[losvedir]

> It should be a time for celebration, of the incredible way in which Mandelbrot has contributed to the sum of Humanity's Greatness.

What's the point of celebrating now that he's dead?

My great grandmother used to tell all of us -- if you're planning to come to my funeral: don't. Use the money and time you'd spend then and come visit me now.

I think now is a reasonable time to mourn. A great mathematician is no longer around to give talks (I went to one a few years ago and thought it was very neat), and if you know him personally then you won't get to see him and converse with him anymore. That's very sad. Sure, he may have done abstractly great things, but there's no denying there are sad aspects to it.

But as for celebrations and parties, those should be done while the guy is still around to enjoy, I think.

[hugh3]

Celebrating the life of the dead is a coping mechanism for the living, not as a feel-good benefit for the corpse.

There's no value in pointing out that most of the things we do when somebody dies make no sense. We all know that they make no sense, but we do them anyway, because we feel the need to do something, and aside from the bare mechanical fact of getting the corpse out of the way before it starts to smell there's really not much to do that does make sense.

[ugh]

Coping makes sense and celebration can be a wonderful way to cope.

My grandma’s brothers and sisters, kids and grandkids came spontaneously together in her living room shortly after she died at the age of 85. We told each other stories about her life, how she fought her illness late in life, about pranks her kids played on her, how she, as the oldest, had to take care of her brothers and sisters after her parents died early. It was absolutely wonderful and we laughed a lot. Not for her benefit but for us. Much better than the phony consolation and rigid structure of the funeral that followed.

My grandma should never have died. Nobody should ever have to die. But I have become convinced that if someone does celebration is the right way to say goodbye. The mourning will come anyway, be sure to celebrate a little.

[hugh3]

Nobody should ever have to die.

I don't think that's a particularly useful or healthy attitude to have towards death, actually.

[ugh]

Why? And what could be healthy about something as destructive as embracing death?

I like to be pragmatic. I know very well that I will most likely die in a few decades. That’s just how it looks to be at the moment. I do however strongly believe we and the generations that follow us should fight death and that we can win.

[bad_user]

Well, since you are a pragmatic ...

If we could live forever, than we couldn't have any children (our reproduction rate is exponential, but there's only one planet that can hold us all and it doesn't grow any larger).

Stretching this, there would be no real notion of parents or grandparents. And it would get pretty boring too.

As most of us here, you're probably too young. Do you have children? Wait until you see your first toddler walking towards you while laughing.

It's a sentiment worth dying for ;)