What are the Three Inevitable Realities of Life?

[tgt]

1. Death
2. Taxes
3. To make continued substantial contributions (in anything) in the long term, one must work very hard.

Agreeable?

 

[cristo]

I think only 1 and 2 are widely agreed upon.

 

[Evo]

I think only 1 and 2 are widely agreed upon.

There are places without taxes. Of course there are no public works either. So, only 1 is certain.

 

[weqweqweq]

Only 1 is certain. And that's kinda sad.

 

[redargon]

Another certainty in life is life itself. You will live for a certain amount of time before you die. Try to remember and enjoy that part.

 

[wolram]

I am not certain about any of the above, the only thing i certain of in the near future, is i am going to have another cup of cider.

 

[morphism]

I wouldn't say 1 is certain either. But given the overwhelming evidence in its favor, I'll accept that it has probability 1.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I will never die, and no one can ever prove to me otherwise.

 

[glondor]

If you are born alive you will live. If you live you will die. When you die you will recycle.

 

[Gokul43201]

I will never die, and no one can ever prove to me otherwise.

I just wrote down the proof this morning when this guy (he introduced himself as Pete) came by and said he had an appointment with you, and that he could give it you when you met. I said "okay" and gave it to him. Oddly, then, he asked me if I had any pearly paint? Before I could translate my confuzzlement into words, he thanked me for the tea and left, saying he had a ton of work left to do on the gates.

 

[lisab]

I just wrote down the proof this morning when this guy (he introduced himself as Pete) came buy and said he had an appointment with you, and that he could give it you when you met. I said "okay" and gave it to him. Oddly, then, he asked me if I had any pearly paint? Before I could translate my confuzzlement into words, he thanked me for the tea and left, saying he had a ton of work left to do on the gates.

 

[Chi Meson]

no no no.

It's http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2SLs7EWyIk"

 

[Ivan Seeking]

...this guy (he introduced himself as Pete) came by and said he had an appointment with you...

Whewwww, that's a relief. Did he mention how many virgins I get [or am I confusing something here]?

I never believed any of that stuff until now.

 

[CaptainQuasar]

I think that a more interesting question might be, are there taxes in Heaven? Do you have to worry about mortgaging your harp and being evicted from your cloud?

⚛​

 

[tgt]

Can anyone give a counter example to why 3. is false?

 

[hypatia]

I tried to find a reason to disagree, but came to the conclusion that even in a round about way, hard work does contribute in a substantial way.
For example Harper Lee, she only wrote one book, which won her the Pulitzer Prize, and later the Presidential Medal of Freedom. To Kill a Mockingbird was a giant contribution to literature. But had she not spent years studying law, her book might not of been so grand.

 

[WarPhalange]

Can anyone give a counter example to why 3. is false?

1) Your parents are freakin' rich and leave you a lot of money. You spend your days relaxing by the pool and playing video games. You then donate $2M to some charity. Every year.

2) You stumble upon some discovery. Almost 100% of the time people were working very hard at whatever it was they were doing when they happened upon whatever they discovered, even if it was completely unrelated. But I'm sure there have been instances where people were just goofing around and suddenly they said "Holy crap! I just made fire!"

 

[moe darklight]

I think it's

1) Death
2) Godwin's Law

 

[tgt]

1) Your parents are freakin' rich and leave you a lot of money. You spend your days relaxing by the pool and playing video games. You then donate $2M to some charity. Every year.

2) You stumble upon some discovery. Almost 100% of the time people were working very hard at whatever it was they were doing when they happened upon whatever they discovered, even if it was completely unrelated. But I'm sure there have been instances where people were just goofing around and suddenly they said "Holy crap! I just made fire!"

1) is okay. 2) is not since I'm looking for contributions in the long term, not one offs.

Another counter example is if some scientist did not want to get any publicity and published everything under someone else's name.

Hence I'll change 3. with the following:

To make continued substantial contributions (in anything) in the long term, someone must work very hard.

Any counter examples now?

 

[Proton Soup]

hunger and pain and death

 

[lisab]

hunger and pain and death

Gonna start calling you Eeyore, Proton...

 

[Proton Soup]

Gonna start calling you Eeyore, Proton...

thanks for noticin' me

 

[WaveJumper]

Sadly nothing is certain in life. The atoms that compose a human body don't die, it's the perception of life that may die or may continue(if the world is a simulation, hologram, iilusion of the mind or some god's creation).

 

[Raizy]

Can we add conflict to that list?

 

[humanino]

To make continued substantial contributions (in anything) in the long term, someone must work very hard.

Many beautiful (wo)men have contributed substantially to creation in painting, sculpture, and even music, poetry... maybe geopolitics, without working at all. They inspired the artist, or turned the head of a politically/historically influential person.

 

[moe darklight]

Many beautiful (wo)men have contributed substantially to creation in painting, sculpture, and even music, poetry... maybe geopolitics, without working at all. They inspired the artist, or turned the head of a politically/historically influential person.

Was this the face that launch'd a thousand ships,
And burnt the topless towers of Ilium--
Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss.--
[Kisses her.]
Her lips suck forth my soul: see, where it flies!--
Come, Helen, come, give me my soul again.
Here will I dwell, for heaven is in these lips,
And all is dross that is not Helena.

 

[tgt]

Many beautiful (wo)men have contributed substantially to creation in painting, sculpture, and even music, poetry... maybe geopolitics, without working at all. They inspired the artist, or turned the head of a politically/historically influential person.

That is why I added the word 'someone' in 3. So in the cases you point out, it was the actual producers of the work that had to work hard. Since they would have needed the skills in the first place to convert their inspiration into good work.

 

[tgt]

I think it's

1) Death
2) Godwin's Law

hunger and pain and death

Gonna start calling you Eeyore, Proton...

Sadly nothing is certain in life. The atoms that compose a human body don't die, it's the perception of life that may die or may continue(if the world is a simulation, hologram, iilusion of the mind or some god's creation).

Can we add conflict to that list?

The point of the thread was to highlight and discuss 3.

In fact, I've come to the conclusion that 1. may not always be and 2. is not even true.

However, can anyone came up with a counter example to the refrained 3. in post 19 ?

 

[humanino]

That is why I added the word 'someone' in 3. So in the cases you point out, it was the actual producers of the work that had to work hard. Since they would have needed the skills in the first place to convert their inspiration into good work.

Well, as soon as "someone" at some point at to work hard for humanity so survive, which can always be argued, nothing would have been accomplished by humankind otherwise.

 

[Proton Soup]

To make continued substantial contributions (in anything) in the long term, someone must work very hard.

Any counter examples now?

the hand that rocks the cradle makes the most substantial long term contributions. whether that's harder than any other work is debatable, but it requires a certain amount of consistency.