XPost: alt.philosophy, alt.atheism, alt.agnosticism   
   From: usenet@larseighner.com   
      
   In our last episode, <47855c95$0$3431$a82e2bb9@reader.athenanews.com>, the   
   lovely and talented Pro-Humanist FREELOVER broadcast on alt.atheism:   
      
   > Up to now, religions have owned the immortality promise.   
      
   First, I think it is worth considering what 'immortality' might be, and   
   whether any of the things it might be are anything to be desired.   
      
   What is important or interesting to you that would still seem important or   
   interesting in 1,000 years?  10,000 years.  100,000 years.   
      
   I'm guessing immortality doesn't mean extending corporeal life indefinitely.   
   The limit on that seems to be somewhere around 120.  But I'm pretty sure   
   even doubling the average span of about 70 years is what you have in mind.   
   A Donovan's brain scenario?  Up to 200 years?  300 years?  It's a little   
   like cable TV.  At first it seems great.  But after a few months or maybe   
   even a few years, you have seen every Law & Order rerun a dozen times, and   
   you begin to understand, cable is just a whole lot more of the crap that is   
   on TV.  If you just live for TV, maybe it is different, but if you are of   
   normal intelligence, soon or later TV bores you, and cable TV may shift that   
   sooner-or-later in the later direction, but later or even later, cable TV   
   will bore you as much as broadcast TV.   
      
   So what does immortality mean?  Is there any concept of immortality that   
   would not involve being incredibly dull after a while.  After 10,000 years   
   what would still make you you?  What would you value, what would you know,   
   what would you "see" that would not seem like a rerun, and a rerun of a   
   rerun.   
      
   The superficial appeal of immortality is that life is precious, and life is   
   precious precisely because it is limited.  What would gold be worth if   
   everyone had an immense pile of it?  When you can use gold leaf for toilet   
   paper --- and so can everyone else --- you cannot expect to carry an ingot   
   down to the 7-11 to get a loaf of bread.  If you are going to live for   
   eternity, wouldn't that be an enternity on ennui after the first million   
   years or so?   
      
      
   --   
   Lars Eighner  usenet@larseighner.com   
                            Countdown: 376 days to go.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)