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One of the most constant lessons of literature and mythology is that people who dedicate themselves to becoming immortal inevitably spend their life harming oth

One of the most constant lessons of literature and mythology is that people who dedicate themselves to becoming immortal inevitably spend their life harming others.

goatlover 2y ago
I'm guessing advanced alien civilizations have figured out how to live a much longer time. Immortality isn't a physically achievable goal, but death from natural causes doesn't have to be necessary with a deep enough understanding of biology.
- keiferski 2y ago
  It’s a pretty big assumption that alien civilizations would even have a concept of the personal self that is interested in personal immortality. Even human beings had less of an interest in personal immortality prior to roughly ~2,000 years ago - before that, your group identity and memory tended to be more important, or your soul was something very different from a continuation of your earthly self. It’s just as likely that an alien civilization is a biological system akin to insects or trees, where the individual existence of one entity is not relevant at all.
  - Panzer04 2y ago
    I wonder if that's more a matter of incapability than anything else, though. Currently, we have more ability to move the needle on lifespan and illness than we've ever had before, and we learn more about it at increasingly accelerated rates. Doing the same 200 years ago (or earlier) was not really feasible. Today, we more or less have a decent grasp of the majority of diseases that end life.
    - keiferski 2y ago
      I think you meant to reply to someone else? Or are you saying that the concept of a personal self is tied to the increased ability to reduce illness and lengthen lifespan? Which is an interesting idea and probably defendable.
  - goatlover 2y ago
    The Hebrew scriptures and Buddha were plenty troubled by death prior to Christianity. I don't see why the equivalent of an intelligent ant civilization wouldn't remove aging from individuals once they were advanced enough. Jellyfish don't age, and one of The Expanse aliens (to mention a scifi example) were jellyfish-like, and had made themselves immune to biological forms of death.
xandrius 2y ago
You understand that those "lessons" are nothing but texts invented by someone just like ourselves? Most people try in their own way to achieve immortality by being nice to others, staying active and healthy and trying to die as late as possible.

One of the most constant lessons of literature and mythology is that people who dedicate themselves to becoming immortal inevitably spend their life harming others.

goatlover 2y ago

I'm guessing advanced alien civilizations have figured out how to live a much longer time. Immortality isn't a physically achievable goal, but death from natural causes doesn't have to be necessary with a deep enough understanding of biology.

keiferski 2y ago
It’s a pretty big assumption that alien civilizations would even have a concept of the personal self that is interested in personal immortality. Even human beings had less of an interest in personal immortality prior to roughly ~2,000 years ago - before that, your group identity and memory tended to be more important, or your soul was something very different from a continuation of your earthly self. It’s just as likely that an alien civilization is a biological system akin to insects or trees, where the individual existence of one entity is not relevant at all.
- Panzer04 2y ago
  I wonder if that's more a matter of incapability than anything else, though. Currently, we have more ability to move the needle on lifespan and illness than we've ever had before, and we learn more about it at increasingly accelerated rates. Doing the same 200 years ago (or earlier) was not really feasible. Today, we more or less have a decent grasp of the majority of diseases that end life.
  - keiferski 2y ago
    I think you meant to reply to someone else? Or are you saying that the concept of a personal self is tied to the increased ability to reduce illness and lengthen lifespan? Which is an interesting idea and probably defendable.
- goatlover 2y ago
  The Hebrew scriptures and Buddha were plenty troubled by death prior to Christianity. I don't see why the equivalent of an intelligent ant civilization wouldn't remove aging from individuals once they were advanced enough. Jellyfish don't age, and one of The Expanse aliens (to mention a scifi example) were jellyfish-like, and had made themselves immune to biological forms of death.

xandrius 2y ago

You understand that those "lessons" are nothing but texts invented by someone just like ourselves? Most people try in their own way to achieve immortality by being nice to others, staying active and healthy and trying to die as late as possible.