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Blue Pill or Red Pill
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Post by
184848
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Post by
184848
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Post by
95916
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184848
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Post by
ArgentSun
Where did I mention religion?
I don't know, man, I am a stubborn person. The reason I try to act chivalrously is not because I was told it's right, but because I feel it is right - to me. I think I'll agree with you on the "distancing from humanity" part. It's necessary I guess. I am not certain that it's the only possible option, but it's the most probably, so I'll go with it.
However I think you are going a bit far with your list of consequences. You imply a complete loss of my humanity - yet, the reason I decide to take the blue pill is so I can be able to observe the human population over the generations and help it. The very basis of my action is the desire to help, to build, to improve. I doubt this basis will negate completely the distancing from my mundane life, but it should reduce its effect. If I were to become an immortal being out of the blue (nice pun with the color here), I think I would become the pragmatic and robotic being you describe. However my case wouldn't be the same - I have my charge, or duty, or obligation, or whatever-you-wanna-call-it, to keep me on track.
I think we might be going on a mild tangent with this discussion (technically it's part of the topic...), so I'll address your other point quickly and provide a somewhat relevant example.
Your friends and relatives would die and be replaced by another generation, which would be replaced by another, and so on. You will seclude yourself more and more, and even begin to envy normal humans with their natural lives and earthly pleasures as you would realize you've deprived yourself of both the joys of this world and, if you believe in such thing, the next.
This plainly contradicts a few things I mentioned in my previous post. I mentioned that I wouldn't be waiting generation after generation, mourning the loss of my "first set" of beloved ones. Soon enough (and soon is very loose term here), I think I would get over the pain, and maybe be ready for another family. This constant change of families (say 50-60 years with a wife, 30-ish with children, another 30-ish with grandchildren, and then a few decades of mending wounds) would keep me human enough. In theory.
And here's the example. Book example - my favorite. I know an example from the literature is hardly reliable, but it's the best we have, I think. I've hidden them by default, to avoid spoilers, and not to burden people who don't care about imaginary settings.
Example #1: Brandon Sanderson's
Elantris
. There, a group of magically changed people - called Elantrians - are "cursed" in a way: every pain they experience stays with them forever. Every little scratch, bruise, and wound hurts for an eternity (and they cannot die, unless burned or decapitated). So they are in a similar situation to mine. The way they overcome the pain is by focusing on something mundane - like physical work. Point of the story - even eternal pain, which usually drives people to madness, can be overcome by force of will and focus.
Example #2: Raymond Feist's
Riftwar Saga
. One of the main character is in a situation ever more similar to mine. He is a magician "cursed" - or "gifted" - to live very long time. And it was specifically prophesied that he will watch his beloved ones die. Every single one of them. What did our mage did? Took a second wife a few decades after the first one, their children, and their grandchildren died. And he was happy again, with another pair of sons, destined to age and die in front of his eyes.
Post by
184848
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Post by
TheMediator
Emotional wounds can heal just as effectively as physical ones can
I'd say that's a bad example to make, because of lot of physical wounds do in fact scar us and we carry those scars for the rest of our life. I'm sure after hundreds of years you'd become a perversion of your former self.
Post by
448495
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Post by
ArgentSun
English not being my native language does not mean that I can't work with it well enough :)
And no, I don't think the connection will always be as powerful as the first one. But it will be good enough to keep me human. And I actually did not intend to spend my time with the same original family. Marry, have sons, have grandsons, get to know them, move somewhere far away for a little while so they can live their own life. Restart in a few decades.
Will I be the same? No, I will be distanced from a lot of the humanly desires. But not all. I don't thrive for staying the same for ages - I don't even thrive to be human. I thrive to be human
enough
.
@TheMediator, perversion... physically? Or mentally? Because one of the aspects of the blue pill is that I can, more or less, disregard physical injuries. And mentally... that's what we are discussing with the dear Ivokk, don't just slam a "I am sure..." in our faces :)
Post by
TheMediator
Emotional wounds can heal just as effectively as physical ones can
I'd say that's a bad example to make, because of lot of physical wounds do in fact scar us and we carry those scars for the rest of our life. I'm sure after hundreds of years you'd become a perversion of your former self.
Actually, scar material does heal after a long long long time, depending on the damage of course. Lob off a leg and it's not going to grow back. Surgical wounds should grow out after a few hundred years, especially with this 'superior self healing' the person has.
Edit: According to Dralas everything I say here is opinion and has crap logic though, so wtf do I know?
A good point about the superior healing point, sort of forgot about that. Anyways, my point was simply that either you'd become incredibly scared or become numb to things (mentally) after hundreds of years, both of which I wouldn't care to be.
@TheMediator, perversion... physically? Or mentally? Because one of the aspects of the blue pill is that I can, more or less, disregard physical injuries. And mentally... that's what we are discussing with the dear Ivokk, don't just slam a "I am sure..." in our faces :)
I meant mentally. I don't think after hundreds or thousands of years you would be what you once were, you would, like I said above, become either tormented deeply or just become numb.
Post by
448495
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Post by
TheMediator
my point was simply that either you'd become incredibly scared or become numb to things.Kind of like that blue dude in that watchmen movie? Yeah... my new favorite superhero. I wouldn't mind being numb to humanity. After that much time, I would be the smartest person in existance, not to mention the wisest, and most famous, and richest, etc.
Doctor Manhattan hadn't really experienced happiness or real emotion since he became who he was. He was at best neutral emotionally... maybe sounds great to you... but have you ever sat on a plane and just starred out the window for 6+ hours? Now imagine that for hundreds of years, I would never want that for myself.
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184848
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