I agree with this but separately the whole notion of what one might think on their deathbed is overrated (it’s partially a metaphor but still). You can reflect on your life so far at any time and it’s unlikely that your clearest thoughts on the matter will come on your deathbed...
The average person undervalues trying to find more rewarding/impactful/interesting work, making the mistake you describe in the post
The average LessWrong reader undervalues investing in family, i.e. they think too much about how to have an impactful career and too little about how to have a successful family
I feel fortunate that I’ve been able to create a situation for myself where these two spheres overlap (where my role as a father and a role as a professional are dependent on each other). It seems like this was much more common in the past, where children would be hands-on apprentices to their parents from a young age, blending the economic roles and familial roles from ~5 years old.
I’m building a computer for kids. My goal is to make a computer that serves the same functional role for my kids as my first computer did for me in 1988, i.e. sparking creativity and curiosity and interest in technology, which is quite different from today’s digital narcotics. I’m a new user so I want to be cautious about self-promotion, but I would be happy to follow up in DM.
I understand the deathbed scenario as a warning against procrastination—the kind where you actually may work a lot, it’s just that you keep postponing the important things, with the vague idea that you will get to that “later”.
The deathbed scenario is giving you the perspective when there is no “later” and your life ended up just doing the usual stuff. If you do not endorse such outcome, then you need to figure out how to include some of those important things in your life now rather than unspecified “later”. Otherwise, there is a risk that the perspective may actually be a correct prediction of your life.
I agree with this but separately the whole notion of what one might think on their deathbed is overrated (it’s partially a metaphor but still). You can reflect on your life so far at any time and it’s unlikely that your clearest thoughts on the matter will come on your deathbed...
My intuition is that:
The average person undervalues trying to find more rewarding/impactful/interesting work, making the mistake you describe in the post
The average LessWrong reader undervalues investing in family, i.e. they think too much about how to have an impactful career and too little about how to have a successful family
I feel fortunate that I’ve been able to create a situation for myself where these two spheres overlap (where my role as a father and a role as a professional are dependent on each other). It seems like this was much more common in the past, where children would be hands-on apprentices to their parents from a young age, blending the economic roles and familial roles from ~5 years old.
What do you do, out of curiosity?
I’m building a computer for kids. My goal is to make a computer that serves the same functional role for my kids as my first computer did for me in 1988, i.e. sparking creativity and curiosity and interest in technology, which is quite different from today’s digital narcotics. I’m a new user so I want to be cautious about self-promotion, but I would be happy to follow up in DM.
I understand the deathbed scenario as a warning against procrastination—the kind where you actually may work a lot, it’s just that you keep postponing the important things, with the vague idea that you will get to that “later”.
The deathbed scenario is giving you the perspective when there is no “later” and your life ended up just doing the usual stuff. If you do not endorse such outcome, then you need to figure out how to include some of those important things in your life now rather than unspecified “later”. Otherwise, there is a risk that the perspective may actually be a correct prediction of your life.