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James_Miller comments on Greg Linster on the beauty of death - Less Wrong Discussion

6 Post author: Jonathan_Graehl 20 October 2011 04:47AM

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Comment author: James_Miller 21 October 2011 01:35:43AM *  3 points [-]

From an article about a Steve Jobs biography:

"Jobs confided in Sculley that he believed he would die young, and therefore he needed to accomplish things quickly so that he would make his mark on Silicon Valley history. 'We all have a short period of time on this earth,' he told the Sculleys. 'We probably only have the opportunity to do a few things really great and do them well. None of us has any idea how long we're gong to be here nor do I, but my feeling is I've got to accomplish a lot of these things while I'm young.'"

Comment author: pedanterrific 21 October 2011 01:59:37AM *  2 points [-]

Post: An academic said "Life without death would be boring."

Comment: Someone famous said "Death is a source of motivation."

Reply: ...what's your point?

Comment author: James_Miller 21 October 2011 03:35:49PM 2 points [-]

For Jobs at least the certainty of death made him accomplish more in life and so if we define "deadly" as lethargic (which I suspect is what the author meant) made his life less deadly.