[mediocregopher]

Life (with a capital "L", the entire phenomenon, not the life of an individual organism) is predicated on death and birth in order to adapt and persist. Without death there is no adaptation, without adaptation Life will perish.

We humans sometimes forget we're a part of Life, but we are, and we benefit from death just as much as the rest of Life.

[hackingthelema]

Humans adapt all of the time without death or birth. We call it invention and innovation.

[klipt]

Ever heard the phrase "science progresses one funeral at a time"?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck%27s_principle

[hackingthelema]

I have, but that is just one point of view, which I happen to disagree with. Given a mortal life, you have to cling to what you can carve out. You're going to die and your current ideas are all you're going to get; anyone who overthrows them is a threat to your 'legacy'.

With an immortal life -- assuming physical decay is arrested with immortality -- you have endless time to reconsider your ideas and expand on them using your wealth of knowledge and experience.

I don't see Planck's principle as inevitable, but an aberration that we can cure.

[xvector]

Why is scientific progress more important than life itself?

Would you tell a society of immortals living in an idyllic and peaceful village that they need to die "for science?"

Societal issues can be solved without science. Once you tackle scarcity and long+healthy lives, science becomes much less important.

Anyways, the pace of scientific progress is irrelevant if you live forever. You would experience infinitely more net progress if you were immortal.

[mediocregopher]

Are you 100% sure that the "set of all changes we'll have to adapt to" is a subset of "set of all changes we can invent our way out of"?

I'd also challenge the idea that innovation happens outside of death and birth. It often takes a new pair of eyes to see a new solution to a problem.

[hackingthelema]

Yes, because we also control physical adaptation to a degree. Human adaptation has been disconnected from physical evolution for a long time now. How many type-1 diabetics only live now because of changes we invented our way out of?

> It often takes a new pair of eyes to see a new solution to a problem.

Why does this require death of current people and not simply more eyes that already exist?

[mediocregopher]

I think fundamentally we're not going to see eye to eye on this. I wish you luck on your quest o7

[xvector]

Why is adaptation more important than life itself? The responses in this thread are so callous. Would you tell a loved one that they need to die so humanity can "adapt?"

If confronted with a society of people that live forever, but are relatively stagnant, would you propose to them that they all kill themselves every 80 years or so, so they "adapt?"

Why is adaptation more important than a life? A life is incredibly precious. Evolutionary adaptation barely works anymore and the cost in blood is immeasurable. Otherwise, adaptation can be achieved easily with technology, without costing so many people their hopes, dreams, and existence.

[licebmi__at__]

Yeah, I would like to adapt enough to overcome death.