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Is it really a death wish? Immortality being a curse is a common trope. Hell, even surviving to 90 or 100 can be its own kind of hell for those whose life is be

by ljm 3y ago

Is it really a death wish? Immortality being a curse is a common trope. Hell, even surviving to 90 or 100 can be its own kind of hell for those whose life is being unnaturally preserved for the sake of those who can't or won't let go.

scotty79 3y ago
It's a trope because it's silly. Like another trope of being rich being a curse. Usually the trope includes some big tradeoffs for immortality and underestimates brain capacity to forget nearly everything and make up half of the stuff you "rememeber".
Gud 3y ago
Immortality yes, it is a curse, the option to choose your own time of death, no, it is not a curse.
- 2devnull 3y ago
  Thanks for knowing what immortality means.
  - TeMPOraL 3y ago
    You get no points for knowing one meaning in a dictionary definition of the word, where it's obvious the discussion is about a different meaning. That's like saying Rails isn't good scaffolding for a web service, because they're made of steel and are meant for trains.
krisoft 3y ago
> Immortality being a curse is a common trope. The silliness of the trope starts with the notion that once you have gone immortal you can't go back. Somehow you are stuck yearning for the sweet release of death. In reality life is extremely fragile, maintaining the right conditions to support it requires constant effort. There is no reason to think that any future scientific advance will alter this fundamental fact. Therefore it is highly likely that whoever achieves practical immortality will be also able to undo their "curse" by simply discontinuing whatever practice keeps them alive. Also, "forever" doesn't happen all at once. Give me immortality, and then check in with me yearly if I still want it. I will let you know once I'm over it.
- dennis_jeeves2 3y ago
  >Give me immortality, and then check in with me yearly if I still want it. I will let you know once I'm over it. I like the rational attitude. Like you pointed out, somehow people think it's some magic portion that you drink without ever the possibility of going back to being mortal.
- Hoasi 3y ago
  > Also, "forever" doesn't happen all at once. Give me immortality, and then check in with me yearly if I still want it. I will let you know once I'm over it. Immortality as a subscription service—brilliant!
  - bena 3y ago
    Also kind of a trope. It's a minor plot point in Sandman. Morpheus and someone else were arguing about immortality and how eventually we would all tire of life. So they grant a random guy immortality for as long as he wanted. Every so often, Morpheus checks up on him to see if he's ready to die yet. And he never is. In good times, he's enjoying it too much. In bad times, all he desires is to change his fortune.
- 2devnull 3y ago
  You have substituted immortality with being able to live as long as you want. Fair enough, but you’re just changing the premise. The word immortality has a specific meaning, even if you don’t like what it is.
  - fastball 3y ago
    There are many definitions of immortality. The Oxford definition is "the ability to live forever; eternal life." That seems to jive with GC's point. The definition is the ability to live forever, not the requirement to live forever.
  - krisoft 3y ago
    > Fair enough, but you’re just changing the premise. Because the "true and cursed" immortality is not on offer. Spending resources to extend our life is a possibility. Spending resources to better understand what aging is and how to extend our youth is. Getting cursed with immortality is not in the cards. > The word immortality has a specific meaning, even if you don’t like what it is. Ok. You can have your discussion about your fantasy concepts. They are fun! What should we discuss next? How many duck sized horses we would fight just to avoid being cursed with true immortality? It is all good with me as long as we don't try to draw real world conclusions from said fantasies.
dghughes 3y ago
I'm 54 and I can't stand most of people and society now or at least here in what is mainly US/Canada. I can't imagine what it would be like at 100 if I make it that far.
- sgu999 3y ago
  > I can't imagine what it would be like at 100 if I make it that far. The few elderly I know of who approached that age and were reflective enough told me they just ended up letting go. And they were actually happier. Being sufficiently well-off is probably helping ;)
- swader999 3y ago
  Is it what you see online or what you see in one on one interactions? I would guess this feeling is mostly based on what you see online. If that's the case, ask yourself if that's useful to feel this way about it.
  - dghughes 3y ago
    No or I should say it wasn't in the early days of the Internet and Web people seemed civil. Then it was just online where people seemed aggressive and arrogant. But now I see poor behaviour in real life every day. People seem to "tribal" and self-centred. People don't hold doors for people, they walk past people struggling like say their hands are full and they drop something but people just walk past not helping them. In stores people walk in front of little old ladies nearly knocking them down. Just a total lack of innate civility.
TeMPOraL 3y ago
> Immortality being a curse is a common trope. This is one of those cases where one shouldn't generalize from fictional evidence. Immortality as curse is a very lazy trope that breaks down upon casual inspection. > even surviving to 90 or 100 can be its own kind of hell for those whose life is being unnaturally preserved for the sake of those who can't or won't let go. That is indeed true, both in fiction and reality, but it's not the kind of immortality that's under discussion. Obviously being forever locked in a state of agony, in a failing body, is something no one wants.

by ljm 3y ago

scotty79 3y ago

It's a trope because it's silly. Like another trope of being rich being a curse. Usually the trope includes some big tradeoffs for immortality and underestimates brain capacity to forget nearly everything and make up half of the stuff you "rememeber".

Gud 3y ago

Immortality yes, it is a curse, the option to choose your own time of death, no, it is not a curse.

2devnull 3y ago
Thanks for knowing what immortality means.
- TeMPOraL 3y ago
  You get no points for knowing one meaning in a dictionary definition of the word, where it's obvious the discussion is about a different meaning. That's like saying Rails isn't good scaffolding for a web service, because they're made of steel and are meant for trains.

krisoft 3y ago

> Immortality being a curse is a common trope. The silliness of the trope starts with the notion that once you have gone immortal you can't go back. Somehow you are stuck yearning for the sweet release of death. In reality life is extremely fragile, maintaining the right conditions to support it requires constant effort. There is no reason to think that any future scientific advance will alter this fundamental fact. Therefore it is highly likely that whoever achieves practical immortality will be also able to undo their "curse" by simply discontinuing whatever practice keeps them alive. Also, "forever" doesn't happen all at once. Give me immortality, and then check in with me yearly if I still want it. I will let you know once I'm over it.

dennis_jeeves2 3y ago
>Give me immortality, and then check in with me yearly if I still want it. I will let you know once I'm over it. I like the rational attitude. Like you pointed out, somehow people think it's some magic portion that you drink without ever the possibility of going back to being mortal.
Hoasi 3y ago
> Also, "forever" doesn't happen all at once. Give me immortality, and then check in with me yearly if I still want it. I will let you know once I'm over it. Immortality as a subscription service—brilliant!
- bena 3y ago
  Also kind of a trope. It's a minor plot point in Sandman. Morpheus and someone else were arguing about immortality and how eventually we would all tire of life. So they grant a random guy immortality for as long as he wanted. Every so often, Morpheus checks up on him to see if he's ready to die yet. And he never is. In good times, he's enjoying it too much. In bad times, all he desires is to change his fortune.
2devnull 3y ago
You have substituted immortality with being able to live as long as you want. Fair enough, but you’re just changing the premise. The word immortality has a specific meaning, even if you don’t like what it is.
- fastball 3y ago
  There are many definitions of immortality. The Oxford definition is "the ability to live forever; eternal life." That seems to jive with GC's point. The definition is the ability to live forever, not the requirement to live forever.
- krisoft 3y ago
  > Fair enough, but you’re just changing the premise. Because the "true and cursed" immortality is not on offer. Spending resources to extend our life is a possibility. Spending resources to better understand what aging is and how to extend our youth is. Getting cursed with immortality is not in the cards. > The word immortality has a specific meaning, even if you don’t like what it is. Ok. You can have your discussion about your fantasy concepts. They are fun! What should we discuss next? How many duck sized horses we would fight just to avoid being cursed with true immortality? It is all good with me as long as we don't try to draw real world conclusions from said fantasies.

dghughes 3y ago

I'm 54 and I can't stand most of people and society now or at least here in what is mainly US/Canada. I can't imagine what it would be like at 100 if I make it that far.

sgu999 3y ago
> I can't imagine what it would be like at 100 if I make it that far. The few elderly I know of who approached that age and were reflective enough told me they just ended up letting go. And they were actually happier. Being sufficiently well-off is probably helping ;)
swader999 3y ago
Is it what you see online or what you see in one on one interactions? I would guess this feeling is mostly based on what you see online. If that's the case, ask yourself if that's useful to feel this way about it.
- dghughes 3y ago
  No or I should say it wasn't in the early days of the Internet and Web people seemed civil. Then it was just online where people seemed aggressive and arrogant. But now I see poor behaviour in real life every day. People seem to "tribal" and self-centred. People don't hold doors for people, they walk past people struggling like say their hands are full and they drop something but people just walk past not helping them. In stores people walk in front of little old ladies nearly knocking them down. Just a total lack of innate civility.

TeMPOraL 3y ago

> Immortality being a curse is a common trope. This is one of those cases where one shouldn't generalize from fictional evidence. Immortality as curse is a very lazy trope that breaks down upon casual inspection. > even surviving to 90 or 100 can be its own kind of hell for those whose life is being unnaturally preserved for the sake of those who can't or won't let go. That is indeed true, both in fiction and reality, but it's not the kind of immortality that's under discussion. Obviously being forever locked in a state of agony, in a failing body, is something no one wants.