[ExI] extropy-chat Digest, Vol 57, Issue 11

[ben]

Subject: Re: [ExI] "Death gives meaning to life?"

From: "Stefano Vaj" <stefano.vaj at gmail.com> wrote:

On Thu, Jun 12, 2008 at 1:26 AM, BillK <pharos at gmail.com> wrote:

> > If you know that you only have a limited time here, then you have to
> > consider what you would like to do with that time.

>There again, "lifetime" has the curious feature of not following the
>rule according to which abundance of a good leads to a lower values of
>its unities.
>
>For sure being terminally ill or sentenced to death may focus your
>mind, but in more general terms I would say that we did not start
>thinking less of what to do with our time when our life expectancy
>went from 30 years to 90.
>
>And unless we are speaking or real, literal eternity, I suspect that
>90,000 rather than 90 would not change a thing.
>
>Stefano Vaj



Actually, i think it would.

For example, i like to tinker on my guitar. After viewing that video
(and many others) of 'Tony Enamel' playing the guitar, i had mixed
feelings. First, inspiration. Rapidly followed by frustration and the
realisation that i will /never/ be that good, followed by the thought
"but... hang on, if i had enough time....".

90,000 years would probably be enough for me to be as good a guitarist
as i want to be, plus several other things.

On the other hand, if i /knew/, beyond doubt, that 90 years was the
maximum i had, i'd probably chuck the guitar away right now, and
concentrate on things that i know there's a chance of achieving in that
short time (or rather in less than that, as you have to allow a few
decades for senile dementia, etc.)

ben zaiboc