Does It Bother You That You Were Not Alive in 1888?

[c.d.]

If the answer is no, does it bother you that you will probably not be alive in 2088?

I heard that argument put forth the other day and on its face it does seem to make a lot of sense.

Can something so simple be so profound?

c.d.

[GUT]

Short answer No and No.

1888 I would be stuck, at best, in near poverty without the opportunities I have had to work my way out.

2088 I am really not sure that like the world we live in in 2014, we seem to have lost things like respect for others, manners and the ability to communicate in person, if we keep heading this way I dread to think where the world is heading.

I'll also add that as a chronic pain sufferer, there are already days that I want to call it quits, so I suspect that in 73 years I really won't want to be here.

[Cogidubnus]

Again no and no...

(a) I'd hate living through the conditions my ancestors had to live through...and

(b) I know for a fact I won't be alive in 2088 - to begin with I'd have to live to reach an implausible 135, but also

(c) as a heart-attack survivor additionally diagnosed with angina I've learned to value every day in the here and now...

All the best

Dave

[c.d.]

I think I very much screwed up on this and didn't make myself clear at all. I probably shouldn't have used 1888.

So let me try again. Here is the point I am trying to make. Does it bother you that there are years from the beginning of time when you were not alive? Not that you missed something just that you were not alive at that point. If you say no, then why should it bother you that at some point in the future you will not be alive? Is not being alive in 2088 somehow worse than not being alive in 1888. You are simply not alive at either time.

Again, this is a philosophical question and nothing to do with conditions in a given year or what may happen in the future.

Hope this helps clarify things but I have a feeling I am still not making myself clear.

c.d.

[GUT]

I think I very much screwed up on this and didn't make myself clear at all. I probably shouldn't have used 1888.

So let me try again. Here is the point I am trying to make. Does it bother you that there are years from the beginning of time when you were not alive? Not that you missed something just that you were not alive at that point. If you say no, then why should it bother you that at some point in the future you will not be alive? Is not being alive in 2088 somehow worse than not being alive in 1888. You are simply not alive at either time.

Again, this is a philosophical question and nothing to do with conditions in a given year or what may happen in the future.

Hope this helps clarify things but I have a feeling I am still not making myself clear.

c.d.

The simple answer again is no to both, but perhaps I'm a bit simple and have come to accept the things I can't change.

[Cogidubnus]

Hi CD

No and No...

I accept the principle of being momentarily sentient and then nothing...chuff all I can do about it...

This is proportionate surely to the mayfly...

All the best

Dave

[c.d.]

Thanks GUT and Dave. As I suspected, you guys seem to have your heads screwed on straight.

I heard that argument the other day and I was just really struck by its simplicity.

c.d.

[Scott Nelson]

Yes, immensely.

[Limehouse]

What interests me about this question is that, in 1888 I had never been alive, and yet in 2088 I would have lived and died. So, philosophically, the period before I ever existed doesn't feel the same as thinking about the point in time when I will no longer exist.

It's the kind of delicious philosophical debate that I relish. I think that might sound a bit sad!

[Ausgirl]

I was totes alive in 1888.

[Barnaby]

No and Yes under the condition that I could be a young person in 2088. Call me crazy, but I think that with advancements in medical science increasing exponentially, young healthy persons in 2088 might live damn near forever. Why might we want to live forever? For the dedicated Ripperologist, the answer is to wait out the 1000 years or so it might take to develop the technology to build a time machine and travel back to 1888 to catch the Ripper. This allows us to answer no to the first question and yet still reap all the benefits of living in that era! Problem solved.

[pinkmoon]

A life of misery and poverty no thanks? however the chance not to be with the wife it could well be the thumbs up on this one

[Robert]

Calling David Hume....calling David Hume...

[Harry D]

It's actually kind of a moot question. 'You' are the genetic makeup of your parents, and their parents, and so on and so forth, reaching back generations. Your sense of self and identity has been shaped by the culture and society you were raised in. Therefore, how does one rationalize the idea of being born in a completely different time and/or place?

[AlanG]

no and no