alt Hacker NewsFor me, the biggest tell was how frequently older people report feeling completely at peace and ready to die.
As my own life progressed, the feeling of novelty became harder to find, and then less important. Grief became easier, death became lighter.
As I deepened my investigation into the nature of my own experience, I started to realize that "I" do not exist in the way that I originally assumed, and I started to wonder what we're even talking about when we talk about death. Who or what is dying?
The self, time, and consciousness are not well-understood in philosophy, science, or the experience of most people, and as such, most conversations about immortality are really about something else.
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that seems like a circular justification
if my body and mind were falling apart and all my friends/family went before me maybe I'd be ready... but I see that as a huge argument in favor of immortality since I want people I care about to be alive and healthy
> For me, the biggest tell was how frequently older people report feeling completely at peace and ready to die.
That's because it's inevitable and at that point they've been sick or infirm for years to decades.
No one has run the real experiment because they can't: put that person in the body of a healthy 20 year old and see if they still feel that way. Except we already kind of know the answer because we regard being suicidal in your 20s as mental illness.
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> As my own life progressed, the feeling of novelty became harder to find, and then less important. Grief became easier, death became lighter.
This has been my experience as well. When I was 20, I couldn't understand why someone would be ready to die outside of extreme illness or depression. Now, at 40, I am beginning to understand. I'm not ready to die yet, but I can envision myself being there someday. This world is tiring and I can understand how a person would reach the point where they welcome an end to their story.