Vagueposting about a couple different things in particular, but also about a general trend:
I understand that as long as that post remains vague, it’s subject to all sorts of interpretations and all sorts of views on 1. what actually is bad, and 2. what actually is unchangeable
So I’ll say that some of the topics on my mind were
1. individual human mortality, and
2. the likelihood that humanity will someday go extinct without ever having traveled to other star systems or communicated with alien life
we do generally agree that death is bad, either individually or as a species
we generally do not consider it healthy for a person to either
1. want to die, or
2. want all of humanity to die.
the first is suicidal. the second is basically genocidal. neither is considered a good thing.
but we only tend to feel that way about it if the death wish has a timestamp in the very near future.
people usually do consider it healthy to think of eventual death– individual or collective – as a positive thing, in the distant unspecified future.
and I just…. don’t see any rational reason for that.
I do not see any rational reason why the number of years (an insignificant quantity in cosmic terms) should make a difference.
I do, however, see an explanation, based in our psychology.
it is an appeal to normality –what is perceived as the normal amount of time to live
(very persuasive, on those people who for some reason care about being normal)
and it’s also a surrender to inevitability
when the timeframe is long– long enough that there is little or no chance of survival being possible at that scale– claiming to want death is often misinterpreted as accepting the unavoidable
but in my mind there’s a difference.
you know the story of the sour grapes
the fox in the fable has the option to say, “those grapes are out of my reach. I can’t get them. that sucks, because I’d really like them. But since it’s impossible, I will give up and focus on food I can reach instead”
or it can go along with the story and say, “It’s a blessing that I was unable to reach those grapes, because I’m sure they’re sour anyways.”
The first is acceptance. The second is denial.
in my mind, the second is equivalent to… every argument for why death is Actually Good, as an individual or a species.
and in my mind, both 1. the belief in an afterlife, and 2. the hope of being able to extend this life indefinitely…
well, they are both like if the fox said: “I still want the grapes, I can’t get them today, but I’ll come back later and they’ll definitely be reachable then.”
Might be true. Who knows the future for certain.
But taking it as absolute truth; relying on it to the point of devaluing all present feelings of sadness? That’s another form of denial.