I went straight to the HN discussion rather than the WP page and on my way was thinking to myself, hope some one brings up the issue of "right to die". To my pl

I went straight to the HN discussion rather than the WP page and on my way was thinking to myself, hope some one brings up the issue of "right to die". To my pleasant surprise that is the central topic of the discussion. Many have argued for prolonging the life span of humans to the point of immortality. Its a thought provoking idea to entertain. One comment ponders rhetorically, wouldn't it be nice to have Einstein and Tesla around. Not only am I ok with right to die, I absolutely covet it. Not just for myself but the entire society. I am not so sure about "right to life", though it might seem such a no-brainer, Though we use the word "right" they are often privileges and the important question to think over is who gets to exercise the privileges. That is never uniform, it always comes down to who has the wherewithal to secure that privilege. It is this that causes me to worry. Sure it would be great to have Socrates and Einstein with us if they chose to, we don't know if they would have. Many assholes would, but more seriously, one can conjecture that the dictators who were not defeated but died naturally would probably choose to live. World history would be a lot different. Would authoritarian regimes live longer ? Difficult to answer. Then there is the question of ideas. Ideas, both good and bad, they often die not because better ideas replace them, but because their champions die. I don't know whether this is an argument in favor of or against prolonging life, but the need to discuss it will only become more urgent over the years.