X-Message-Number: 1580
From:	Ben Best <>
Date:	Sat, 9 Jan 1993 19:00:00 -0500
Subject: why immortality?

    Concerning Garret Smyth's desire for an answer to "Why do you want
to live forever?" -- when I am asked this question I generally answer
"Why do you want to die?"  This is not just a "snappy answer", it is
a genuine response. I am as baffled by the questioner's attitude as
he/she is about mine.

    I have had many "awakenings" concerning how little regard others
have for their own survival -- and my involvement with cryonics has
been a big milestone. This is all the more surprising because I had
thought that most others were happier than me. (Ironically, one
person implied that my will to extend lifespan must indicate that I
feel desperately unfulfilled.)

   The will to live has both a qualitative and a quantitative aspect.
Qualitatively, most people want to live, but quantitatively they
don't want to live if they have to suffer or work too much to do so
(like make cryonics arrangements, spend money on life extension
supplements or give up the pleasures of smoking).

    This kind of reasoning also applies to the "unlimited suffering"
argument. "I'd rather be Red than Dead", even though I am an ardent
capitalist and libertarian. I would adapt to whatever conditions of
life I was reanimated into. If those were conditions of suffering,
I would no sooner accept the idea that the suffering has to be
unlimited than I now accept the idea that I must die. As long as I
am alive I have the capacity -- or the hope, at least -- that I can
improve the conditions of my life. Those people who worry about the
hassle of life after reanimation are those whose will to live is
only slightly greater than those who would now make cryonics
arrangements if it didn't involve so much hassle and expense.

    Ultimately, there is no "snappy answer" to the question "Why do
you want to live forever?" Questions about facts can be answered by
reference to reality, but questions about values can only be
answered (if the answer is to have "cogency" or "appeal) by reference
to an appeal to other values, at best.

   My ultimate answer to the question "Why do you want life?" is the
same as the one given by those who struggle to explain why they
would want to go through the hassle of climbing Mount Everest:
"Because it is there".

                 -- Ben Best (ben.best%)
--
Canada Remote Systems  - Toronto, Ontario
World's Largest PCBOARD System - 416-629-7000/629-7044

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