Livre d'Or

I am much more afraid for myself of pain and loss of control / capacity than of ceasing to exist. And yes, I suppose it is selfish for me to be sad about no longer having the pleasure that someone brought into my life; I can't help it, I can't take a broad enough view not to feel like that.

I am pretty convinced that mortality will always be part of anything recognizable as a human experience. I think the aim of medical technology and advances should be to give as many people as possible 80 years of good life, followed by a gentle decline, rather than believing in fairy stories about finding a cure for death. I find it unfair when people die young or in pain, which even with modern technology ends up being most people. I've experienced a few "good" deaths, as in people dying peacefully at a ripe old age, with strong relationships intact and feeling satisfied with their lives, and I think in the rare cases where that ideal is true, my predominant emotion is the quasi-selfish one of missing their company, rather than moral anger.