Eliminating Death - Part 3 - The Boredom Argument

[guesswhosback101]

I think you might enjoy a lecture series on death given by Shelly Kagan, a Yale philosophy professor. You can find the lecture on academicearth website. Kagan addresses the boredom argument in on the lectures.

[GStolyarovII]

@guesswhosback101 Thank you for the recommendation. I have located the lecture series and will put it in my queue of videos to watch.

[GovermentGamer]

I defentely see your point, it seems like every few months it seems like theirs dozens more games I want to play. More movies and TV shows I still want to watch. It just doesn't seem like I'll ever finish them because not even when I finish half of the pile of video games, movies, and TV shows, it seems to double.

[GStolyarovII]

@GovermentGamer Exactly right -- and the more technology progresses, the more of this phenomenon will occur.

[JNdigital]

"the number of things to do/ be increases faster then you can do/ be them"

that coincides with the observation of the cosmos, as it's acceleration of expansion in scope appears to increase steadily.

[Akatam0t0ma]

When applied to a perfect world(Most obviously, the religionist concept of heaven),the boredom argument is actually a pretty good one(Here's a good video on the subject:watch?v=MToOECmwMB0), and was one of the arguments(along with Christopher Hitchens' description of heaven as a celestial eternal North Korea which you cannot get away from), which convinced me why it would be a horrible reality to live in if the Islamo-Christian mythologies about the afterlife were true.

[Akatam0t0ma]

However, when applied to our real world, in which perfection doesn't actually exist and is in fact unachievable even logically(Because as Karl Popper illustrated in The Open Society and Its Enemies, a perfect society would necessarily be totalitarian, and I don't think anyone would advocate totalitarianism as a perfect mode of existence), it is indeed unlikely that you will ever get bored. But even if you do,you will still have the option to die,which you wouldn't have in heaven if it were real.

[GStolyarovII]

@Akatam0t0ma I agree that Heaven as described by the religious would not be appealing. (I have heard many describe it thus: “You will not want the things you desire on Earth, because you will be in God’s presence, and that will be the best possible place for you to be.”) Humans will always try to overcome challenges – both enormous and small – no matter what their level of advancement, comfort, or longevity.

[GStolyarovII]

@Akatam0t0ma I think that Heaven as described by philhellenes is limited to what a single person can conceive of wanting – and this may be a finite pool of undertakings. However, our existence is open-ended, in the sense that new pursuits are continually created, conditions continually change, and new pursuits suggest themselves to an individual. The more advanced our civilization becomes, the more rapid the generation of new possible endeavors will be.

[GStolyarovII]

@BrettDunbar See my video. It is impossible to read every book and do everything, or even to approach this.

[Bazompora]

I doubt that by that time, you'd still remember the things you started with; while not new, after hundreds of years and billions of experiences, they will be "as" new to you again:

given the physical limits of our memory and the unconqonquerable amounts (not to mention: ever-growing) of potential enjoyments, one could (but doesn't even have to) forever loop experiences without growing bored.

[Meowbay]

@BrettDunbar Have you ever looked at fish in the ocean? I could not imagine to get bored viewing freshwater- as well as sea-life, the immense amount of different fish available is stunning. Heck, I barely get bored looking at my home planted aquarium, even. I can at least watch, just looking at what happens, for a few hours each day! And that's just THAT one activity.. How can you even think of getting bored?

[curingaging00]

@BrettDunbar by the time u read all the books at that time, there wil be far more books, far more more things to do.

[playmusix]

Would we be able to take drugs like ecstacy to no ill-effect ? I think this would solve the boredom problem. I am not making a mockery of this video I am keen to find out if they will have figure a way to induce a euphoric state of being without harm. Care to comment?

[N1RealMadridFan]

Are you bored of life already? It's funny you talk about this boredom problem thing. Have you reached this point? Why worry about something that hasn't happen or that we don't even know if it will happen.

[fractal420]

Why is it necessary to induce an euphoric state?

[playmusix]

Not necessary I just think that with the projected advances in science we would be able to get smashed without hangovers, loss of brain cells, addiction....

[fractal420]

Lol I find that hilarious.

I know a way to get smashed without hangovers, loss of brain cells, and no addiction. It's called Marijuana.

[playmusix]

Ahaaaa.

[rambo4337]

i agree fractal420, space is infinite technology is the answer to all problems we will be gods research transhumanism unless we self destruct.

[N1RealMadridFan]

Another good point is sports, im a big soccer fan and watch soccer games every week. I don't see how i can ever get bored of it. Just with sports alone, people who are into a particular sport can get an indefinite amount of entertainment.

[N1RealMadridFan]

So not only do we seem to have an indefinite amount of things to do but we can re do them, and enjoy them like it was the first day thx to our mind not being able to remember every single thing we do in life.

[N1RealMadridFan]

Good example with the books. And hey you can re read the books again. I don't think we will ever get bored because for example 10 years ago i rented a game called metal gear solid, it was a great game, really enjoyed it but after i beat it if you ask me to play it again i would probably tell you hell no, i just beat it and it would be boring if i played it again. 10 years later right now i would love to play it again cuz i cant even remember most of the parts.

[fractal420]

If we had this technology in which everyone could live not forever but say 10x longer, I have to think deeply about human population. With death rates dropping overpopulation would become a HUGE problem. Something would have to be done about the rate of births. I would never support laws restricting liberties. I would like nothing more than to live a very very long life (maybe in the millions of years) but I can see the issues it would cause. We'd have to get off this rock and colonize space.