247 Essays on Infinite Lifespans   Marc Geddes ogy studies the ways in which human actions may be driven by  biological  urgings  that  evolved  because  they  provided an evolutionary advantage. For instance, our emotions and our thoughts indirectly aid our survival prospects. Emotions enable us to empathize with others, helping us to better co- operate  with  people.  Social  skills  provide  a  clear  survival advantage. Rational thinking is a survival tool, because we can use abstract thinking to understand and predict how the world works. ‘Life affirming’ things can even include art and philo- sophical systems of thoughts. We have come to value these for their own sake, but they arose by chance and remained because they provided an evolutionary advantage for humans. Of course it was genes that evolution was selecting for, not the extension of individual lives. But survival needs did tend to correlate with reproductive fitness. So making the survival goal  primary  does  not  necessarily  conflict  with  the  many other things we come to value. Immortalist morality conjec- tures that everything worthy of value stems from the quest for immortality. STAGNATION The most common philosophical objection to radical life extension is that really long life would simply get too boring. Perhaps we will simply run out of interesting things to do? Would we end up in a static world where there is nothing new under the sun? But the opposite is argued here. If everything worthy of value comes from the quest for immortality, then a long life should actually be more interesting and meaningful. How could this be? The  first  point  to  note  is  that  once  technology  becomes advanced  enough  to  radically  extend  human  lifespan,  it is  likely  that  technology  will  also  be  advanced  enough  to