J.D. and I just watched the film version of Orlando. (It's not as good as the book). It's ok, but Orlando is actually my favorite of Woolf's novels. Anyway, the movie inspired J.D. to pose an interesting theoretical question: Would you be willing to change your sex if you could live for 400+ years? Orlando begins life as a man but wakes up one morning a woman. He was born during Queen Elizabeth's reign but lives into the 20th century and possibly beyond. Her longevity is not determined by her mysterious sex change, but it is part of the theoretical question we're asking.
Or would you even want to live for 400+ years?
2 comments:
Is that a rhetorical question?
I don't think you can learn more about life or appreciate life more with 400 years ... I think life is about patterns of behavior and accepting that we're all the same, pretty much. I'll have to read the book/see the movie to have a better informed opinion. But I do think living for 400 years might become tedious, practicing the patience, watching people struggle with individual tragedies, dealing with change ... I think we can master that in a normal lifetime. I hope so.
Did I miss the point?
It was a genuine, useless theoretical question of whether or not anyone would want to live that long and why or why not. You got the point perfectly, and your answer makes a lot of sense.
J.D. wants to live forever, so he can read every book he wants. That sounds good to me too. I'm mostly curious about what humanity will do in 400 years. I'd like to know as much of the story as I can.
And it would be nice to think of all the things one could do (all the different careers, skills, or pursuits one could perfect and all the places one could go).
Of course, the pain of watching everything you once knew and everyone you loved perish would probably become unbearable.
Anyway, it was just a thought experiment. Perhaps J.D. and I think about it differently because we don't necessarily expect a personal existence beyond this lifetime, so we both want to experience as much as we can while we're around... and more time would make it a little easier. (Maybe). Like I said, it's a useless question other than it reveals our perspectives.
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