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I completely agree with your regarding value of the continuation of humans on this rock,
While my view like yours is that in the scheme of things we are a blip and likely to disappear well before this lump of rock explodes. And so what?
This does not take away from trying to extend the longevity of humans and to aim collectively to keep as many people as possible content and pain free for as long as possible, an approach our health professionals take for individuals (a philosophical take as you suggested)
skydancer
nick_h.
May I try a philosophical take? Our species has a powerful sense of self-awareness. This makes many of us search for a meaning to our lives.
But there is none. So we try to find meaning by making our mark with excess consumption and displays of power. It's a sad paradox that self-awareness, which we think of as our unique advantage, is driving us to consume excess resources and extinguish ourselves. We need to accept that our lives are trivial, inconsequential, just a molecule in a planet-sized brownian motion.
I have done this. It's quite calming but it has an unfortunate label, absurdism, which doesn't sell it that well. And to be honest I wouldn't have accepted this willingly. It's been forced on me by having ME for 30 years. I'm 62, with almost no friends and family and no money or self-determination, and I realise my life is never going to add up to anything. Anything at all. This is my enlightenment.
I wish I had come to it willingly when I was 16 and agonising about what to do with my life. Are there people here who have always known this? Maybe the zen and yoga types? Perhaps more likely to be women than the often egoist, selfish, aggressive men?
This is another way of saying that the patriarchy has doomed us. A matriarchy could save us from ourselves, but the patriarchy is in the driving seat and will not share it.