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Old 19-April-2008, 01:40 AM
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Ilya Ilya is offline
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Originally Posted by Romanus View Post
Since it would also theoretically eliminate concerns about future generations, I think it would also make us more self-centered and narrow, creating an "I'll deal with it when it's front of my face" zeitgeist.
I'd say you have it exactly backward. Concern for future generations is not a universal quality, actually far from one. "I'll deal with it when it's front of my face" is a very common zeitgeist today. OTOH, people who live forever must take a long view out of self-interest alone. If polar caps will melt in 500 years, if an asteroid will hit Earth in 10,000 years, if Sun expands in 5 billion years, it becomes MY problem, and I have to do something about it. This is truly unprecedented.
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