we’ll have to abandon at least as large a chuck of our current mortal deathist cultures when we defeat death
Speaking of that, can anyone recommend some fiction that deals with the cultural changes that come with defeating death (or mostly defeating it), and doesn’t come out on the side of deathism?
How do you mean? I’ve read a fair bit of Christian doctrine and apologia, and I’ve never seen any substantial volume of material dealing with the actual mechanics of an immortal existence. Usually it’s described in terms of an existence of perfect concordance with God’s wishes, which implies perfect bliss by some theological sleight of hand but doesn’t imply much detail as to what that actually involves, experientially speaking. Certainly nothing concrete on the cultural changes that we’d reasonably expect after defeating the last enemy that shall be destroyed.
The Muslim afterlife’s much more detailed, incidentally, but it’s just your standard feasts-and-gardens paradise, more or less equivalent to Valhalla but with different cultural foci of enjoyment. I don’t find it much more eternity-term compelling than what little we can infer of the Christian version, although I’d probably be more inclined to visit it as a holiday destination.
Speaking of that, can anyone recommend some fiction that deals with the cultural changes that come with defeating death (or mostly defeating it), and doesn’t come out on the side of deathism?
A lot of religious material, particularly Christian, might qualify.
How do you mean? I’ve read a fair bit of Christian doctrine and apologia, and I’ve never seen any substantial volume of material dealing with the actual mechanics of an immortal existence. Usually it’s described in terms of an existence of perfect concordance with God’s wishes, which implies perfect bliss by some theological sleight of hand but doesn’t imply much detail as to what that actually involves, experientially speaking. Certainly nothing concrete on the cultural changes that we’d reasonably expect after defeating the last enemy that shall be destroyed.
The Muslim afterlife’s much more detailed, incidentally, but it’s just your standard feasts-and-gardens paradise, more or less equivalent to Valhalla but with different cultural foci of enjoyment. I don’t find it much more eternity-term compelling than what little we can infer of the Christian version, although I’d probably be more inclined to visit it as a holiday destination.