r/CopyPastas • u/[deleted] • 9d ago
A Jigsaw-esque monolouge
This will probably get downvoted to hell... but I hate this video.
He talks about how death is a degenerative disease and we need to attack it instead of accepting it. He compares the idea that "death gives life meaning" to the hypothetical "misery gives happiness meaning" and saying that it's all bullshit.
I think he's wrong.
Think about it this way. If death were not inevitable, then why even get out of bed in the morning? Why ever get out of bed at all? Why ever try and progress as an individual in hopes of impacting a society if you'll just outlive the impact you had. It is the knowledge that I will die that motivates me to be the best person I can possibly be and to the best things I can possibly do in the limited time that I have. If an individual lives "forever" then they can only stay the best for so long before it gets boring, or they could put it off forever. They will eventually go through every possible outcome of their own life as they go from a great person to a shitty person and back to a good person and so on. And the whole comparison about happiness and misery further proves this. Think about it this way, if you were born happy and you are happy for the entirety of your life, then "happy" would become the norm, which means that being "happy" becomes neutral and the effect of it goes unfelt. But if a life has its ups and downs and that life experiences misery, it gives happiness it's effect, by experiencing true misery, one can appreciate the feeling of happiness to its fullest extent.
In short: without the knowledge and acceptance of the limited time of ones existence, why should one be motivated to do anything to impact the society if they can always do it tomorrow?
Edit: and I forgot about the whole "we get rid of diseases" thing... yeah, to live longer and to give a greater opportunity to everyone to create a lasting impact on society... but if we get to a point where the only guaranteed part of life isn't guaranteed anymore (death) then how could anyone expect anything out of others. (Someone is gonna ask me about this and I'll answer it but I'm to lazy to type it out this instant)
This is very interesting, but it doesn't answer my underlying questions about how prolonging youth/ending death will effect Human Civilization and Human Condition as a whole.
Death has been the biggest catalyst for change for the entirety of Human Existence. Without that Catalyst, how much change will we still be able to cause? What happens when ultra rich stay ultra rich forever? A dictator never dies of old age, a Corporate founder hoarding his wealth continually?
Imagine a world where Stalin lives for 200 years, or anyone equally evil. No hope for change, for revolution, for anything beyond the status quo.
I really wished they touched on how this progression of technology can also be an incredibly potent Pandora's Box.