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An eternal life is a worthless life.
December 21, 2014 at 7:51 pm
(This post was last modified: December 21, 2014 at 7:52 pm by Lucanus.)
This just came to my mind.
Everything we enjoy in our lives we enjoy because it ends. We enjoy food because the molecules that compose it react with our taste buds in a pleasant way. We enjoy having sex because it releases endorphins and a whole lot of other chemicals.
But we enjoy those things because they have an end - that is, we value them because they are limited. It's like money: the more there is around, the less it is worth.
We value the time we have in our life because it is limited. It has value, therefore it is worth something because it will eventually end and is a temporary condition that we must make the most of.
On the contrary, take an eternal life. Any experience you could have in that is potentially infinitely replicable. Wouldn't that mean that any experience you could have in an eternal life is ultimately worthless and meaningless? Why, then, would anyone even want an eternal life? Isn't then the very concept of eternal life an illogical exploitation of our natural fear of the unknown?
"Every luxury has a deep price. Every indulgence, a cosmic cost. Each fiber of pleasure you experience causes equivalent pain somewhere else. This is the first law of emodynamics [sic]. Joy can be neither created nor destroyed. The balance of happiness is constant.
Fact: Every time you eat a bite of cake, someone gets horsewhipped.
Facter: Every time two people kiss, an orphanage collapses.
Factest: Every time a baby is born, an innocent animal is severely mocked for its physical appearance. Don't be a pleasure hog. Your every smile is a dagger. Happiness is murder.
Vote "yes" on Proposition 1321. Think of some kids. Some kids."
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RE: An eternal life is a worthless life.
December 21, 2014 at 7:53 pm
Eternal life is the flip side of eternal torment
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RE: An eternal life is a worthless life.
December 21, 2014 at 7:54 pm
I am certain plenty of fictional vampires would disagree with you that their eternal lives are worthless and meaningless.
"Never trust a fox. Looks like a dog, behaves like a cat."
~ Erin Hunter
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RE: An eternal life is a worthless life.
December 21, 2014 at 8:00 pm
(December 21, 2014 at 7:54 pm)Sionnach Wrote: I am certain plenty of fictional vampires would disagree with you that their eternal lives are worthless and meaningless.
Well, as Vampires can be killed, their lives are not *really* eternal, one could argue 
"Every luxury has a deep price. Every indulgence, a cosmic cost. Each fiber of pleasure you experience causes equivalent pain somewhere else. This is the first law of emodynamics [sic]. Joy can be neither created nor destroyed. The balance of happiness is constant.
Fact: Every time you eat a bite of cake, someone gets horsewhipped.
Facter: Every time two people kiss, an orphanage collapses.
Factest: Every time a baby is born, an innocent animal is severely mocked for its physical appearance. Don't be a pleasure hog. Your every smile is a dagger. Happiness is murder.
Vote "yes" on Proposition 1321. Think of some kids. Some kids."
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RE: An eternal life is a worthless life.
December 21, 2014 at 8:28 pm
(This post was last modified: December 21, 2014 at 8:29 pm by Violet.)
You think that because I can enjoy something once, or twice, that I won't still enjoy it a few million times down the road?  Sure, I love having the right to die, don't get me wrong... but so long as you've got all the working parts (or hell, most of them): an eternal life fucking rocks.
(December 21, 2014 at 8:00 pm)Lucanus Wrote: Well, as Vampires can be killed, their lives are not *really* eternal, one could argue
Doesn't matter, they're part of the universe, and the universe is eternal... even at the end in entropy.
Please give me a home where cloud buffalo roam
Where the dear and the strangers can play
Where sometimes is heard a discouraging word
But the skies are not stormy all day
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RE: An eternal life is a worthless life.
December 21, 2014 at 9:52 pm
(December 21, 2014 at 7:54 pm)Sionnach Wrote: I am certain plenty of fictional vampires would disagree with you that their eternal lives are worthless and meaningless.
The depression alone of being a vampire would make you go insane.
Atheism is a non-prophet organization join today.
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RE: An eternal life is a worthless life.
December 21, 2014 at 9:55 pm
(December 21, 2014 at 9:52 pm)dyresand Wrote: The depression alone of being a vampire would make you go insane.
What, you think they're some Twilight-esque beacon of the bloody day? Hehe...
Please give me a home where cloud buffalo roam
Where the dear and the strangers can play
Where sometimes is heard a discouraging word
But the skies are not stormy all day
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RE: An eternal life is a worthless life.
December 21, 2014 at 10:45 pm
I dunno...
On the one hand, yes, a lot of the time we enjoy things because we think of them as relatively short-term.
On the other hand, if I knew it wouldn't kill me, I'd probably take even more risks than I do right now (I'm an adrenaline junkie who has always thought that adrenaline was just the tip of the iceberg), and have more fun.
Back to the first hand, though, I like the fact that I can die; that I can control that aspect of my... life.
But my left hand says I'd have more confidence that my depression could be cured if I had all the time in the world, thus ending at least a small aspect of my depression: that it will never go away.
Dammit. Turtles all the way down :p
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RE: An eternal life is a worthless life.
December 21, 2014 at 10:54 pm
(December 21, 2014 at 8:28 pm)Alice Wrote: so long as you've got all the working parts (or hell, most of them): an eternal life fucking rocks.
I don't think you fully grasp the idea of eternity.
You can read the same book a million times in a row and still have eternity to look forward to.
You can read a million books one after another and still have eternity to look forward to.
You can read the million books in all possible (factorial) orders and still have eternity to look forward to.
You can intersperse other activities in any finite number in any order between reading those million factorial ordered books and still have eternity to look forward to.
The only thing worse might be eternity singing hosannas in praise of a celestial despot.
So how, exactly, does God know that She's NOT a brain in a vat? 
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RE: An eternal life is a worthless life.
December 21, 2014 at 10:56 pm
(This post was last modified: December 21, 2014 at 11:24 pm by dyresand.)
(December 21, 2014 at 9:55 pm)Alice Wrote: (December 21, 2014 at 9:52 pm)dyresand Wrote: The depression alone of being a vampire would make you go insane.
What, you think they're some Twilight-esque beacon of the bloody day? Hehe...
No no not those...  though i knew a girl who said she was a vampire and said my soul was beautiful excuse me i'm going to watch blade or something.
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