I spend my weekends preparing the lectures for my coming week, and today the Far Side featured the perfect image for my title slide.
The subject? Aging and cancer as developmental diseases.
It is kind of awkward being a 67-year-old geezer talking to 19-21 year olds about aging. If this were a laboratory course I could just flop down on a table and let them dissect me.
“I could just flop down on a table and let them dissect me.”
Save that for the take-home final.
But could they sew you back together in time for your next lecture?
Man, truck-kun got old.
Extra credit for whomever collects the most raspberries from your lungs!
Tried to get back into shape on my bike recently. I I think I’ve began to tow that truck up the hills…
At least you have some experience with aging.
Alright, Dr. ‘Fronken-Schteen’ :)
Oh. THAT truck. Is that the one that’s been running me over since the age of 13?
So in the days where Far Side was active, Truck-kun just aged people. According to all of the isekai anime that I watch, Truck-kun now kills you and sends you as a teenager in a new Tolkien inspired fantasy world where you are in constant danger but are surrounded by multiple beautiful teenage girls, none of who sleeps with you. I’m not sure which is worse.
Sad OldGuy, neither.
Point is, death should be a sweet release.
Anything less, and it came too soon.
I really do wish old age was as easy to avoid as a truck.
According to all of the isekai anime that I watch, Truck-kun now kills you and sends you as a teenager in a new Tolkien inspired fantasy world where you are in constant danger but are surrounded by multiple beautiful teenage girls, none of who sleeps with you.
Are they the same old Medieval-fantasy dangers forever, or do they change and evolve like real human societies do?
Raging Bee@12: There’s actually an incredible amount of (sometimes) different stories. Quite a lot do have the usual Medieval-stasis worlds, others do describe changing societies. None I’ve read seemed all that realistic to me.
There are actually quite a few, where the hero uses his knowledge from our world to reform the place our build an ideal society (I found these rather boring). In others it’s an important point that the Gods seem to be holding the world back and keep the conflict between humans and demons/monsters going for their own amusement.
@ 10 John Morales
This is theism. Or at least spiritualism. Death cannot possibly be a “sweet release” unless consciousness survives death. Just sayin’.
Also, Morales, there’s this thing called medicine that may alternatively supply “sweet release”. Options are not always suffer or die.
Wow, you really are a dolt.
Think of Buddhism. They grok it, then fuck it up by being religious.
Think of me. I don’t fuck it up, I’m not religious.
—
But you are slow to grok.
Let me be clear: are you suffering on an ongoing basis with no amelioration, let alone surcease, at hand?
Is decrepitude ever creeping, causing some sort of suffering?
At that point, death is surcease.
Only the most idiotic of idiots would imagine some sort of personal deity intervening given what I wrote.
Someone like you.
Again, your idiocy. You don’t get what I’m expressing.
I suppose you are crippled by your bias.
Point is, at the point where death is preferable to ongoing intractable increasing suffering and decrepitude, death is what stops the suffering.
Says someone who imagines that’s theism.
You, bob the Unsilent, are an idiot. You obviously lack imagination.
Me, I can. So, of course, I’m now and have always been in favour of voluntary informed euthanasia being available.
Still. Doltish and obsessed with me as you are, you are but a human being.
So, may you not seek such sweet release with good cause.
According to the isekai anime I watch, Truck-kun sends you to a world where you were supposed to be the villainess, but you’ll accidentally collect all the intended male love interests, and maybe the other rivals, and maybe maybe the intended heroine.
According to the non-isekai anime I watch, you’ll get turned into a zombie, but at least you’ll finally get to be an idol singer. Or maybe you’ll die, but at least your foster parents will finally conceive (though that might have preceded this Far Side).
According to the manga I read, Truck-kun just kills your band’s vocalist / your girlfriend.
And . . the troll wars resume, degrading an otherwise positive post and important site. I know of other less polluted discussions. You guys can just continue to throw your feces at each other. (With apologies to the decent commenters here and PZ)
“It is kind of awkward being a 67-year-old geezer talking to 19-21 year olds about aging. If this were a laboratory course I could just flop down on a table and let them dissect me.”
Not that I’m suggesting this for you PZ, but I’ve always wondered if there is any future in self-dissection. I’ve heard of self-surgery being a thing.
OK, I’m 78. It ain’t gonna get any better. Have fun.