Why is the deathbed perspective considered so valuable?

Re:Why is the deathbed perspective considered so valuable? by nineplay on Wednesday March 10, 2021 @10:54AM (#26412515)

The "I should not have worked as hard" deathbed quote has always bugged me. There are plenty of people who think they could have been more or done more. It's not a perfect example, but there are plenty of "Walter White"s who taught high-school science and think they were capable of so much more.

I find it is happening among some women I know who chose to stay at home and now, as the kids are getting older, are thinking about what they could have been. It's a harder choice than people realize.

I had a friend who said her tombstone would read "She had potential".

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Why is the deathbed perspective considered so valuable? by bboylen on Wednesday March 10, 2021 @11:29AM (#26412951)

I feel like people often regret not taking the risk to go work (hard) on something they find meaningful.

Not sure if as many regret that they didn't put in the extra hours to get to the next level in a big corporation.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Why is the deathbed perspective considered so valuable? by nineplay on Wednesday March 10, 2021 @11:41AM (#26413106)

I think there are people who do regret not getting to the next big level. They thought they could have been a good (software) architect or director or principal, they thought they could have really made some lasting difference, but instead they were a cog their whole lives.

Success is important, feeling successful is important. It can be hard to be happy with "good enough".

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Why is the deathbed perspective considered so valuable? by reasonabl_human on Wednesday March 10, 2021 @12:23PM (#26413652)

Good reading on the topic of doing great work and fulfilling that potential you reference:

http://www.paulgraham.com/hamming.html

Just read it for the first time yesterday and plan on doing so many more times in the future.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Why is the deathbed perspective considered so valuable? by watwut on Wednesday March 10, 2021 @12:03PM (#26413444)

"I should not have worked as hard" is an attempt to make people who work too much now to engage more at home. I honestly doubt this is a thing dying people say all that much. Frankly, if they valued their family, they would spend more time with them years before.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Why is the deathbed perspective considered so valuable? by tern on Wednesday March 10, 2021 @11:50AM (#26413252)

Arguably, being "authentic" in many ways covers this

[ Parent | on HN ]