Interesting thought.
Thanks. I relish talking about this kind of stuff, but it seems easier to get closer to the heart of certain matters over the internet than face-to-face; the topic of “What, exactly, constitutes ‘suicide’“ being one of these matters.
I think it's good to explore the differences between the way suicide is perceived vs. the way "natural" death is perceived. If people advocate "natural death" over extreme longevity]exactly[/b] the same. And most suicides are due to feelings of hopelessness and a degree of self loathing (although, I'm completey uninformed on the subject). Anyone else out there know differently?
I agree with you that resistence to the idea of massive, and relatively rapid human life extension is, in effect, an advocacy of suicide and, again, reflective of a fundamental self-loathing.
Nevertheless, I would assert that we have been engaging in efforts toward human life extension from the point that we became so aware that one day we would die. As a cumulative result of those efforts, we now live abut 3-4 times longer than we did when we first huddled around a fire. But that progressed slowly and over a relatrively long period of time. I think it is also the prospect of such a massive increase in human life span, and with such relative suddenness, that invokes so much objection to the idea. Just about everyone fantasizes about living “forever,” but the actual prospect is really quite daunting within the context of what we now consider inevitable.
So, what is it that makes natural death different in the eyes of public? Primarily, it's tradition ("it was their time to go"). It's also viewed as a release from physical suffering. Self-loathing falls lower on the list. Given the option of "eternal youth", I think that just leaves us with one main difference (and one central cause of that knee-jerk rejection of longevity): tradition.
Tradition is a powerful force.
Okay, tradition, another artificial comfort developed and held as defensively as a 4-year-old insists that “Teddy is real and he can talk!” You don’t tell that kid that it ain’t so unless you’re ready to deal with a major meltdown. Not THE most apt comparison, I know, but I just wanted to use it.
So,we’re talking then of a tradition that "The years of our lives number seventy, and if we are strong, eighty, but the honor [we attain in our short lives] is wearisome and futile, [for the end] cuts us off swiftly and [everything we have done] flies away". (Psalms 90:10), and probably not an inaccurate estimate for the time it was written. Then we also have the more current “tradition“ mouthed by certain scientists that, “It’s 120 years, max. That’s what you get. We can try to make the last decades more liveable, but once you hit that slippery slope you’re only going to keep slipping, slow or fast, but slipping down all the time. Just accept that.”
Tradition, I think, is interchangeable with habit. We get into the habit of believing a certain thing about a certain obnoxious aspect of our existence, and rationalize those beliefs as part of our mature acceptance of “reality.” And those are powerful habits.
