[ExI] Eventbrite/Zoom addiction!

Sat Nov 21 18:27:44 UTC 2020

From: extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org> On Behalf Of John Grigg via extropy-chat
Sent: Saturday, November 21, 2020 9:53 AM
To: ExI chat list <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
Cc: John Grigg <possiblepaths2050 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [ExI] Eventbrite/Zoom addiction!

Spike wrote:

"I will feel really cheated if my middle years come and go but my crisis never happens." 

What would a Spike worthy mid-life crisis be like? I know, you convert all your savings into Bitcoin! Lol Or you sign up to join Elon Musk on his colonization trip to Mars...

I suppose mine was moving to the Philippines, taking on a family, and having a biological child of my own (currently still under construction)...

John  :  )

Hi John, I may be misunderstanding the concept, but I had always thought the point of a midlife crisis was to do something frivolous, extravagant, self-indulgent, the kind of thing a man does when one suddenly realizes he can afford it.  Wellll… I realized a long time ago that I could afford any motorcycle I wanted, I could afford a sports car or a plane or a mistress or a boat, any of those classic midlife crisis things, a gold plated rifle I suppose (why gold plated?) but when those years came I was just too busy to take the time.  My career had me kiting back and forth across the country every other week doing a project which was really cool.  The kinds of self-indulgent frivolous extravagances I would have bought under that excuse all take time to enjoy, and I just didn’t have a lot of extra time then.

So… I never bought any of them. my midlife was tragically squandered with work.  Damn.

Now I have time.  But some dreams are outgrown.  Go down the list.  I can have any motorcycle I want.  Sure OK.  But… since my son was born, my bride is not allowed on the back of that bike: I can’t risk both of us getting killed at the same time.  So… motorcycle touring is too lonely.  Boat: go to Lake Tahoe, pay a feller a coupla hundred bucks to take you out, you tear around the lake a few times, you realize OK that was fun, kinda.  Water ski a few times behind it, hmmm ok then.  Hire a feller to take you cruising out to sea or sailing, you get out there, realize there isn’t much to do out there.  Conclusion: no boats.  Sports car: tear around like your ass is on fire, realize that is kinda fun, but if you do this much, the local constabulary will take interest in your drivers license.  Mistress: out of the question.  Plane: that’s kinda cool, but all you can do really is fly around and look at stuff on the ground.  But you can already do that with Google Maps.  

Gold plated rifle: as soon as a goof does that, he realizes he can’t even take his shooting buddies out with him: too embarrassing.  Anyone who uses rifles knows there is a reason why the barrels are black: so they don’t reflect light into your eyes as you aim.  You would scare away the game with your gleaming gun barrel, and even if it didn’t, the game would be spooked by the sound of scornful laughter, coming from your friends ridiculing your foolishly ruining a perfectly good gun with gold plating.  You would come home empty-handed.

Now, my middle age years have come and gone.  It is getting too late for a midlife crisis.  If I had one now, I would be ridiculed for having an old-age crisis, which just isn’t the same thing.  I outgrew most of the silliness I would have bought back then.

The whole notion gives me an idea: start a company which arranges for guys to have an old-age crisis.  They have even more money than the mid-lifers, but are less likely to go in for the traditional boat/plane/mistress/sports car/gold rifle class of silliness.  What could we offer?

spike

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