Jobs had a shorter life than P.A. His xpSelf had less enjoyment.
Jobs also had less wealth than P.A. for most of his lifetime, but did he need that wealth?
k_Kahneman
Q: Do I prefer P.A’s life or my healthy, uneventful life? (If the latter, then how about Jobs’ life?) Do I want my kids to have my kind of life or his kind of life? A contrast between xpSelf vs the evaluative rmSelf.
I feel Paul.Allen had a relatively short but full life. Paul had a wide range of ambitions. Unlike other people, P.A had the resources and Time to pursue them. He even turned a few into reality. Overall, I won’t trade places with him, definitely not for good — I won’t trade AA) my healthy mediocre life for BB) his life. His life was presumably fulfilling to the evaluative rmSelf, but no it’s not a life I prefer. In that bold statement, I choose to reject the Evaluation (of the rmSelf).
SuccessL — Goals, purposes, ambitious are good and noble. They give meanings to a life. They are fundamental to a fulfilling (purposeful, productive) life. SuccessL is the flip side of my rejection. Jobs and P.A seem to have successL but who knows in 200 years?
Between AA and BB, which life would I want my kids to Live? AA. I would rather my kids be mediocre [碌碌无为, 一事无成] but enjoy a healthy /uneventful/ long life.
— Family .. is a primary source of happiness (xpSelf) and fulfilment (rmSelf) for most of us, not P.A. He never married and had no children. There was no well-known long-term relationships with either a woman or man.
— health issues.. P.A lived with long-term conditions since age 29. His cancers were (successfully) treated at 30 and 56, but eventually killed him at age 65.
Did he (xpSelf) suffer too much? Not sure. Luckily, he didn’t subject his loved ones to psychological pains — he had no kids or partner.
— deserved much more time .. Somehow, D.Kahneman’s account about evaluation of a life story seem to suggest that many people would pay attention to the quality (esp. the ending) of his life. I don’t Feel that way.
I Feel his life is too short. Bill Gates said “Paul loved life… He deserved much more time.”.. the amount of experienced wellbeing. I agree with D.Kahneman that Duration Neglect is a serious disservice to the xpSelf. The xpSelf deserves many decades of fulfilling life on earth.
While it’s possible (5% chance?) Paul didn’t want to live 10Y more given the chronic conditions, my analysis of chronic conditions makes me doubtful. I think he was very used to his chronic conditions and wanted to live 10Y or 20Y more. He probably battled his cancer rather than giving up. Paul struck me as a courageous dreamer and doer. He probably wanted to get more done (just like my dad) or enjoy a healthy longevity.
— paradox .. factual vs imagined historical figure
I have read about Paul Allen a few times, a few minutes each time. I do want to understand Paul Allen’s life if I have the bandwidth, but most likely I won’t have it. My life is too short and there are too many things to read. Therefore, paradoxically it’s a good thing that P.A is (gone and) not a news maker like Musk, Trump, actors… I don’t feel the compulsion [due diligence] to gather more Facts. I don’t need more Facts! What I’m discussing here is an imagined version of Paul Allen. The real P.A is much more complex.