What does one die of?

This question has bothered me quite a bit. What would I rather die of? Assuming most of us don't want to get killed in accidents or homicides, what would be an acceptable cause for natural death?

Let me lay out the basics here. I'm generally healthy, eat healthy, never been overweight, very fitness aware and generally active. I run 3 miles every other day and try to do a spot of weights etc during the week. I also take a 30 min. walk every weekday unless the weather prevents it. Statistically speaking (my life insurance agrees too) I have a reasonably long life to look forward to.

I know most of us make lifestyle choices to ensure at least probabilistically that they have a "good, healthy" life. Nothing wrong with that. Heck, I do the same myself. But regardless of my life choices, the guaranteed fate is death one day. Working backwards from the inevitable what will then make me die if I am perpetually fit? Do I want to wither away slowly - despite all my efforts to remain fit? Do I want to live long, not have any major diseases and then have my organs fail me (think about it - ears, eyes, teeth, kidneys, liver, lungs) one by one from the sheer strain of having functioned so long? Or do I want a shorter life and die in one swift strike of something major? Is there a golden between somewhere?

I suppose there is no real good answer; no technique of leading your life that will guarantee that you will healthy as long as you desire to live and then make a quick, graceful exit from the world. My guess (ok my adventure into spiritualism) is that in the end, we all should strive to have a meaningful life. Everybody has their own definition of meaningful but we need to have a concept that we live and abide by. That surely is in our control. For the things out of our control such as death, we can only hope for the best ....

Spend and grow rich?

I have been thinking a lot about the recent talk about consumption taxation (CT) vs. income taxation (IT). Personally I favor the CT approach because I spend a smaller percentage of my income and save a larger percentage. It may not work out well for people who happen to fall in the inverse situation and I am sensitive to that.

But a larger question comes to mind; doesn't a CT approach inhibit spending - the very catalyst of a capitalist society? Won't a CT scheme encourage more saving and less spending? Wouldn't that depress the overall economy and over the long term hinder GDP growth?

Democracy Anyone

Thoughts for today .....

When I listen to George W. Bush's statements on how the spread of democracy is a necessary and sufficient condition to end terrorism, I am amazed by the sheer leap of faith implied and assumed of the listener. While I do submit that the statement may indeed be true, as a scientifically minded person, I am deeply offended by such total reliance on selective empirical observations. There is no model that can scientifically back this conclusion. Not in complexity theory, chaos theory or anything else I've studied. There are examples all the way back from the dawn of civilization to present day where non-democratic forms of governance have flourished and been prosperous and have nary a hint of terrorism in their accounts.

I do love the democratic institution and do believe that it does bring the best known (as yet) form of governance to society. But what made democracy rise to the level of being a panacea? What makes it the dream-come-true of modern society? What makes it a virtue that everyone around the world should strive for? Why should we be inclined to believe that collective morality or collective dishonesty is better than what has been working for some societies so far? Are all people that are not in democracies unhappy? Unhappy enough to create terror for no reason other than so-called freedom-envy? Who are we anyway to comment on and judge their happiness? Happiness is relative after all ...... then again that is a topic for another day.

Introduction

Since just about anyone who is anyone has his/her own blog, I thought it might be a good idea to set up my own blog. So here goes ....

I have nothing in particular that I want to write down. I plan to keep this a place to record some random experiences, opinions, thoughts and theories that I come across or come up with - as and when I have some free cycles.

You know how on airplanes they announce at the beginning, ".... if you are unable or not willing to perform any duties required of you if you're in an exit row, please inform the flight attendant and we will reseat you ....". Most flights are full and late and usually well on their way to takeoff as they make this announcement. Hmmmm... wonder what the flight attendant will say and/or do?