From: Eugene Leitl (eugene.leitl@lrz.uni-muenchen.de)
Date: Tue Oct 10 2000 - 19:10:30 MDT
Alex Future Bokov writes:
> Cool, I was wondering who would say this. I disagree. As long as there
> is continuation of consciousness, to me that's better than death, no
> matter how great the pain. I'll still have my memories. I'll still have
That's a theoretical position. In practice, if confronted with
neverending agony (apparently, nothing you've ever experienced), you
will recant in minutes, screaming your voice off.
> my fantasies. I might even still be able to interact with my
> surroundings to some extent and learn about them. In fact, as long as
Nope. You're strapped down, sensorily deprived with one acute
sensation: PAIN. And then some. Plus a bit more. Multiply that by ten.
Industrial-strength torture, guaranteed to endure for the next
millenia, unabated.
> I'm alive, there is always a wildcard; the possibility that I'll figure
> out some way to improve the situation. So, when I was a kid, shortly
Not only is there PAIN, there is also the absence of HOPE. Otherwise,
it would hardly qualify as eternal torment, wouldn't it?
To amplify, we're talking about a pure destillation only achievable in
artificial reality (to keep the edge pure, and you from unravelling on
the long run). Nothing the best human torturemeisters could ever
achieve. Electroshocks burn out the nerves, and even the hardest
characters tend to go crack up before long, escaping into insanity. No
such solace here.
> after I stopped fearing hell (for reasons of its nonexistance, of
> course) I started wishing there would be some kind of afterlife, hell
> or not. Anything to me would be better than just an abrupt end.
If confronted with a choice: eternal agony or a painless death, I'll
drink the waters of Lethe, anytime.
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