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Re: Immortality - one view from Clarke & Heinlein
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a425couple
May 9, 2018, 11:01:58 PM5/9/18
to
On 5/7/2018 7:10 PM, a425couple wrote:
> Immortality - one view from Arthur C. Clarke.
> From page 81 in "Against the Fall of Night"
(and also presumably similar treatment in
"The City and the Stars".)
> "Long ago Alvin men sought immortality and at last achieved it
> they forgot their the world which had banished death must also
> banish birth. The power to extend his life indefinitely
> brought contentment to the individual but stagnation to the race.
> You once told me that you were the only child to be born in Daspir
> for 7000 years but you have seen how many children we have here in
> Airlee. Ages ago we sacrificed our immortality but Daispar still
> follows a false dream that is why our ways parted and why they
> must never meet again."
There is certainly some validness to those thoughts,
and especially so, in a closed system.
But then, it turns out, the two 'races' could work
and move together into the future.
----------------------------------
And, in a quite different way, Heinlein touches
on a path towards immortality (or life well over
3,000 years long) in his "Time Enough For Love"
and he totally avoids the idea of you need a death,
to make room for a new life, by expanding out into
the stars and finding new planets to colonize and
develop. And Lazarus Long keeps himself vital and
interested and energized by every 20 years or so,
totally changing his jobs and role.
But even so, after over 3,000 years, he has gotten
tired of it all and very bored. He yearns to die, and is well
along that path, when a great leader decides it is very
important for himself, to keep Lazarus around and
alive. So a bargain is struck, that they must keep
Lazarus interested and discovering new things.
> Immortality - one view from Arthur C. Clarke.
> From page 81 in "Against the Fall of Night"
(and also presumably similar treatment in
"The City and the Stars".)
> "Long ago Alvin men sought immortality and at last achieved it
> they forgot their the world which had banished death must also
> banish birth. The power to extend his life indefinitely
> brought contentment to the individual but stagnation to the race.
> You once told me that you were the only child to be born in Daspir
> for 7000 years but you have seen how many children we have here in
> Airlee. Ages ago we sacrificed our immortality but Daispar still
> follows a false dream that is why our ways parted and why they
> must never meet again."
There is certainly some validness to those thoughts,
and especially so, in a closed system.
But then, it turns out, the two 'races' could work
and move together into the future.
----------------------------------
And, in a quite different way, Heinlein touches
on a path towards immortality (or life well over
3,000 years long) in his "Time Enough For Love"
and he totally avoids the idea of you need a death,
to make room for a new life, by expanding out into
the stars and finding new planets to colonize and
develop. And Lazarus Long keeps himself vital and
interested and energized by every 20 years or so,
totally changing his jobs and role.
But even so, after over 3,000 years, he has gotten
tired of it all and very bored. He yearns to die, and is well
along that path, when a great leader decides it is very
important for himself, to keep Lazarus around and
alive. So a bargain is struck, that they must keep
Lazarus interested and discovering new things.
Dorothy J Heydt
May 10, 2018, 12:30:02 AM5/10/18
to
In article <pd0cm...@news4.newsguy.com>,
Tolkien says somewhere (probably in "On Fairy-Stories") that
while the legends of Men are about the Escape from Death, the
legends of Elves are about the Escape from Deathlessness.
--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
while the legends of Men are about the Escape from Death, the
legends of Elves are about the Escape from Deathlessness.
--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Phillip Helbig (undress to reply)
May 10, 2018, 4:07:46 AM5/10/18
to
In article <pd0cm...@news4.newsguy.com>, a425couple
<a425c...@hotmail.com> writes:
> And, in a quite different way, Heinlein touches
> on a path towards immortality (or life well over
> 3,000 years long) in his "Time Enough For Love"
> and he totally avoids the idea of you need a death,
> to make room for a new life, by expanding out into
> the stars and finding new planets to colonize and
> develop.
This works only for a finite time, until all available planets are
> And, in a quite different way, Heinlein touches
> on a path towards immortality (or life well over
> 3,000 years long) in his "Time Enough For Love"
> and he totally avoids the idea of you need a death,
> to make room for a new life, by expanding out into
> the stars and finding new planets to colonize and
> develop.
colonized. Asimov pointed this out in an essay, "The Power of
Progression".
Phillip Helbig (undress to reply)
May 10, 2018, 4:08:47 AM5/10/18
to
In article <p8Hv5...@kithrup.com>, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J
reincarnation, usually looking forward to their next life, while in the
East, the goal is to break out of reincarnation.
Heydt) writes:
> Tolkien says somewhere (probably in "On Fairy-Stories") that
> while the legends of Men are about the Escape from Death, the
> legends of Elves are about the Escape from Deathlessness.
In the sixties, many people became interested in Eastern religions and
> Tolkien says somewhere (probably in "On Fairy-Stories") that
> while the legends of Men are about the Escape from Death, the
> legends of Elves are about the Escape from Deathlessness.
reincarnation, usually looking forward to their next life, while in the
East, the goal is to break out of reincarnation.
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