
The Finite, Irreplaceable Hours of Your Life - aeontech
http://www.enemyairship.com/2/The_Finite__Irreplaceable_Hours_of_Your_Life/#b
======
Jun8
The sweet immaturity of the OP is amusing, but of course, he's in good company
in expressing these sentiments. Many people have written about it but I think
Paul Bowles nailed it in _The Sheltering Sky_ :

"Death is always on the way, but the fact that you don't know when it will
arrive seems to take away from the finiteness of life. It's that terrible
precision that we hate so much. But because we don't know, we get to think of
life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens a certain number of
times, and a very small number, really. How many more times will you remember
a certain afternoon of your childhood, some afternoon that's so deeply a part
of your being that you can't even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps
four or five times more. Perhaps not even that. How many more times will you
watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless."

------
dageshi
Forgive me, perhaps it's the cranky Britishness in me coming out like an
uncontrollable fountain of bile, but sweet jesus this bloke is an insufferable
hipster.

~~~
anthuswilliams
My favorite part of the article: "Sometimes in the middle of a workout ... I
can imagine nothing more painful than continuing. Sometimes my hands bleed
from doing pull ups." A true hero, this guy.

I actually ended up taking his advice though. Since the article wasn't
illuminating, insightful, enjoyable, or in any way worth my time, I renounced
any obligation I felt to continue reading it.

------
elbrodeur
The general stab of this article is great, but it's a little confusing:

The first few paragraphs bemoan people who are willing to suffer through the
valleys to get to the peaks, while the middle of the article is all about how
difficult it is to find rewarding experiences and how it usually takes a lot
of hard work to see rewards manifest.

Despite his protestations, I think the author _does_ have a sense of "time
investment" and is probably often glad he "stuck with it."

------
reasonattlm
They're not irreplaceable. Suitable investments of time and money can lead to
an ultimate net gain in time - which is a change over the past state of
affairs. If, of course, you choose to take advantage of this. See:

[http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2008/02/what-is-
wealth.ph...](http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2008/02/what-is-wealth.php)

and

<http://www.fightaging.org/take-action/>

~~~
aeontech
I firmly plan to live to a hundred and fifty or die trying, but I do not
believe we're going to see immortality any time soon, therefore I still think
that the time we do have is pretty much irreplaceable, especially time in
relatively prime physical condition.

~~~
brooksbp
do you eat raw fruits and vegetables?

~~~
aeontech
Among other things.

------
vasco
"There are a finite number of irreplaceable hours in a human life and it makes
sense to fill those limited hours with as much remarkable experience as
possible. "

Goes on to say how he played a computer game for more than 365 hours of his
life. I wouldn't count some 360+ hours of the same game as "the most
remarkable experiences possible" but that's just me.

------
newobj
This article is two years old and amusingly timed because ultimately Shadow
Physics got shitcanned. There was a talk at GDC about it just last week.

[http://m.kotaku.com/5891076/why-the-indie-game-that-was-
supp...](http://m.kotaku.com/5891076/why-the-indie-game-that-was-supposed-to-
be-the-next-braid-never-came-out)

------
ilaksh
Definitely first world problems here. I mean, I am with him on the point about
being selective when choosing entertainment, but.. maybe we have too much
entertainment to choose from and too much free time?

I mean I know that you will see things like that Hans' guys' TED talk about
how much better everything is for everyone now, but things are still pretty
fucked up for a LOT of people in the world. Look at Mexico.. or even a number
of countries in Europe are having a really hard time now.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who have morally bankrupt hedonistic
worldviews where human life really has little or no value and their only long
term goals are to "have fun". This is a common problem with our culture.

Your goals for life should not be to have a few thrills or entertain yourself.
Your goals should be to effect positive change in the world. There are many
suffering people, many problems to solve, lots of innovations and changes that
could really improve things for everyone. That's the meaning of life. Not
getting a few chuckles. And everyone can potentially make a very significant
positive impact if they take their lives seriously.

Also I think we need to start innovating outside of the computer. We have real
problems to solve. Its definitely easier to say than do -- I am a software
developer -- but I really wish that this programmable matter stuff would take
off, or at least maybe people would really start to take seriously ideas like
ultra-local food and energy production.

~~~
lolcraft
First, please don't force your ideology down my throat. Specially, not through
guilt. You are better than a Viagra salesman or a priest.

Second, please don't dismiss my own fucking problems as ``first world'', as if
you know shit about other people's life. Again, you are not a douchebag, so
don't behave like one. Yes, I know there are Foreign People suffering now.
They can suck it up. We are all grown-ups now, we have problems too, and we
have to take care of ourselves. We can not spend all of our life feeling sorry
for others.

Third, you don't understand very much about hedonism, morality, philosophy or
living. Let's try to be humble and not spit "morally bankrupt!" at every
lifestyle with which you disagree. For example, Kant didn't arrive to the
conclusion that, to be moral, he had to give all his belongings to the poor.
Figure why.

~~~
ilaksh
Thanks for all of the insults. I must have really touched a nerve. Maybe you
will consider your lifestyle and world view closely.

You almost imply that Kant wouldn't have a problem with hedonism. That doesn't
sound very educated or well thought out.

~~~
Lockyy
Whilst I think he was a bit confrontational you didn't address his points at
all. I am slightly bothered whenever someone dismisses a problem as "first
world." For some problems such as "My parents won't buy me a new iPhone" I can
see where the person is coming from. However when someone has a legitimate
problem dismissing it as "first world," is unhelpful and potentially harmful.

"Don't complain about having difficulty at work, at least you aren't
starving!" We all have problems, some worse than others. That doesn't mean you
can just dismiss any problem someone has just because they aren't in the worst
situation possible.

------
aeontech
A well-written reminder, I'd say. Even more so for startup founders - are you
working on it because of sunk costs, or are you working on it because it is
still the thing that you love to do.

------
vacri
Going through a gruelling workout and feeling happy afterwards is okay, but
going through a gruelling TV series and feeling happy afterwards isn't? This
guy is moving the goalposts.

------
wccrawford
His friends chose to watch Lost because it was the best option at the time.
They may have given other reasons, but they all made the same choice: "Watch
Lost, or do something better."

As for spending as much time on amazing things as possible... There are many
people who believe you need lows to properly appreciate highs. If everything
is amazing, then everything is actually normal... And nothing is amazing.

For years, I had a boss who would ask me how I was doing, and I'd reply, "Meh.
Okay." And he'd respond, "So pretty good, huh?" He got me. He knew that I had
a good life, and I was happy. And that it was relatively free from problems.
When I had a weekend of playing video games and generally just having fun,
that was perfectly normal. For others, that would be ignoring their
responsibilities and goofing off.

I'm not saying not to have fun, just that life is easier to appreciate if you
have a proper scale.

------
charlysisto
That's life in a supermarket and happiness is on the shelves. Believing you
can optimize you're life with only the best parts like on some market place
has an interesting bias : the ideology of consumerism.

