All of Oleander's Comments + Replies

In 2020 at age 46 I was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer with high volume bone metastases. Beyond SoC (6 rounds of docetaxel chemo and chemical castration (almost all prostate cancers require testosterone to grow)), I was offered participation in an immunotherapy clinical trial (Keynote 991). After considering it, I refused the trial. Previous immunotherapy trials had been unsuccessful and I didn't want to spend the next two years going to the hospital every three weeks.

Instead I read every study and article I could get my hands on that might be rele... (read more)

I voted No, but I don't think there is anything wrong with pushing the button. The "gods-eye" view of utility is simply wrong (or incoherent) and it's what causes most of the utility paradoxes. No one experiences not existing after pressing the button, so no harm done. 

[Edit] I should qualify that voting Yes on this question could potentially do harm. So if you're going to press the button, better to do it silently.

I have terminal cancer and have believed in AGI doom for much longer than I've know I have cancer. Neither of these things made me depressed. Perhaps that is because I'm pretty close to an existentialist.

I would also like to add that even if you're not making long-term investments (I'm certainly not), maintaining good health (as best you can) is always worthwhile because it directly leads to higher quality of life.

I have stage IV cancer and personally vastly prefer death to being frozen. I'm frankly baffled by those who think cryopreservation is a good idea given the threat that unaligned AGI poses.

[edit to add:] BTW, this isn't rationalization. I've felt this way about cryopreservation for many years before I knew I had cancer.

Side note: vitamin D supplementation should not be used to replace sun exposure.

Strongly agree, but I don't think it is because vitamin D supplements aren't "real" vitamin D. It is very likely that sun exposure triggers other important processes.

Thanks for this article. I was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer last year. With the caveat that you've obviously spent more time than me on understanding the general conditions of cancers and that I'm in Europe, I'd still like to give my impressions. I think way too much money is spent on cancer drug research compared to fundamental research understanding the human body. Doctors and patients are way too eager to spend a lot of money for small amounts of improvement in overall survival. I think you are too optimistic about immunotherapy. I was offe... (read more)