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Comment by clhodapp | Hacker News Reader

Personally, I find a lot of truth in what you say but I vehemently disagree with the premise that we should accept death as the price of life.

Of course, we need to be realistic and acknowledge that everyone living will all almost certainly die one day but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't strive for a future without death.

I think that CGP Grey's video, Fable of the Dragon-Tyrant, does a wonderful job arguing this viewpoint.

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I disagree with the idea of trying to defy death itself, as it is a physical impossibility due to the law of entropy. All things eventually reach a state of chaos, including our bodies. Death comes for us all one way or another. That being said, I DO see trying to extend our lives as long as physically possible as a worthy cause.

I admire striving to not die.

Statistically, I fully expect to die. Never dying would be a fantastic surprise.

I think acceptance is a lot healthier and more likely to produce happiness in life than thinking one may be an exception.

Why not both?

There's a difference between "thinking one may be an exception" and realizing that, no matter how small, there is a chance that one day we'll invent the technology that will make us immortal (to some extent).

If we had the same stance for all the other things that never happened before and were considered impossible, we would have never went to space and achieved many other great firsts.

To the extent that thinking something is possible influences the outcome, sure. For me, at my age, with my expertise, I am aware that there is a tiny possibility I could live forever the same way I am aware I could win the lottery: I accept that neither will happen, but I’ll still buy a lottery ticket every now and then.

All things have an extent, the urge to forget this is regressive imho.Books/TV shows that never ended seemed highly desirable when I was young, but infinite potential arguably means nothing matters.

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