[HN Gopher] A neuroscientist prepares for death
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A neuroscientist prepares for death
Author : anarbadalov
Score : 65 points
Date : 2022-01-04 20:04 UTC (2 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.theatlantic.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.theatlantic.com)
| bobthechef wrote:
| unyttigfjelltol wrote:
| New years brings forward thought of life and death, all the more
| so with the wave of Omicron so many people are dealing with.
|
| I diverge from the author's understandably unhappy perspective.
| Death isn't an end of the literal energy and parts that make up
| people, only in our ability to perceive and act on them. It's the
| end of counting minutes or years, in essence. The human mind can
| conceive of that, that upon death time ceases to be a crawl and
| zips forward seamlessly and limitlessly until or unless something
| ... reconstitutes the parts, energy and pattern that makes each
| of us human. It's hard preparing for death, I sympathize with the
| author, but it's also hard living with some understanding of how
| limited and temporary our lives and worlds may be.
| colordrops wrote:
| This reminds me of The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker [1].
| David Linden gives a biological explanation for the psychological
| idea presented by Becker.
|
| [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Denial_of_Death
| TedShiller wrote:
| I wonder why he put his job title in the title of the article.
| There's actually nothing specific to neuroscience in the article.
| goobergoo wrote:
| I really wish he would keep riffing on the neuro-scientific
| fundamental principles that always assume "the future will
| continue to exist, of course it will" as a way to explain and
| describe religions and how and why they exist, he was about to
| come up with a Grand Unifying Theory that could "solve"
| religion... he was so close....
| elpakal wrote:
| Similar read
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Breath_Becomes_Air
| TedShiller wrote:
| In our culture, we seem to think (or want to believe) that
| neuroscientists know more about things than other people. But
| they're just normal people like you or I.
| anarbadalov wrote:
| Do people really believe that? A neuroscientist is (i hope)
| more knowledgeable about the brain than you or me. But I don't
| think people see them as omniscient. We all have a unique
| perspective. This particular piece could have been written by
| any thoughtful person diagnosed with a terminal illness. In
| fact, there is a whole genre of these stories. And each one of
| them gives me pause and helps me refocus, if not for just a
| little while.
| TedShiller wrote:
| I think neuroscientists know more about the brain than you or
| I, but not in any way that helps them in life outside of the
| laboratory.
| tux3 wrote:
| Related: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_effect
| L29Ah wrote:
| anarbadalov wrote:
| A deeply moving and wise piece. Just what I needed to start the
| year.
|
| "The deep truth of being human is that there is no objective
| experience. Our brains are not built to measure the absolute
| value of anything. All that we perceive and feel is colored by
| expectation, comparison, and circumstance. There is no pure
| sensation, only inference based on sensation."
| bobthechef wrote:
| mensetmanusman wrote:
| 'The deep truth is that there is no truth' type quotes are some
| of my favorite.
| jarenmf wrote:
| If I was ever to know of my upcoming death, I hope to have that
| courage and clarity of thought to face it with such dignity.
| UncleOxidant wrote:
| > Heart cancer? Who the hell gets heart cancer?!
|
| Yeah, this kind of cancer seems exceedingly rare. But of course,
| being a hypochondriac I will worry about this for the next week
| or more.
| at_a_remove wrote:
| A close friend's father died of a cancer around the heart, to
| the best of my knowledge.
| axiosgunnar wrote:
| Sorry dumb question, but could he not get a heart transplant?
| foxyv wrote:
| In this case, his cancer would be an absolute contraindication
| for a heart transplant. In addition, 20% of candidates do not
| receive a heart and there are many other factors that will
| disqualify a person from becoming a candidate:
|
| https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/transplant/referring-physici...
|
| If you ever want to convince a smoker to quit, you can mention
| it is an absolute disqualification from receiving a transplant
| for at least 6 months after they quit.
| dwohnitmok wrote:
| > In this case, his cancer would be an absolute
| contraindication for a heart transplant.
|
| Oof, I totally understand why it's an absolute
| contraindication (the hit that cancer gives to expected
| lifespan just seems too strong to justify such a scarce
| transplant), but it definitely feels like a double-whammy.
|
| To a future with long-term viable artificial vital organs!
| Anunayj wrote:
| I'm not a doctor, but maybee yes, thought that itself does not
| really move odds in his favour, infact heart transplants are
| themselves very notorious for becoming cancerous.
|
| Here's a study on a very small group (of 8 patients),
| https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7779860/
|
| Now you'll probably need to get the insight of a real doctor to
| know the risk-effort-worth of going through such a invasive
| procedure.
| rbanffy wrote:
| Are there any full artificial heart replacements that can be
| permanently implanted?
| mrtweetyhack wrote:
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