Me an' Algernon – grappling with (temporary) cognitive decline
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Me an' Algernon – grappling with (temporary) cognitive decline
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Re: Me an' Algernon – grappling with (temporary) cognitive decline
#2> When I re-read Flowers for Algernon recently I was just sad. The second half of the story, where his mind is going away, is just brutal, especially when he can remember how smart he was but knows it's gone for good.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21544149
"Von Neumann would carry on a conversation with my 3-year-old son, and the two of them would talk as equals, and I sometimes wondered if he used the same principle when he talked to the rest of us." - Edward Teller
I watched a documentary from the 80ies a long time ago. A mathematician (can't remember his name) who worked with von Neumann in Los Alamanos was interviewed. He described von Neumann's last weeks in the hospital - the cancer had already metastasized into his brain. The mathematician said something along this lines (I am citing from memory): "von Neumann was constantly visited by colleagues, who wanted to discuss their latest work with him. He tried to keep up, struggling, like in old times. But he couldn't. Try to imagine having one of the greatest minds maybe in the history of mankind. And then try to imagine losing this gift. I was terrible. I have never seen a man experience greater suffering."
Marina von Neumann (his daughter) later wrote this about his final weeks:
"After only a few minutes, my father made what seemed to be a very peculiar and frightening request from a man who was widely regarded as one of the greatest - if not the greatest - mathematician of the 20th century. He wanted me to give him two numbers, like 7 and 6 or 10 and 3, and ask him to tell me their sum. For as long as I can remember, I had always known that my father's major source of self-regard, what he felt to be the very essence of his being, was his incredible mental capacity. In this late stage of his illness, he must have been aware that this capacity was deteriorating rapidly, and the panic that caused was worse than any physical pain. In demanding that I test him on these elementary sums, he was seeking reassurance that at least a small fragment of this intellectual powers remained."
Re: Me an' Algernon – grappling with (temporary) cognitive decline
#3If you experience temporary cognitive decline like this definitely pay attention to it, it can indicate serious stressors in your life that need to be dealt with immediately. It can get worse steadily if you ignore it!
Re: Me an' Algernon – grappling with (temporary) cognitive decline
#4> When I re-read Flowers for Algernon recently I was just sad. The second half of the story, where his mind is going away, is just brutal, especially when he can remember how smart he was but knows it's gone for good. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21544149 "Von Neumann would carry on a conversation with my 3-year-old son, and the two of them would talk as equals, and I sometimes wondered if he used the same pr…
Now keep in mind that that frustration - the absolute torture of losing who and what you are - applies to everyone going through something like this, not just the greatest minds of their time.
Makes me glad that we're starting to look at assisted dying more seriously...
Re: Me an' Algernon – grappling with (temporary) cognitive decline
#5What is “the genie” that is referred to a few times? An AI coding copilot?
Re: Me an' Algernon – grappling with (temporary) cognitive decline
#6> When I re-read Flowers for Algernon recently I was just sad. The second half of the story, where his mind is going away, is just brutal, especially when he can remember how smart he was but knows it's gone for good. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21544149 "Von Neumann would carry on a conversation with my 3-year-old son, and the two of them would talk as equals, and I sometimes wondered if he used the same pr…
Now keep in mind that that frustration - the absolute torture of losing who and what you are - applies to everyone going through something like this, not just the greatest minds of their time. Makes me glad that we're starting to look at assisted dying more seriously...
why not try to cure alzheimer or other mental diseases that show up on the elderly instead?
Re: Me an' Algernon – grappling with (temporary) cognitive decline
#7If you experience temporary cognitive decline like this definitely pay attention to it, it can indicate serious stressors in your life that need to be dealt with immediately. It can get worse steadily if you ignore it!
I am actually just starting to go on medical leave from work due to this
My performance has been going down, my anxiety and stress are through the roof. Honestly you wouldn't know it from talking to me, other than the fact my memory is shot
I'm completely forgetting stuff minutes after it happens
I'm very unhappy with the feeling, and I hate going on leave for this, but I have to. I'm not even 40 and this is the second time in my life I've burned out hard like this
Re: Me an' Algernon – grappling with (temporary) cognitive decline
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
Now keep in mind that that frustration - the absolute torture of losing who and what you are - applies to everyone going through something like this, not just the greatest minds of their time. Makes me glad that we're starting to look at assisted dying more seriously...
why not try to cure alzheimer or other mental diseases that show up on the elderly instead?
Are these mutually exclusive ideas? Can we not pursue research in this area while not forcing families to watch their loved ones slowly lose their mind and wither away?
Re: Me an' Algernon – grappling with (temporary) cognitive decline
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
why not try to cure alzheimer or other mental diseases that show up on the elderly instead?
Are these mutually exclusive ideas? Can we not pursue research in this area while not forcing families to watch their loved ones slowly lose their mind and wither away?
I guess we can explore both, but I'd ask you to research how these laws are already affecting families too in new ways on places where eutanasia is already legal.
It's easy on older -about to die-, people, but what about not such clear cut cases, some families are actually against their beloved ones taking their lifes, and the state allowing it, (Parents suing their offspring, to try and not have them do it, for example)
and yes, a judge rules out on such cases, but to me, well, i dont see why the state should -sanction- taking your own life, when is something that shouldn't be natural, there's medical cases for sure, but laws sadly aren't perfect, i'd rather have no one wrongly off themselves
Re: Me an' Algernon – grappling with (temporary) cognitive decline
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are these mutually exclusive ideas? Can we not pursue research in this area while not forcing families to watch their loved ones slowly lose their mind and wither away?
I guess we can explore both, but I'd ask you to research how these laws are already affecting families too in new ways on places where eutanasia is already legal. It's easy on older -about to die-, people, but what about not such clear cut cases, some families are actually against their beloved ones taking their lifes, and the state allowing it, (Parents suing their offspring, to try and not have them do it, for exam…
> I guess we can explore both, but I'd ask you to research how these laws are already affecting families too in new ways on places where eutanasia is already legal.
Can you provide some reading? Because this doesn't really mean much by itself.
> It's easy on older -about to die-, people, but what about not such clear cut cases, some families are actually against their beloved ones taking their lifes, and the state allowing it, (Parents suing their offspring, to try and not have them do it, for example)
Then those families can talk about it and the person dying can make their choice. The families who don't like it can do what they want, just like those who do want it.
> when is something that shouldn't be natural,
Almost nothing about our modern life is "natural", including most of medicine. That said, how is death unnatural?