Fascinating
If you want an interesting look at a particular aspect of human psychology, you should go read the comments on this Io9 post about an island of immortals by Ursula LeGuin (non-spoiler alert - in the story, being immortal sucks).
The comments are full of comments like:
"Really silly story if you ask me.
I mean, that's magical immortality, and it's set up very very specifically to be a curse. I mean, these immortals are magically immune to all forms of damage that could kill them, but no form of damage that would render them as good as dead. I mean, an effect like that is so incredibly specific that you'd have to aim for it specifically, as a punishment.
Now, a more realistic form of immortality, eternal youth, I think would actually be a great boon to society."
That's just one but it's representative.
So basically, the people of Io9 have convinced themselves that:
1) Being immortal is totally possible, and
2) Also would be awesome, but
3) People like LeGuin are trying to harsh their buzz by artificially constructing scenarios to make it look bad.
I honestly find this baffling, guys. I'm a non-religious person myself, but is this something that happens when you get groups of non-religious people together and they don't have a spiritual framework to address death and fear of dying?
The comments are full of comments like:
"Really silly story if you ask me.
I mean, that's magical immortality, and it's set up very very specifically to be a curse. I mean, these immortals are magically immune to all forms of damage that could kill them, but no form of damage that would render them as good as dead. I mean, an effect like that is so incredibly specific that you'd have to aim for it specifically, as a punishment.
Now, a more realistic form of immortality, eternal youth, I think would actually be a great boon to society."
That's just one but it's representative.
So basically, the people of Io9 have convinced themselves that:
1) Being immortal is totally possible, and
2) Also would be awesome, but
3) People like LeGuin are trying to harsh their buzz by artificially constructing scenarios to make it look bad.
I honestly find this baffling, guys. I'm a non-religious person myself, but is this something that happens when you get groups of non-religious people together and they don't have a spiritual framework to address death and fear of dying?