164
egg🤔irl
(lemmy.blahaj.zone)
No. In fiction, it is the flaws of the character that make them more compelling, realistic, and (sometimes) relatable. Perfect heroes in fiction often fall flat with audiences because there is no opportunity for the character to grow or overcome something, no meaningful character arc.
In real life, there aren't perfect people, and when someone performs a selfless, brave or compassionate act, they sometimes receive the title of hero, but they are still the person they were before, with their faults, flaws, sins, relationships, roles and every other facet that makes up a whole person.
Setting aside nationalist reactions for a moment, long life extension would have a huge impact on global society.
When an older generation passes on, their active ability to shape society goes away, and the new generations are able to define the values, laws and morals of the era. Every idea we have--science, medicine, law, urban design, agriculture, art, entertainment, literature-- grows and changes thanks to new players joining society and making their mark. An undying elite could put all areas of thought and progress in a stranglehold, calcifying society in the vision of the undying.
Wealth is passed on upon death, but these undying would continue to hoard wealth, becoming powerful billionaires and using their power to distort society to their vision.
A Greek proverb says "Society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they will never sit under." What happens when that calculus changes? The elderly generally do not have and raise children. Especially if they've already had children, they tend to focus on other activities, hobbies, leisure, cruises. They also have to go to the doctor more often. If the cohort of undying became large enough, it would start demographic trends where more resources are expended to meet these needs of people who are not interested in the future of society, but only the continuance of the short term present.
To some extent developed countries have already experienced this change on a longer time line, with the advent of modern medicines increasing lifetimes from about 30 years to over 80 within a few generations. Nursing homes didn't used to exist. "Cancer Survivor" is a relatively new term. The implications of near immortal levels of life extension are far more broad reaching than I can do justice in a few simple paragraphs, but just consider what might happen in an old growth forest if the oldest trees never fell to became nurse logs for the next generation.