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Comment by ta1234567890 | Hacker News Reader

It doesn't seem like the author fully or directly addressed the title "how to live with dying".

In any case, the quickest shortcut I know of is to take some psilocybin and think about death. With the proper set and setting, dying will feel normal, as it is, just another part of life. Yoga, meditation and breathing are also great ways to achieve that kind of consciousness state.

By the way, probably the biggest issue with dying is that in most western cultures it has become a huge taboo, which is kind of ridiculous given we all are going to die at some point. Death should be something that we accept and welcome, not something that we fear and reject. That doesn't mean we should seek death, just that it is one of the most natural things in life.

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> in most western cultures it has become a huge tabu ... Death should be something that we accept and welcome, not something that we fear and reject.

I don't love every part of "Midnight Gospel" - There's a lot of pseudoscience in it - But I liked episode 7 [1] when he interviewed Caitlin Doughty. [2]

"Caitlin Marie Doughty (born August 19, 1984) is an American mortician, author, blogger, and YouTube personality known for advocating death acceptance and the reform of Western funeral industry practices"

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight_gospel#Episodes

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caitlin_Doughty

Pain and suffering are also natural; that doesn't make them good. We should make peace with death, yes, but never accept it – never welcome it. It is the last enemy.

"Good" is subjective. However, pain and suffering are avoidable, death is not.

Seeing death as an enemy might end up making you suffer a lot.

Pain and suffering are avoidable? What kind of fantasy world do you live in?

The world where Buddhism and hundreds of related practices have existed for thousands of years, which allow anyone (who puts in the work), to detach themselves from suffering.

In a more western-mainstream note, we also have therapy, pain killers and anti-depressants, all tools that allow us to avoid pain and suffering. Maybe not forever, but definitely at least temporarily.

Which of the above do you consider fantasies?

Why would you detach from suffering? Suffering is life. Like love, bitterness, and joy. They are how we feel, and if we detach from any then others follow.

> Why would you detach from suffering?

To not have to suffer. The goal of Buddha was to end "suffering". What he found was that the/one way to do that is to become aware of feelings/emotions/sensations, to the point where we don't spontaneously react to them, but instead can consciously choose how to act when we encounter them. How you do that is by first fostering awareness and then by detaching yourself from your own reaction patterns. The idea is not to desensitize yourself, you still very much feel everything, but you can then choose what you do afterwards. Which means you still feel pain, love, bitterness and joy, but you don't need to suffer.

Why would you want to suffer?

Thích Nhất Hạnh [1] once said:

- Most people are afraid of suffering. But suffering is a kind of mud to help the lotus flower of happiness grow. There can be no lotus flower without the mud.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%ADch_Nh%E1%BA%A5t_H%E1%B...

And it might let us push death back another century – or longer. I'd be willing to walk through fire for that.

In the unlikely event the Second Law of Thermodynamics doesn't hold, then we can end death.

Hell, it's possible even if the second law holds.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turritopsis_dohrnii

That's not ending death; the heat death of the universe will come eventually if the Second Law holds.

The philosophical thinking around regenerative medicine is interesting.

On one side there's the union of opposites where without death there can be no life, without pain no pleasure, etc.

Then there's the scientist approach which just wants to reverse engineer life and increasing life span/quality.

I sympathize with both sides. I think someone like Kurzweil is doing too much and blinded by hope and that his idea of the future halfway sounds like hell but at the same time I think a lot could be gained by say doubling life expectancy and there's no need for any metaphysics.

Death is part of life, so is some element of suffering and pain, but neither are desirable. I don’t really subscribe to the “death is natural” idea. It’s certainly not a taboo for me, but my experience of life is the ultimate natural high and sure when it has gone I won’t be here to mourn the loss. But you can be upset (naturally so) and grieve for what you will lose, by knowing your life will be cut short or the shared future you have lost when someone you love dies.

Without that capacity, we would lose the precious ability to imagine a better life.

Hope is the feeling that takes us out of absurdity. Hope that one day the nature of the universe will be understood.

Might be due to Judeo-Christian culture that sees death as not the way things should be. Hebrews says Jesus came to save people from the fear of death.

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