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Author: SplicerSplicer Date: Dec 25, 2007 12:29
"Ken from Chicago" comcast.net> wrote on 25 Dec 2007:
> Boring. The more interesting question would be if EVERYONE was immortal.
>
Except that I wasn't trying to write a good story, I was merely posing a
question regarding haves and have-nots when immortality gets thrown into
the mix.
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Author: William December StarrWilliam December Starr Date: Dec 25, 2007 14:28
In article 4ax.com>,
Howard Brazee brazee.net> said:
> Even with eternal youth, would you want to live to be 1000?
Ask me again when I'm 999.
--
William December Starr panix.com>
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Author: William December StarrWilliam December Starr Date: Dec 25, 2007 14:31
In article ,
Splicer nomail.com> said:
> The question for me is, "Who gets to be immortal"? Let's say the
> treatment is extremely expensive and only the very wealthy can
> afford it - will the poor bastards (i.e. The rest of the world)
> sit idly by while people they probably don't like to begin with,
> get to live forever?
For the most part they put up with all the rest of the shit that the
wealthy and powerful rain down upon them; what's one more inequity?
--
William December Starr panix.com>
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Author: Ken from ChicagoKen from Chicago Date: Dec 25, 2007 15:17
"Splicer" nomail.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9A119D98DA74CSplicer@216.196.97.131...> "Ken from Chicago" comcast.net> wrote on 25 Dec 2007:
>>> Boring. The more interesting question would be if EVERYONE was immortal.
>>
>
> Except that I wasn't trying to write a good story, I was merely posing a
> question regarding haves and have-nots when immortality gets thrown into
> the mix.
Like you don't know? Come on, there's a billion stories about haves vs
havenots. The commoners rebel against TPTB claim the luxuries for everyone.
-- Ken from Chicago
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Author: Howard BrazeeHoward Brazee Date: Dec 25, 2007 16:31
On Tue, 25 Dec 2007 14:20:57 -0600, "Ken from Chicago"
comcast.net> wrote:
>> Even with eternal youth, would you want to live to be 1000? Remember
>
>Yes.
Possibly for me - but I doubt it. I keep seeing people getting tired
of the same old thing or becoming rigid in unattractive ways.
>> the world keeps changing and you would be an obvious outsider. It
>
>No. Not if everyone were immortal.
Only if the future generations have no power.
>> would be hard to keep interested in life for a thousand years.
>
>You underestimate how interesting life and the universe can be--and for
>immortals, travel to the stars becomes totally doable, even at
>subrelativistic speeds.
I am doing wild guessing here - I have know way of knowing how long
this delight can continue - but I see people not wanting to see more
new stuff.
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Author: Michael AshMichael Ash Date: Dec 25, 2007 18:32
In rec.arts.sf.science Howard Brazee brazee.net> wrote:> On Tue, 25 Dec 2007 14:20:57 -0600, "Ken from Chicago"
> comcast.net> wrote:>>> the world keeps changing and you would be an obvious outsider. It
>>
>>No. Not if everyone were immortal.
>
> Only if the future generations have no power.
It has been argued that the only thing which allows true change is the old
leaders dying off to make room for the new. If this is true, then when the
old leaders stop dying off, change will cease.
I don't know if I really believe it, but it's somewhat convincing.
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Author: Michael AshMichael Ash Date: Dec 25, 2007 18:49
In rec.arts.sf.science Splicer nomail.com> wrote:> The question for me is, "Who gets to be immortal"? Let's say the treatment
> is extremely expensive and only the very wealthy can afford it - will the
> poor bastards (i.e. The rest of the world) sit idly by while people they
> probably don't like to begin with, get to live forever? If only the
> wealthy can afford it, I'd suggest that once treated they hide.
I don't think that realistic immortality will consist of "the treatment".
*If* this comes to pass, it will happen gradually due to a large set of
disparate treatments and cures. You're not going to wake up one day and
find out that if you walk into a clinic with a $100 million check you will
walk out immortal. Instead you will wake up and discover that you will no
longer die of lung cancer, or suffer from Alzheimer's, or get one of
thirteen specific types of leukemia.
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Author: Robert ClarkRobert Clark Date: Dec 25, 2007 19:21
On Dec 24, 3:02 pm, Jon Schild xmission.com> wrote:> Robert Clark wrote:
>> Would you give up your immortality to ensure the success of a
>> posthuman world?
>
> Absolutely. And it isn't that hard a question. Maybe when you are 20 or
> 30 the idea of living forever seems attractive, but wait until you get
> older and assorted body parts no longer work like they should. Then you
> can understand the full meaning of a button I have seen at several
> worldcons:
>
> "Immortality -- A Fate Worse than Death"
>
> --
> I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us
> with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.
> -- Galileo Galilei
The quest for immortality also presupposes that what comes after
death is nothingness, or can not be many times better than life.
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Author: Jim LovejoyJim Lovejoy Date: Dec 25, 2007 20:04
> Do you really need to know in advance? When you get to the point where
> you don't want to live any longer, stop. Any realistic immortality
> should not prevent suicide,
Counterpoint _The Lur of the Basilisk_ by LWE
(Actually the whole _Lords of Du^s_ series is a counterpoint.)
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Author: Wayne ThroopWayne Throop Date: Dec 25, 2007 21:16
: Jim Lovejoy
: Counterpoint _The Lur of the Basilisk_ by LWE
I thought Lur was of Omicron Persei VIII.
It is true what they say; women are from Omicron Persei 7,
men are from Omicron Persei 9.
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