
Eight years today (2012) - tosh
http://paulbuchheit.blogspot.com/2012/03/eight-years-today.html
======
crimsonalucard
“Man surprised me most about humanity. Because he sacrifices his health in
order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And
then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the
result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as
if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

― James J. Lachard

~~~
ernsheong
Wonderful quote. Reminds me I should just go home and rest instead of staying
back late to get more things done.

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Rainymood
>Eight years since Steve died. I keep looking for meaning, but all I've found
so far is that in order to be at peace with the present, we must be at peace
with the past, because the present is a product of the past. Accept. Accept.
Accept. Learn to love the present moment. What happened, happened. It's
difficult to understand the big picture when our lives are mere brush strokes
on the canvas of reality. Trusting that it all fits together to form something
beautiful is the purest form of faith. Anything else is a dangerous
distraction. No contracts with God, no expectations of reward, just trust.

Beautifully written ...

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noswi
For me, it was a book on stoicism ("A Guide to the Good Life — The Ancient Art
of Stoic Joy" by William B Irvine) that showed me that, while it's not
possible to avoid the inevitable pains and losses — just semi-regular thoughts
about it, imagining the world where the losses have already happened, allows
immense enjoyment and appreciation of the current moments.

Also, as an unexpected bonus, the book showed that philosophy shouldn't
neccesarily be only theoretical high-brow word games, it can be a pleasant and
highly practical experience as well.

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mod
I found this article a couple of years ago, probably here on HN, and it helped
me through a dark time.

I find myself coming back to it very often, or sharing it with others.

I found a lot of peace with this quote:

> I keep looking for meaning, but all I've found so far is that in order to be
> at peace with the present, we must be at peace with the past, because the
> present is a product of the past. Accept. Accept. Accept. Learn to love the
> present moment. What happened, happened.

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taphangum
Honestly the best thing I've read today.

~~~
simi_
Agreed. It's a weird thing to focus on given the topic of the article, but his
writing is surprisingly good.

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joslin01
Beautiful read.

> I keep looking for meaning, but all I've found so far is that in order to be
> at peace with the present, we must be at peace with the past, because the
> present is a product of the past. Accept. Accept. Accept. Learn to love the
> present moment.

Sometimes it helps me to remember that the present is literally the only thing
that exists. Looking too much into the past produces guilt; too much into the
future, anxiety. I hope in this new world we're building with all the great
technology, we put a stronger emphasis on learning contentment which can only
come from accepting the present in all its myriad forms.

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trequartista
Been having a rough couple of days at work. This is very touching and very
uplifting. Thanks for sharing

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mkagenius
> Those who push only for the sake of some future reward, or to avoid failure,
> very often burn out, sometimes tragically.

How does one not become complacent after reading this? I am confused. On one
hand people pull all nighters doing mundane things as doing customer support
because you are the founder, and you have to do it (and endanger their health
and maybe life). And on the other hand this.

~~~
nostrademons
Embrace the process of doing something, not just the product. Become an
entrepreneur because you enjoy discovering business models, learning new
things, and solving peoples' problems. Become an engineer because you like
tinkering with technology. Become a writer because you want to explore new
ideas, or a doctor because you like saving lives and dealing with the human
body.

If you find you're doing something _only_ for the pot of gold at the end of
the rainbow, it's time to re-examine whether you should be doing it at all.
Staying power usually requires that you derive some meaning from the actual
activity itself, that the day-to-day of it gives your life purpose.

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danvoell
Thanks for sharing. Before clicking through, I thought this was going to be
the story of inventing gmail.

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educationcto
Thanks for posting, Paul.

~~~
melling
2012.

Yes, it's very moving. Hopefully, enough so that people will donate to
pancreatic cancer research. It's a cancer that kills most people, and yet we
do little research.

Steve Jobs and Randy Pausch also left this world way too young:

[http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/](http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/)

~~~
AtmaScout
Thanks for including Randy Pausch. His 'Last Lecture' is highly recommended
for those who haven't seen it. It can be found in melling's link above or
directly here:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo)

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halosghost
(2012)

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mparr4
A beautiful reminder of the relativity of it all.

Paul's closing remarks remind me of a bit that the late Bill Hicks used to
sign off with:

“The world is like a ride in an amusement park, and when you choose to go on
it you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. The ride
goes up and down, around and around, it has thrills and chills, and it's very
brightly colored, and it's very loud, and it's fun for a while. Many people
have been on the ride a long time, and they begin to wonder, "Hey, is this
real, or is this just a ride?" And other people have remembered, and they come
back to us and say, "Hey, don't worry; don't be afraid, ever, because this is
just a ride." And we … kill those people. "Shut him up! I've got a lot
invested in this ride, shut him up! Look at my furrows of worry, look at my
big bank account, and my family. This has to be real." It's just a ride. But
we always kill the good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that?
And let the demons run amok … But it doesn't matter, because it's just a ride.
And we can change it any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work,
no job, no savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and
love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns,
close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one. Here's what
we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that
money we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead spend it feeding
and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would pay for many
times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space,
together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace.”

~~~
happyscrappy
>Take all that money we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead
spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world

The reality for now is someone has to protect the pacifists. It is hard to
believe that ISIS exists in the modern world. They are so depraved that they
make the Nazis look like good guys.

~~~
cmdrfred
You have to see ISIS for what it is. They are teenagers in tin shacks and
caves with yesterdays cell phones. If you legitimately fear them you are
misguided. They exist to push you, you make you buy into the current status
quo. Who are they up against? The most powerful and technologically advanced
military ever in the history of the world. That military spends more than the
next 5 largest ones combined. Its like Urkel vs Bruce Lee. They don't stand a
chance. Sure they might blow up a shopping center or two, but the fact is law
enforcement kills more people in than ISIS ever did.

You want to end ISIS? Sorry there isn't a quick way to do so. Build a school
for women in one of the countries they inhabit, protect it with drones and
soldiers, build power plants, and give them internet connections. Change the
culture, not at the end of a gun but with sandwiches for their hungry, water
for their thirsty, and knowledge for their curious. Do this everywhere we are
invited, and then do it in the places we are not. Then in a few generations
took a look the world you have created, I promise you it will be a better one.

~~~
simonh
> You have to see ISIS for what it is. They are teenagers in tin shacks and
> caves with yesterdays cell phones.

Similar things were said about the Viet Cong, except for the cellphones. The
Mijahideen defeated the Soviet Union and arguably lead to it's demise. The US
got kicked out of Lebanon and Somalia. I happen to think that won't happen
with ISIS, mainly due to the oil but also because the West has allies nearby
in the region, or at least people we can work with such as the Kurds, Shia
Iraqis and Turkey. Still, being high tech and spending big doesn't guarantee
victory.

ISIS may not be an existential threat to the USA, sure, but they're doing a
lot of damage to a lot of people and it looks like they will continue to do so
for quite some time to come.

~~~
cmdrfred
The VC were defending their homes, as were the Mujahideen for the most part.
They work because they have some popular support. Women of the village make
them dinner and clean their clothes. You have to put them in a untenable
position. Make them attack solders around the UN truck handing out bottled
water and medical care to children, then the power plant supplying the
village, then the school. Be the good guy. Eventually the villagers supporting
them will want a better life for their daughters and sons and will no longer
do so. You will win their hearts and minds. A military or diplomatic victory
isn't required, a cultural one is.

Data like this puts the real threat of ISIS in perspective:
[http://reason.com/archives/2011/09/06/how-scared-of-
terroris...](http://reason.com/archives/2011/09/06/how-scared-of-terrorism-
should)

~~~
simonh
I'm sure those statistics are very comforting to the Yazidis.

You're quite right about tactics. They need to be contained militarily, but
they won't be defeated that way.

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benihana
I can't remember a time where the finality of death and the pointlessness of
life hasn't struck me. I can't remember a day past the age of 16 where I
didn't think about the fact that everyone I know, literally every single thing
I've ever experienced will die, or wither away.

Even the sun. One of the most powerful entities my mind can possibly
comprehend. The entire reason for everything we know. The source of nearly
every tiny bit of energy we consume. It's temporary. It'll be gone one day and
when it is, it'll be like it was never there.

Accepting these things is one of the most terrifying, difficult, powerful and
freeing things I've done. It's very powerful to be able to step back and
assess my situation in the context of "will this matter in 50 years when I'm
on my deathbed?" In so many difficult decisions, it's made the answer clear:
"in 50 years, will I remember feeling good because I took my parents' advice
and didn't move and didn't upset them? Or will I look back with regret on the
opportunity I didn't take across the country."

I really like this article. It's very important to remember that everything we
think is so strong and foundational can go away in the blink of an eye.

~~~
Retric
IMO, looking at things from a 50+ year perspective is like trying to calculate
a score on life. It just seems to miss the point. IMO, you’re better off doing
things based on how they improve your life on a random day in the next 50
years.

Consider, becoming a doctor may allow you to take some great vacations and be
content that you helped people on your death bed, but those are just a few
days so you need to consider the day to day life as a doctor not just the
highlights.

~~~
myth_buster
On a contrary note, someone famous said that it's better to set you life's
goal as a very hard problem and chip away at it. Every decade you will see the
progress you made and will keep you focused. The argument is that if you keep
short achievable goals then there is a transition period between goals which
are tough and perhaps in hindsight it may look like a sail in the wind.

A very comprehensible example for me is Don Knuth. A part of his drive is his
ambition to finish the series of books.

Having said so, there is no panacea and I think it very well depends on how
one's system is wired.

~~~
Retric
That’s kind of like saying “don’t get cancer” it’s true that avoiding cancer
is a good idea, but it’s not really under your control.

Another way of putting it is if you talk to lottery winners you’re getting a
very biased viewpoint.

~~~
myth_buster
The premise is that the goal is sufficiently hard and the reward is the
incremental advancements. If at the end, the goal is achieved, it's simply
cherry on top. If the goal is not achieved due to unforeseen circumstances, it
doesn't mean that the life was purposeless as you can very well see the
progress made by tracking incremental achievements.

As I said before, its all down to wiring.

Also given the advancements in medicine and increase in life expectancies, I
think the chances are a lot many people will live to 60+ so planning life for
the worst case may not be optimal.

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Dewie3
Eight years ago, more than three years ago today.

