NYTimes blog about war, disaster, and our human response to the philosophical realization that we all will die
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/learning-how-to-die-in-the-anthropocene/?emc=eta1&_r=0
Your class seems well suited to respond to this essay. I'm eager to hear your response.
I do not like this article. As weird as this may seem to others, I get slightly paranoid about the ideas that were brought up in this article, especially the drastic changes to the earth within the next 50 years. I do not think that we should live in a world knowing and accepting death as if it is on our shoulders. We should want to live our lives without that idea of learning how to die. We do not know how we are going to die, so how are we supposed to learn?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Katelin that we should not live our lives with the idea that we are going to die. It's not like we never thought we weren't going to do. We have all been aware that we are going to die. Things are just coming into a bigger prespective for us.
DeleteI agree with emily we cannot just stand around and wait for death because if we do that what is even the point of living if we are just waiting for it to end. Life is Hard and short and if we spend too much time waiting we will miss the bus. On that note this issue was very scary to think about but very true, external factors can keep other nations away but nothing can stop a pissed off mother nature & we are not helping with the amount of pollution we are putting into the atmosphere causing that rise in temperatures.
DeleteI agree with Katelin you can't live your life just waiting to die. This to me makes life worthless. you have to wake up and live your life to the fullest. we should be concentrating on learning to live our lives not learn and accepting death with open arms.
DeleteDont wait to die, live like you are dying. Death is something to fear, but something you cannot control. Be aware that you can and will die someday, but dont let it control your life. If you let the fear of death dictate your life, you will keep yourself from having a fulfilling life. For example, I love skiing and i know that i could ski into a tree and kill myself, but that will not keep me from doing what i love. What is living till 100 if you didnt have fun in your life?
DeleteI don't think we should focus on our deaths. I do not want to live in constant fear of how or when I will die. I agree with Erik that we should live every day to its fullest because we do not know when the day of our death is. It could be tomorrow or it could be many years down the road. Live in the now and not in the future. This doesnt mean that we should make rash decisions because we could die tomorrow, but we should plan for living tomorrow because there is a good chance you will be alive then next day. But make sure every day is meaningful so that if you do die tomorrow, you will be satisfied with how you lived your life up to that point
DeleteI do agree with most of what you have said. But I do feel like it is too late to live in a world without accepting or have a focus on death. I feel like its impossible with the world we live in. I mean look at all the television shows, media, and weather warning around us. Death is constantly around us and there is no way to live without some acceptance of death. Living life that meaningful is what should be important.
DeleteTo be very honest, this article is very eye opening. Meaning that it made me realize how much our climate is becoming a big deal and this scares me. I always had a suspicion that global warming would eventually come to haunt us and this article only supports some of my thoughts on this. The big problem I see here is this is a problems that we as a civilization must face instead of the individual. For instance, a couple of people could be preparing for each day and educating others, while there could be a large sect that who could care less.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the article is eye opening, but I would not fear the threat of global warming. We cannot control it and it might kill us one day, but there is nothing we can do about it. Accomplish the things you want in life and not worry about dying. Be conscious of it, but dont let it dictate what you do and dont do.
DeleteYeah I know, it was just a fear I've had for a long time and feels weird that it is being confirmed. But it was good to have a class like this that we can focus on things related to death and dying. For the most part the article was just definitely a eye opener for me.
DeleteI enjoyed reading this article. It's a realistic piece of information that we may very well be experiencing in our lifetimes. At the same time, however, I kind of agree with Katelin in the sense that we should not live as if we have already accepted defeat or death. It's one thing to be aware of it but to embrace it and "learn how to die" seems like a bit of an overkill. I think we should continue to live life as we do currently, in the moment without fear of death. We've always known everyone is going to die for our entire lives but that hasn't had an impact on our day to day interactions so why should it now?
ReplyDeleteThis article was very hard for me to read. Growing up I was terrified of storms. To this day they are still sometimes hard for me to stay calm during. I never really realized why I was scared of them until a couple years ago. It was the idea of not being able to control this. As much as we would like to think that we have a effect of the weather, we don't have complete control. Even though there are other ways that we could die that we can't control, for some reason dying in a natural disaster that was from weather really scared and still scares me. Learning how to die I think is something that no one can really grasp. We may be able to come to terms with it on our death bed but we can't say that we learned how to die and made all the right decisions in our life.
ReplyDeleteThis article was very eye opening and what seemed to be a realistic future to what researchers are saying is "inevitable". Something man made such as war or harm caused by civilians is still controllable. Weather is something that is out of all of our control which makes it very scary to me. We shouldn't have a constant fear of death and be waiting for it every second of every day, but we also shouldn't ignore factors that could over time cause our death or our children's death. The author comparing the climate crisis to Iraq was also a very compelling sight to me of "end of the world" times for that town in Iraq the size of Houston. The "learning to die" thing was a little much to me because just because you're a soldier or someone in that position does not mean your life shouldn't be lived to the fullest day for day like everyone else is.
ReplyDeleteI think that this article brings out many of the issues that exist in our world that get ignored by kost people. It makes us realize that there are changes going on in the world that we do not have control over. Natural disasters happen and we shoul acknowledge that and prepare ourselves, not act like everything is going to be fine. I do not think we should live our lives in constant fear but we should be aware of the realitites out there. It's scarier to me if we ignore thes issues that are there than to face them. At least then we will know what we're facing and how to prevent it better. I agree with Katie that the part where he talks about learning to die is not clicking with me. Soldiers should be able to live their lives like any other person can.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that we should at least acknowledge what is going on in the world otherwise when something terrible does happen it will hit us like a ton of bricks and we will not know how to handle the situation. Realizing that death could happen at any time and will happen eventually is important, but living in constant fear of death is pointless. Death is inevitable and we should just accept it and be aware of it without being fearful of it.
DeleteI like the way that you said that we are all aware that we are going to die. It's not like we forget that we are going to die. I think that some of us don't think that it will happen soon or that we are just scared to think about it.
DeleteI believe that this article showed and explained a lot of issues that we are facing as humans living on this world. I think that people should accept the fact that yes we are all going to die someday. We don't know how we are going to die but we must accept this inevitable fate that we all will face. Natural disasters are events that we cannot control we just have to be prepared for when they will happen. I agree with Mac that global warming will eventually one day come around and hurt us later on in life.
ReplyDeleteI found this article to be very well written, but I have mixed reactions to the main messages that Scranton attempts to convey. I agree on the point that we as humans find it very difficult to except our own end as a civilization. However, I disagree with Scranton’s stance on how global warming is going to have such an apocalyptic effect on the entire human race. It is clear from viewing resent weather patterns that the climate in not exceptionally stable, but it is audacious to say that such events have never happened in earths past history. Also, Scranton’s conclusions assume that all humans will still be limited to modern technologies. It is entirely possible that humans will be able to develop technological advancements to counter such an eminent threat given there is a ninety year window of opportunity.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I found it very intriguing when he states that “studying philosophy is learning how to die. If that’s true, then we have entered humanity’s most philosophical age”. This statement, particularly the first portion, sheds light on some of our main discussion points from class. Overall I tend to agree with his philosophical stance, but his scientific facts are not entirely convincing.
Like Matthew, I also had mixed reactions about the author's messages. I thought the author's philosophical ideas about the end of mankind very interesting. As a society, we are always looking to our future and how we can experience a meaningful life. We don't like or want to consider death. The idea that mankind should actively prepare themselves for death is something we don't think about in our society. I think it would benefit us to take a more active role in death, although preparing ourselves for death and learning to die are quite different. I've witnessed a family member, while he was in good health, state they would never do anything to prolong their life, if it meant giving up certain freedoms and staying in the hospital for long periods of time. Although, when he became sick, his stance changed and he tried everything to prolong his life. Now I'm not saying this is true for everyone, but it seems to me learning to die might be a hard concept for mankind to grasp.
DeleteThe author's idea that we should give consideration for our future, in regard to our planet, is good. I believe mankind should become better prepared for the future. After all, who would be against cleaner air and better disaster prevention. Although, I also disagree with the author, in regard, to the earth's apocalyptic demise. I don't believe the earth is headed for doom because we polluted and destroyed it. History has shown that the earth has gone through climate changes before in the past and it probably will continue to do so in the future.
This article made me start thinking, I am not big fan of it because i feel like it is just another way to get people wound up about the end of time. everyone wants to know when they will die or the world will end so very educated people put out some calculation and their opinion of that and will happen for the world to end. I do not really like to get involved in these conversations because I do not want to know when I die. If you know when you are going to die you will typically live differently than if you did not know.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that this article does best is highlighting a number of the issues afflicting the world. These issues are typically considered taboo and are just brushed under the covers so we can spend more time talking about things that make us happy. The world is full of problems and with no way of predicting them we must live our lives in constant fear that we might die today or tomorrow or the day after that. This is not the way to live. Living a life full of fear of dying is surviving, not living. This article shouldn't scare us it should makes us realize how short life actually is and help us make the most out of it.
ReplyDeleteNot huge fan of this article. It did get you thinking about how our world is slowly collapsing and that we are not prepared for it. For one this wasn't that eye opening we all pretty much know we're killing the earth and two i don't believe you can ever fully prepare yourself for a natural disaster, so that part of the article was the first reason i didn't like it. The second reason i didn't like it was the whole idea of "Learning to die." I think that's ridiculous; i'm not saying you need to act like a 16 year old and believe you're untouchable, but to wake up and meditate about taking a gun shot to the head and then give a sigh of relief because you prepared yourself to die, too me, is stupid. Know that everyone dies, and know that someday you'll have to die, but don't learn to die when hardly any of us has even learned how to live.
ReplyDeleteThis article was very eye opening. It just makes people even more paranoid about when the earth will end. People are so concerned about when they will die, and trying to plan their life ahead of time. People need to realize that they need to live each day, and make it a positive day. Living in fear that you will die will only cause anxiety and stress in ones own life. Personally, I do not want to know when I die. The thought makes me sick to my stomach. I just live each day to the fullest and hopefully live to see the next. The way I look at it, everyone is going to die, some earlier than others, so why not make each day the best it can be?
ReplyDeleteTo concur with my various class mates, this article, was not "Eye-opening" as so many are claiming.
ReplyDeletewe have been taught, have been show in many various forums, that this was our possible future.
That death awaits us if we don't change, it is only now, faced with a grade, and forced to think about such things, that most of us are admitting that we don't like such thoughts.
WHO THE HELL DOES?
no one likes to think about death to much.
no one wants to spend time thinking about death to much.
that is not the point.
THINGS LIKE THIS HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR YEARS.
THEY'VE BEEN BROADCASTING IT EVERYWHERE.
books, movies, television shows, media forums, and the like, all tell us that some sort of change is imminent if we don't change our ways.
and I know it's hard, but small changes, even baby steps can help change the disaster we started.
I know nobody likes thinking about these things, but it's come to the time where we have to either nut up or shut up, and stop being such a dick to the planet.
this is not a post or rant about "saving the earth"
the earth will survive, long after we do, plants and animals will continue to thrive, adapt and survive just like always.
we are making it so WE CAN'T SURVIVE. how long do you think humanity will be able to adapt to the extreme changes brought on by polluted air and raising temperatures?
not long.
this isn't a question of saving the earth.
it's a question of "will you save yourself?"
for if you were told you were going to die tomorrow. wouldn't you try to change it, or stop it?
I do not think that you should live your life as if you are going to die. Death is inevitable, so you should live your life as you want to live it. Now you should realize that death can occur at any moment, so you should you should not waste any time. You cannot harp on the fact that you are going to die, but you can live consciously knowing that one day you will die. People say live as if you can die at any moment and i think that is true, but i don't think that you should worry about when you will die. Just live, do the things you want, don't regret your life
ReplyDeleteIf everyone would ascribe to this message now, there might at least be hope to buy back a few years, decades even; but I truly believe that our species' decadent, destructive way of life is catching up with us. You can only live like you have nothing to lose for so long... so maybe our number is up... own it. I like that message. Instead of fearing the inevitable, embrace it.
ReplyDelete“If by setting one’s heart right every morning and evening, one is able to live as though his body were already dead,”.
Sometimes I think of the countless "close-calls" I've had over the years. Some closer than others but most too close for comfort. One of these days, my luck might will run out... maybe tomorrow, maybe 80 years from now when my old Riverside home will surely be underwater. Either way, it shouldn't be a surprise.
This article really makes you think... I like it!
that's not to say that even though they say "we are past the point of no return", it's not worth it to try to clean up our mess anyway. What would we have to lose after all?
DeleteI don't like this article because it makes us think about death a little too much. I think it's important to think about death to a certain extent, but it shouldn't be something on our minds almost all the time. We shouldn't be worried about how we are going to die or when we are going to die. How depressing does that sound? We need to learn how to live, how to keep breathing, how to live our life the fullest! We don't need to be sitting her wondering about our death bed and about when it is going to come. I don't care how dangerous the climate is becoming. I don't really want to think about it. If I die, then I'm going to die. There's no stopping that, but again, I don't need to be thinking about it.
ReplyDelete