I don't want to insinuate that the "living forever would be awful and we should never do it" people are arguing in bad faith or know that they're wrong.
But it sure is Something that every single argument they make is based on misunderstanding their opposition as saying shit that no human would ever say. Like every single argument is just monkeys paw shit, malicious misunderstandings to twist something cool into something that sucks.
Like, you say that it would be cool if we could develop the technology to live forever
And they'll say that that would suck actually because you'd just be stuck in an aging decaying body with every single part failing but totally unable to die
And you explain that what the fuck, that's obviously not what anyone means when they say that and also not a thing we could reasonably develop the technology to do anyway. And the actual thing you're proposing, and that is the subject of research right now is technology to stop or reverse the aging process.
And they say that they just misunderstood, and clearly your real opinion is that you want to look young and hot forever, which is an entirely different thing and also the most reasonable thing to be a second guess but not a first.
And you explain that no actually the visual appearance of being old is not anywhere near as much of a concern as the degenerative effects it has on the body. The issue is the heart failure and the cancer and the alzheimers and failing joints and needing mobility aids and watching as the people you love wither away and die. And that the fact that we have a promising lead on how to prevent this means we have a moral imperative to do so.
And they say that they're still not convinced. Sure it sounds nice to live forever when you're young, but around year 500 you'd start to get bored and wouldn't know what to do with yourself. And you know that's true because there's a TV show about it.
And you have flashbacks to every conservative who goes red in the face at the suggestion of reasonable public transit and walkable neighborhoods, and very clearly, for some reason, thinks that "people do not have to use a car if they do not want to" necessarily means "your car will be taken away from you by force and you will walk and take the bus with minorities and be forcefemmed and whatever else goes on in the minds of conservatives"
And you try to figure out how to explain that there is literally no immortality enforcement mechanism that could exist where the enforcement mechanism would not be the issue, as it would be literal torture and would be precisely as much of a problem if applied to people who would die. And that "humans can live forever" does not mean "you will not be allowed to die." And that you believe in the right to choose death just as much as you believe in the right to refuse it.
And you decide it's not worth it because you cannot get someone to understand something they're determined to never ever understand. And you go to make a post on tumblr about it instead.