I think that it is important to distinguish having the freedom to do anything from the attempt to do everything.
My point being that immortality forces that choice for you. You either start chasing meaning like a hamster in a wheel, or you accept everything losing meaning of things over time and sticking with them. Eternity does not mean “a really really long time”. Eternity means eternity.
Also, it was initially more of an answer to you saying that trying to be one thing was misguided, which I can agree with. As in, in a finite existence, you could be many things, but not because your chase of new meaning becomes random noise.
It reminds me a bit of Groundhog Day: what made Bill Murray happy in the end was finding meaning and contentment in his repeating life, rather than fighting against it.
That’s… Certainly one way to read the film. In groundhog day, what made Bill Murray’s character at peace with his curse was resignation, not meaning. Only then was he able to find the answers he needed to find to give meaning to his life before the curse, at which point he was rewarded for it in the form of lifting the curse and escaping the day.
If after laying it all bare and genuinely connecting with his love interest, the day had repeated itself, would that previous day still had meaning? Would this have been a happy ending?
And also, again, this was a finite slice of it. How long would the peace have lasted? And even if it was indeed meaning, again, for how long?
Groundhog day makes the argument for needing the world to stop around you, to provide you with the time to connect with it, make peace with the fact some things are out of your control, and do the introspection needed to give meaning to your life. Once that is realised, life moves on.
Groundhog day does not make the argument that having all of eternity is great because you get to learn to play the piano.
It’s funny that you quote Groundhog Day because, if you live eternally, I expect it will indeed eventually start to feel like that, that the days are the same, even though they objectively are not. And with eternity, no Andie McDowell at the end of the tunnel…
Finally, you didn’t say anything about the way choices have weight. I don’t expect to convince you, but your original premise being that you don’t get where I am coming from, I hope this at least addresses that.
My point being that immortality forces that choice for you. You either start chasing meaning like a hamster in a wheel, or you accept everything losing meaning of things over time and sticking with them. Eternity does not mean “a really really long time”. Eternity means eternity.
Also, it was initially more of an answer to you saying that trying to be one thing was misguided, which I can agree with. As in, in a finite existence, you could be many things, but not because your chase of new meaning becomes random noise.
That’s… Certainly one way to read the film. In groundhog day, what made Bill Murray’s character at peace with his curse was resignation, not meaning. Only then was he able to find the answers he needed to find to give meaning to his life before the curse, at which point he was rewarded for it in the form of lifting the curse and escaping the day.
If after laying it all bare and genuinely connecting with his love interest, the day had repeated itself, would that previous day still had meaning? Would this have been a happy ending?
And also, again, this was a finite slice of it. How long would the peace have lasted? And even if it was indeed meaning, again, for how long?
Groundhog day makes the argument for needing the world to stop around you, to provide you with the time to connect with it, make peace with the fact some things are out of your control, and do the introspection needed to give meaning to your life. Once that is realised, life moves on.
Groundhog day does not make the argument that having all of eternity is great because you get to learn to play the piano.
It’s funny that you quote Groundhog Day because, if you live eternally, I expect it will indeed eventually start to feel like that, that the days are the same, even though they objectively are not. And with eternity, no Andie McDowell at the end of the tunnel…
Finally, you didn’t say anything about the way choices have weight. I don’t expect to convince you, but your original premise being that you don’t get where I am coming from, I hope this at least addresses that.
Yes, while I do not agree, I do appreciate you taking the time to explain your position. 🙂