The post Death First appeared first on Of Psychology and Psychosomatics.
]]>Here are the facts: Humans, and all other living creatures, have a limited lifespan. Trees can live for thousands of years, growing and maturing and bringing life to the space they inhabit. Some species of tortoise survive for hundreds of years. Dogs grow up with us as children and usually leave us before adulthood. Gerbils have fewer years, and insects even less. We happen to exist somewhere in the middle of it all, at about 110 years maximum, depending on where on earth we live.
The short of it is this: We all die in the end. It might come sooner, or at the very latest possible. It could be natural or unnatural. It could be at the hand of another human being, or our own. So why are we so afraid of it?
Because it’s the end of our lives as we know them? Because we don’t have proof of anything afterwards? Worst case scenario, there’s nothing, and our conscience is snuffed out forever. Depending on your belief, there is promise of an afterlife, a heaven or hell, a rebirth as another being, a chance to try again, reward and punishment. But this doesn’t matter in this life.
We spend too much time fretting over life after death, and too little time living this one. We are afraid to do something dangerous, afraid to try something new, afraid to take chances on people or beliefs or dreams. We blame people for accidents, make them out to be preventable, and try to take money from them. We expect safety at all times, and are willing to give up important human rights to guarantee it.
Let me tell you what life is: Yesterday, a man was killed as he went to work. He was an important man, and left behind many grieving friends and family. When everyone was gathered together to remember him and pray over him, a suicide bomber killed them. Over 70 human beings died, and a hundred more injured. This was done in the name of meaningless, faceless, religious terror, to people who try to make their lives and their world a better place. And do you know what happened after? More people came to the same place and picked up the bodies and treated the wounded. They gathered AGAIN, risking more life, to save life.
In America, a man died when his self-driving car had an accident. So to prevent this from happening again, there are people calling for bans on self-driving vehicles. This is our idea of safety. This is our activism. We stand and block the future for our mindless fear of death.
Should I ever pass away trying something new, do not rally against that thing. If others leave this life early, do not let grief cloud your judgement of humanity. The good of the many outweigh the needs of the few. My life must show this at all times. I hope yours does as well.
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]]>Never buy a desktop computer unless you plan to play video games or render intense 3D projects. It’s not worth the space, dust, power usage, or frustration of having a big box that goes nowhere.
For the average user of computers, most of your activities will be confined to word processing, tax and financial applications, and using the internet. All three of these activities can now be performed in the browser. Your computer should probably focus on processing power, rather than the size of your hard drive.
After using an Apple Macbook Pro for the past year, I’m convinced it’s pretty much the most well-built laptop available today. There are certainly many options, but for power users (even just internet-focused ones), it’s hard to beat.
It doesn’t matter if you have a $30 IoT device or a $6000 Apple GoldBook Nirvana Prime, your computer will crash. It will never not crash. It’s a way of life. If you have 12 browser windows open, streaming music and watching YouTube videos, your computer is likely to hang up.
Restart your computer all the time. Seriously. It still doesn’t matter if it’s a Windows or an Apple or a Linux or whatever, your computer needs to clear its RAM and shut down at least once a week.
DO NOT GET NORTON OR MCAFEE. You don’t need these programs anymore. Malware doesn’t just jump out of the internet onto your computer. If you’re browsing sketchy sites and downloading freeware, you deserve to get a virus. For the other 99% of the world, just don’t download anything you don’t trust. Most of the crap you think you need is a browser extension, and search engines mostly display security-verified websites on the first page of a search.
Still, it doesn’t hurt to run a virus scan and cleaner every few months. If you’re a Windows user, I suggest Malwarebytes and CCleaner. You don’t have to pay for live monitoring. Just get the free versions, run the scans, and delete what it suggests. CCleaner even checks your registry and fixes corrupt files automatically. For Apple users, check out this article. Believe it or not, you can now get viruses on your Mac. The main message? Don’t visit crappy websites.
Don’t download or watch porn on your computer. There are too many ways to screw up your machine. If you absolutely must, use a smartphone or tablet browser that doesn’t support file downloads.
Stop bringing your computer to “PC repair technicians.” If you have a problem with your computer, Google it. It’s what they do anyway. Very often, it’s better to just reinstall the operating system. This is a million times easier than you think. They will charge you $300, and you’ll still have to pay for the software. It’s better to do it yourself or give your nephew $20 to help (I’m assuming you have a nephew).
Technology changes quickly, and there’s always new stuff coming out to get confused about. However, if you give up on learning something too quickly, you’ll miss out on some incredible advantages. My final piece of advice is to always be willing to learn something new. If you want expert news on the latest tech, and helpful tips and advice, I recommend The Verge, Gizmodo, Wired, and AppleInsider.
I hope this list helps you feel better about maintaining your computer. It’s not very hard! Leave a comment with your favorite news sources or some helpful advice you like giving to your tech-impaired family members.
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