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Runningonempty's avatar

I run Ultra marathons a couple of times a year. 50-100 milers. Some of the nicest people I have ever met are out doing the same thing. A lot of ex addicts and people who have been through some sort of trauma. No egos. Just wonderful fragile people who are hard as nails. Replacing mental anguish with physical pain.

This is summed up by a fellow runner I met who had a tatoo that said, “When the devil whispers "you cannot withstand the storm". The warrior replies "I am the storm".

I think it comes down to choice. If you don't have a choice then all you have is hope. Now, if hope was something that is a positive then what was it doing in Pandoras box with all that evil? If you've had some terrible diagnosis or you are chained to a radiator in a cellar in Beirut then all you have is hope.

Nietzsche said. "Zeus did not want man to throw his life away, no matter how much the other evils might torment him, but rather to go on letting himself be tormented anew. To that end, he gives man hope. In truth, it is the most evil of evils because it prolongs man's torment."

Christopher Hitchens, in one if his last interviews before succumbing to cancer was asked what were his regrets. He said ''In life you choose your regrets''.

I am going to try and die with my boots on.

When the devil whispers in my ear that I should quit because the Storm will consume me, then my reply will be ''I am the storm''

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Mo Perry's avatar

"All decisions are personalized. Perhaps they don't yield to generalizable principles." I think that's true. Because value judgements are also highly subjective. What's a good outcome? What's a bad one? A successful, lucrative, high-powered career may mean poor health and little time for friends, family, or simple pleasures. Likewise, a balanced, peaceful life may mean living with the knowledge that you walked away from a lot more money or notoriety.

RCTs are designed to measure hard endpoints, not make subjective value judgements. For that we have philosophy, spirituality, and contemplation. In addition, even if there was a universally agreed-upon way to appraise an outcome as good or bad, any particular time point at which you chose to measure the outcome would not be the end of the story. Like the famous parable:

A farmer and his son had a beloved horse who helped the family earn a living. One day, the horse ran away and their neighbors exclaimed, “Your horse ran away, what terrible luck!” The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not.”

A few days later, the horse returned home, leading a few wild horses back to the farm as well. The neighbors shouted out, “Your horse has returned, and brought several horses home with him. What great luck!” The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not.”

Later that week, the farmer’s son was trying to break one of the horses and she threw him to the ground, breaking his leg. The neighbors cried, “Your son broke his leg, what terrible luck!” The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not.”

A few weeks later, soldiers from the national army marched through town, recruiting all boys for the army. They did not take the farmer’s son, because he had a broken leg. The neighbors shouted, “Your boy is spared, what tremendous luck!” To which the farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”

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