Keith&Co.
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Ever heard of the Struldbruggs of Gulliver's Travels?I can't believe this thread is being debated this way.
I will simplify then quantify it. The only known medium for good is life; therefor, it is good to live. It is not good to be dead. And since more people are not suicidal most of the time, I think it's safe to assume that the good in life outweighs the bad. There is net good so far.
I imagine Blackadder's opinion:
BLACKADDER NARRATES: With some time left before our ship left port, we arranged a visit to the nearby island of Luggnagg, which was reputed to have some unique attraction in members of their population.
(Three extremely weathered old salts sit at an outside table, drinking. BLACKADDER and BALDRICK walk up to them.)
BLACKADDER: Excuse me, gentlemen, I'm trying to find some unique attraction your population is supposed to have? Something of interest to travelers?
saltiestPERCY: I believe you might be referring to the Struldbruggs.
BLACKADDER: And what are the Struldbruggs?
saltiestELIZABETH: Immortals.
BLACKADDER: Really? 'Never to be forgotten' immortals, or 'not fearing death' immortals, or actual 'live forever or die trying' immortals?
saltiestGEORGE: The last, as it happens.
BLACKADDER: Interesting. And how is this achieved? Potions? Elixirs? A steady regimen of healthful activities while avoiding the draining rigors of bathing, washing or fresh air?
saltiestPERCY: No. By some strange chance, some of our children are born with a red dot on their forehead, and they live normallly except for the fact that they never die.
BLACKADDER: 'Live normally?' I see. Come along, Baldrick, we're going back. (they start walking along the street back to the barque)
BALDRICK: But sir, we haven't seen the straddlebugs.
BLACKADDER: And what on Earth makes you think you'd want to?
BALDRICK: Oh, just think about it, sir, about what immortals might tell us.
BLACKADDER: Yes, their 'things were better then' stories would rival the Book of Genesis for outrageously tall tales.
BALDRICK: But their observations of the human condition would stretch across generations.
BLACKADDER: So did Grandmother MacAdder's, and all she ever talked about was how much her corns hurt in 1703, how hard her knee was wrenched in 1697 and just how many times she fell down the stairs in 1692. The Human Condition is misery, Baldrick, and anyone with a clear view of it is going to be miserable.
BALDRICK: Why are you so down on immortality, sir? Why don't you see it as a wonderful opportunity?
BLACKADDER: Because it's not something they aspire or conspire to, Baldrick, it's just something Nature does to them. And Nature is not our friend.
BALDRICK: Nature gives us a supreme intellect!
BLACKADDER: Right. (Stops, holds up both hands, one finger raised in each) I'm planning to poke you in the eye with one of these fingers, Baldrick. If your supreme intellect can determine which one it is, I won't do it.
BALDRICK: Um...(finger waves between BLACKADDER's hands)...uh...(points) THAT one?
BLACKADDER: Wrong. (pokes both fingers in BALDRICK's eyes) So, what does that tell us?
BALDRICK: That your intellect is superior.
BLACKADDER: And Nature...
BALDRICK: Hates me.
BLACKADDER: Excellent. Now, off we go. (resumes walking)
BALDRICK: But don't you want to see what it's like to live with an endless possibility of tomorrows? I mean, you could invest a shilling, at one percent interest, and live to see it become a million pounds.
BLACKADDER: Which, with inflation, would be worth about tuppence by then. One p after taxes, of course.
BALDRICK: Well, what about finding a companion among other immortals? Someone to share your life with for eternity?
BLACKADDER: Baldrick, the only relationship I've ever had that lasted more than three years has been with you. The prospect of spending eternity with you would drive me mad.
BALDRICK: But if there were others like you...
BLACKADDER: Ever read Chaucer, Baldrick? For all that the man was allegedly writing in English, his words are particularly opaque in meaning. Languages change over time. It wouldn't be long before anyone born of this age would end up isolated from society by the inability of anyone older or younger to understand him.
BALDRICK: But you could learn the new language, being there as it formed.
BLACKADDER: Think of the old people you know, Baldrick. Do you think they're more likely to learn new things and new ways of living and philosophy, as the conventions of their time fade into history, or are they more likely to just bitch about how everything changes, and for the worse?
BALDRICK: I believe I take your meaning, sir.
BLACKADDER: The body ages, Baldrick, and the mind, firmly rooted inside, rots along with it. The aspect of living for eternity is worse than becoming a haunt. Ghosts seem to fade after 400 years; immortality would be an endlessly accumulating series of decline and deterioration, ending with the purest form of misery known to mankind.
BALDRICK: What's that?
BLACKADDER: An unrequited death wish.
(they arrive at, and board, the barque)