[ExI] Future Bodies

[Kelly Anderson]

On Fri, Jan 17, 2014 at 3:19 PM, BillK <pharos at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Fri, Jan 17, 2014 at 8:37 PM, Kelly Anderson wrote:
> <snip>
> > Suicide will be fine once indefinite life span is a choice too. The thing
> > that makes life so valuable that it is viewed as a problem to end it is
> that
> > it is short. With 1000 year life spans, I don't think people will frown
> on
> > suicide quite so much.
>
> This seems a strange comment to me.
>

Wouldn't be the first time I've said something strange, now would it? ;-)


> The length of life span has no connection to the reasons people have
> for suicide.
>

I beg to differ. If I have lived for 10,000 years, I might just get tired
of it. We don't know since nobody has ever had that choice. Lazarus Long
tried to commit suicide in Robert A. Heinlein's book Time Enough for Love.
So at least Heinlein was thinking along these lines.


> People suicide to get relief from a life which has become intolerable for
> them.
>

And isn't it possible that JUST BEING ALIVE for 10,000 years would become
intolerable? What if the world has changed so much that you just aren't
able to process it or comprehend it any more? What if there is NO MORE
NATURE. What if there is NO MORE SKY. What if everything your brain evolved
to enjoy was gone because the powers that come to be don't enjoy that stuff
anymore?


> There are evolutionary reasons for society to generally disapprove of
> suicide. We can argue that they are sick and need treatment, or we
> should make life better for them. Though some suicides are to avoid
> retribution for bad behaviour. And there are exceptions, like
> sacrificing one's life to save others that society approve of.
>

You are comparing today's suicide with tomorrow's suicide. I'm saying that
it is entirely possible that tomorrow people will commit suicide for
entirely different reasons.


> But none of this connects to length of life span.
>

Long life means things may change. You may feel as obsolete as a stone axe.
As useless as a kickstand on a submarine. What is the point of living if
you feel like that? Seems pretty intolerable to me.

-Kelly
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