (I don't think I've ever ranted on HN, to be honest, as tone doesn't come through well on the internet).

Maybe someday we'll meet in person, and you can actually listen to a rant of mine (normally entertaining, even if you disagree).

Anyway, taxation is liberty!

Re: On Old Age

#92
post #90
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>It's really odd of you saying that for Buddhism, life a "dance". This is really not what Buddhism is about. Alan Watts--who had a thing or two to say about Buddhism--disagrees with you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERbvKrH-GC4

That video doesn't support your statement at all. Besides, I don't think Alan Watts is an authoritative source on Buddhism regardless.

Neither are you or I. We're just expressing opinions. Like Cicero.

Re: On Old Age

#93
post #92
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That video doesn't support your statement at all. Besides, I don't think Alan Watts is an authoritative source on Buddhism regardless.

Neither are you or I. We're just expressing opinions. Like Cicero.

But you did try to back your claim with a source when challenged on this point, didn't you? Clearly we're not simply "expressing opinions" here.

Re: On Old Age

#94
I see a very common misunderstanding of Stoic thought in this thread. It doesn’t advocate passivity. As a matter of fact, the Roman Stoic school was a school of many doers and had a very cosmopolitan outlook.

Stoicism simply advocates an indifference to things outside of your control. You should not be perturbed by your emotions; your perceptions and reactions are the roots of your suffering. In our reality, and Cicero’s before, old age and death are inevitable. That does not mean we cannot attempt to prevent it or research a “solution” to it. It simply means in the interim our opinion of it should not perturb your inner peace (easier said than done!). The one thing you almost always have control over (forgiving biochemistry :D) are your opinions about things.

If that research was fruitful, then it _would_ be something in our control and the Stoic evaluation of it would change. Cicero‘s comments here are contextual and, I might add, beautiful.

Re: On Old Age

#95
post #7

I'm 50 now, and this is going to be hard for me because I've got little practice in dealing with disability. Even now, I'm about to run a celebratory 50k rather than my usual yearly 42k marathon. I will never again break my best time, but it's my annual proof that I can still do this thing. And yet it's coming. Bifocals are in my near future. I have very preliminary symptoms of prostate trouble. I'm not used to needi…

There was a post not long ago on here by a young man (32 iirc?) that had a terminal illness and was sharing his final thoughts. One idea stood out to me, he said that getting old is a privilege that not everyone has the opportunity to experience. It was a new perspective for me on aging, perhaps the sentiment can be meaningful to you as well.

I believe this is the post that is being referred to, for those who are interested.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19203617

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