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The problem I have with a perfect world is that maybe we are not made for a perfect world? We went through thousands/millions of years of evolution to get to where we are now. We were hunter/gatherers for most of that time. We also currently have major problems with obesity.
Work gives us a reason to get up and move around. It is our paid exercise program as much as we hate it. I retired about 20 years ago, but I kept working at other jobs. I had many friends that retired at the same time and they told me I would work myself to death. When they retired they went home and sat in front of the computer or TV and they all died! One could argue that it is all genetics; but my feeling is that we were made to keep moving. If we stop moving then we will die. It doesn't have to be work that gives you that will to live and keeps your mind active, but it has to be something.
OP you are describing that world that my friends longed for. No boss, no demands, do whatever you feel like doing. I can easily see where that could turn into a death sentence. I am just saying to be careful of what you wish for.
Not only does your body atrophy or become diseased (diabetes, etc., especially w/weight gain), but mentally you start losing it, even if you don't realize it. You lose your mental sharpness two ways: by not challenging yourself mentally, and by not exercising. Exercise helps keep the mind sharp.
The problem I have with a perfect world is that maybe we are not made for a perfect world? We went through thousands/millions of years of evolution to get to where we are now. We were hunter/gatherers for most of that time. We also currently have major problems with obesity.
Work gives us a reason to get up and move around. It is our paid exercise program as much as we hate it. I retired about 20 years ago, but I kept working at other jobs. I had many friends that retired at the same time and they told me I would work myself to death. When they retired they went home and sat in front of the computer or TV and they all died! One could argue that it is all genetics; but my feeling is that we were made to keep moving. If we stop moving then we will die. It doesn't have to be work that gives you that will to live and keeps your mind active, but it has to be something.
OP you are describing that world that my friends longed for. No boss, no demands, do whatever you feel like doing. I can easily see where that could turn into a death sentence. I am just saying to be careful of what you wish for.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth
Not only does your body atrophy or become diseased (diabetes, etc., especially w/weight gain), but mentally you start losing it, even if you don't realize it. You lose your mental sharpness two ways: by not challenging yourself mentally, and by not exercising. Exercise helps keep the mind sharp.
Great points, fisheye.
Can't say enough about how these 2 posts are spot on.
I worked my butt of for 20 years and then slowed down the next 5 years after that. I was able to completely retire at 45. At 40 when I was still working my butt off I was a extremely athletic 225 pounds. I got up to a fat 265 pounds with type 2 diabetes. The diabetes crept up on me. By the time I went to the doctor I felt like I was about to pass out almost all the time and could not think straight at all.
It took several months before i started to get back to were I could actually think somewhat normal. I am much better now but still have a long way to go.
Can't say enough about how these 2 posts are spot on.
I worked my butt of for 20 years and then slowed down the next 5 years after that. I was able to completely retire at 45. At 40 when I was still working my butt off I was a extremely athletic 225 pounds. I got up to a fat 265 pounds with type 2 diabetes. The diabetes crept up on me. By the time I went to the doctor I felt like I was about to pass out almost all the time and could not think straight at all.
It took several months before i started to get back to were I could actually think somewhat normal. I am much better now but still have a long way to go.
I always liked physical jobs. But I did drive truck for 15 years and that hurt my weight. I got up to 260 when I took a year off while my wife was dying. Since then I went back to work and have now dropped about 30 pounds. Work also keeps me thinking and I worry about losing it as I age.
But it does not have to be work. I just always liked the idea of getting paid to exercise instead of paying somebody to exercise me! But hiking, jogging, walking, biking, swimming, as long as your doing something you enjoy it can keep you limber and alive. Just as long as it doesn't become an obsession. An example would be a biker, that bikes so much, they start having accidents that take a toll on the body. I have seen a few examples of that in my years and the people, that were once healthy, could no longer walk without pain.
Good luck to you on your quest to get back in shape, it does not get easier as we age!
1) I think a genetically engineered 'even' world is pipe dream. I do think something similar to Surrogates movie could come to fruition with the amount of people who would choose to live through another corporal body for kicks.
2) Love and romance being an emotional thing with many variables influencing individuals differently, would still be tenuous. I could readily imagine going to a future 'robot assistant' product supplier and being able to 'choose' a physical form for a housekeeper / caregiver. Imagine having a 1995 Salma Hayek model you do not have to feed, that simply cleans washes and caters to a man's 'needs'. As robot would be strong enough to be caregiver in old age. What a Nurse!
It might not replace need for human to human social interaction but I bet with the techno conditioned populace overtime this may become a popular thing. Picture going to visit a friend's place and he's got 1997 Charlize Theron serving you and your friend. It could even become a fun retro thing...
Picturing that showroom with beauties of yesteryear: Ava Gardner 1946, Cyd Charisse 1949, Debra Paget 1953 etc...
Great it got moved to a less popular section, now this thread will slowly rot and die here lol.
Where did you post this thread initially? I've been on this site for 8 years and this is my first time visiting the 'unexplained mysteries and paranormal' subforum, which is not at all where this OP belongs, in my opinion.
Speaking of everyone being equal in looks and such you may want to read Kurt Vonnegut's short story, Harrison Bergeron, about a dystopian future world in 2081. Beware the efforts made to 'make' people "equal" by the Government Handicapper General!
I admire science fiction writers, with sufficient imagination to extrapolate social consequences (reasonably) to such a utopia.
For example, David Brin has a novel where surveillance is everywhere, cameras ubiquitous, causing most to truly behave or face consequences. The novel is 'Earth', released in 1990, about a 'fifty years in the future' set of circumstances and plot line beyond scope of this thread. He got the surveillance part right, it seems, as we're a good distance down that road already with smartphones and social media.
Hard to fully answer your question, other than it would be...disruptive...to our evolutionary imperatives. Social media is already causing problems of what it means to be fulfilled as a person, how vastly more information and peering into others' lives provides some sort of envious, but ultimately false, narrative how "their life is great and mine is not." Happiness becomes a matter of comparison and being what we are, we feel insecurity more often than not.
Heterosexuality, mating rituals, and breeding itself would almost certainly have vastly different meanings in such a situation. That will conflict with thousands of years of love of romance traditions. Already occurring, due to the Internet's explosion since c. 1994, and that will continue.
but what would hypergamy be like when all potential partners are pretty much equal? everyone is fit, goodlooking, smart, there is no more poverty or extreme wealth as everyone pretty much has the equivalent of an upper middleclass lifestyle. shallowness would be a thing of the past.
Not only does your body atrophy or become diseased (diabetes, etc., especially w/weight gain), but mentally you start losing it, even if you don't realize it. You lose your mental sharpness two ways: by not challenging yourself mentally, and by not exercising. Exercise helps keep the mind sharp.
Great points, fisheye.
Thats why I mentioned the whole genetic engineering thing.
1) I think a genetically engineered 'even' world is pipe dream. I do think something similar to Surrogates movie could come to fruition with the amount of people who would choose to live through another corporal body for kicks.
2) Love and romance being an emotional thing with many variables influencing individuals differently, would still be tenuous. I could readily imagine going to a future 'robot assistant' product supplier and being able to 'choose' a physical form for a housekeeper / caregiver. Imagine having a 1995 Salma Hayek model you do not have to feed, that simply cleans washes and caters to a man's 'needs'. As robot would be strong enough to be caregiver in old age. What a Nurse!
It might not replace need for human to human social interaction but I bet with the techno conditioned populace overtime this may become a popular thing. Picture going to visit a friend's place and he's got 1997 Charlize Theron serving you and your friend. It could even become a fun retro thing...
Picturing that showroom with beauties of yesteryear: Ava Gardner 1946, Cyd Charisse 1949, Debra Paget 1953 etc...
can you imagine the lawsuits in the early days of that tech?
Man leaves his wife of 30 years for an android that looks like his wife on their wedding day, was was taken to court for stealing her likeness without compensation..... news at 11!!!
And on the link you mentioned there was a book written a few years ago called "postmortal" where growing old was cured the way he was speaking of so theoretically you could live centuries if you avoided getting murdered or having fatal accidents. and a lawyer in the book came up with "term marriage" where basically your marriage license was like your drivers license, it had an expiration date. because people thought the idea of centuries with the same person was horrifying. 30-40 years tops was viewed as a good marriage.
Last edited by ChileSauceCritic; 10-30-2020 at 11:49 PM..
But many people are still visual, plus masturbation get's you there quicker but most people still prefer another persons involvement. I'm thinking along the lines of how we choose our partners when everyone is on equal footing compared to how things are today.
Well, people will still have "types." Take a range of people conventionally considered attractive, stop people on the street and see what they think. There will be those some people would kill to be with, while others say "meh" or even "ew." I'm assuming that in your world people won't all look identical, so people will still choose based on body shape, hair and eye color, shape of features, etc. (That said, I'm sure there will still be dysmorphia of people who are attractive, but not in a way they personally find attractive... you will always have someone who looks like Megan Fox but wishes they looked like Marilyn Monroe, etc.)
Other than that, I suppose people will have to actually consider personality-- after all, there's no reason to stay with a hot jerk if everyone you meet is hot, and if you yourself are hot so don't have to "settle" for that person thinking they're the only hottie you'll ever get. And you won't have people written off simply for being unattractive, regardless of their personality. IOW, some people would get the attention they deserve, while others will have to step up their game because their looks are no longer unusual.
Makes me wonder if the "plain" look might not become a fad, just as something "different." (I once had a friend who said he dated a very beautiful woman and it got "boring." I don't believe that, but it's what he claimed.)
Also, you'd likely have people at a range of ages with different "looks"-- after all, as time changes, different features come in and out of fashion as being "attractive." Might also be awkward if your parents programmed you for a look that is attractive at the time you're conceived but people have decided they prefer something else once you're an adult...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blondebaerde
I admire science fiction writers, with sufficient imagination to extrapolate social consequences (reasonably) to such a utopia.
For example, David Brin has a novel where surveillance is everywhere, cameras ubiquitous, causing most to truly behave or face consequences. The novel is 'Earth', released in 1990, about a 'fifty years in the future' set of circumstances and plot line beyond scope of this thread. He got the surveillance part right, it seems, as we're a good distance down that road already with smartphones and social media.
Oh, plenty of people have done that. Many consider it as a futuristic "given" so incorporate it somehow. The show Person of Interest, for example, is based around it (and in fact seems to operate as if that reality is already here, most people just don't know it).
Quote:
Originally Posted by sam812
Can't say enough about how these 2 posts are spot on.
I worked my butt of for 20 years and then slowed down the next 5 years after that. I was able to completely retire at 45. At 40 when I was still working my butt off I was a extremely athletic 225 pounds. I got up to a fat 265 pounds with type 2 diabetes. The diabetes crept up on me. By the time I went to the doctor I felt like I was about to pass out almost all the time and could not think straight at all.
It took several months before i started to get back to were I could actually think somewhat normal. I am much better now but still have a long way to go.
I guess it depends on your attitude. Some people live to work, others work to live. There are people who would probably be *more* healthy if they didn't have to work for a living and had more time to do what they wanted-- which might include plenty of physical activities. Or mental, for that matter. (I can tell you my hobbies stimulate my brain way more than my job ever did or will.)
The assumption that if people didn't work, they wouldn't have anything to do is a bit narrow. There are many hobbies out there, and many people might have more than they do if they only had the time to do them. (I am assuming that one would be not working, but still have plenty of money with which to indulge in hobbies.) Look at all of the people who took up new hobbies since the advent of the pandemic. Sure, some are just bored and casting around for things to do, but plenty also have newfound "spare" time (due to lack of time spent commuting, not being able to participate in other activities, etc.) in which to do things they always would've wanted to do had they had the time.
I always shake my head at people who say they wouldn't know what to do with themselves if they won the lottery or retired. I can think of plenty of things I'd love to do if the largest and best part of my day wasn't eaten up by paid employment.
Besides, if everyone is genetically engineered to be attractive, then nobody's going to be "built" in a way that they get fat easily. And if we're all eating health food, how will we get fat? You could eat what appears to be "chocolate cake" all day but if it's this food of perfect nutrition, it's not going to make you gain weight.
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