Wow, this was awesome! I wish I had read the canon so I would have had a chance to think about/predict what would happen when Harry read that inscription. This was just beautiful—a reminder of the heritage that transhumanists often forget we have. True, we have precious little tradition or precedent to fall back on—but in every generation in every era in every part of the world, there have been people who knew death for what it was and loathed it.
HPMOR is starting to be one tear jerker after another. I hope we’ll get to see a couple more moments of levity, or—ideally—a moment of euphoria, when Hermione joins millions and millions of others we thought lost to history.
Edit: I really wish the word “pro-life” were available to describe this position.
“Resurrection” has been taken for 2000 years, but for a few decades there we had a chance with “pro-life.” :(
Quick! Grab the third best word and trademark it!
Seriously though, I think “transhumanism” is too long and jargon-y, not to mention understanding it requires some knowledge of both humanism and Latin roots. The ideology deserves a word that is as pure and simple as the emotions behind it.
I’ve heard “deathist” used to describe the opposing side more often than “lifeist” for the supporting side. “Lifeist” just sounds a bit awkward and silly, and “deathist”, while funny, seems too much like typical Dark Arts tarring.
Like racism, sexism, ageism,...? In a crowded world will “lifeist!” become a snarled curse at anyone not dutifully shuffling off stage after their threescore and ten?
Which is a bit frustrating in a couple ways, seeing as Paul (the most popular candidate for the originator of said line) was talking about a literal resurrection of everyone, hopefully during his lifetime, and canon Harry then proceeded to defeat death by dying and coming back.
That was what frustrated me the most—how canon could preach to us about accepting death as inevitable while giving its main character the power to defeat death. It’s sad that the narrative just accepts it as okay that the main character and the subject of the prophecy gets to be resurrected, but for anyone else to seek that would be folly.
No I know—that’s why it would have been interesting to know about the inscription and consider how HJPEV would obviously interpret it differently :)
Sorry, just realized “That was just beautiful” was ambiguous—not the inscription, but Harry’s reaction to it. The inscription could not possibly have had such a humanistic meaning in canon, I know.
In canon Hermione explains it as “life after death”, not “accepting death”.
Resurrection also counts as life after death, except that e.g. Christians expect God to provide said resurrections, and Harry seeks to accomplish it himself...
In canon, Hermione says it means exactly as Lupin thought, and Harry believes her (and J.K. Rowling intended it like that). As some of J.K. Rowling’s quotes (no sources at the moment) about canon seem to imply that she does not see her interpretation of the books is just as valid as anybody else’s, the idea that a descendant of Harry’s could go to the graveyard of the Peverells, announce plans to defeat Death, and get HJPEV’s results is canon-compliant.
1 Corinthians 15:26, to be specific. I’m not a Bible scholar by any means, but the commentary through that link seems to suggest that mainstream theology has rather a lower opinion of death than Rowling does.
Wow, this was awesome! I wish I had read the canon so I would have had a chance to think about/predict what would happen when Harry read that inscription. This was just beautiful—a reminder of the heritage that transhumanists often forget we have. True, we have precious little tradition or precedent to fall back on—but in every generation in every era in every part of the world, there have been people who knew death for what it was and loathed it.
HPMOR is starting to be one tear jerker after another. I hope we’ll get to see a couple more moments of levity, or—ideally—a moment of euphoria, when Hermione joins millions and millions of others we thought lost to history.
Edit: I really wish the word “pro-life” were available to describe this position.
Even “Resurrection” has been hijacked.
I’ve been in the habit of using “Mass True Resurrection,” to make the D&D reference instead of the Christian one.
To a non D&D-er like me, it still has the other connotations.
“Resurrection” has been taken for 2000 years, but for a few decades there we had a chance with “pro-life.” :(
Quick! Grab the third best word and trademark it!
Seriously though, I think “transhumanism” is too long and jargon-y, not to mention understanding it requires some knowledge of both humanism and Latin roots. The ideology deserves a word that is as pure and simple as the emotions behind it.
I’ve been using “lifeist” in my head for a while.
Another good word that’s already taken: survivalist.
I’ve heard “deathist” used to describe the opposing side more often than “lifeist” for the supporting side. “Lifeist” just sounds a bit awkward and silly, and “deathist”, while funny, seems too much like typical Dark Arts tarring.
Immortalism?
Sounds evil.
I’ve been using “anti-death.”
Lifeism.
Like racism, sexism, ageism,...? In a crowded world will “lifeist!” become a snarled curse at anyone not dutifully shuffling off stage after their threescore and ten?
No. At people who don’t want equal rights for zombies.
I once called my brother a deathist, and he said, “Nuh uh, I’m just an anti-liveite!”
“Anti-death” isn’t too bad, but “anti-deathism” is horribly clunky.
Sorry to burst your bubble but in canon it meant exactly as Lupin thought.
Which is a bit frustrating in a couple ways, seeing as Paul (the most popular candidate for the originator of said line) was talking about a literal resurrection of everyone, hopefully during his lifetime, and canon Harry then proceeded to defeat death by dying and coming back.
That was what frustrated me the most—how canon could preach to us about accepting death as inevitable while giving its main character the power to defeat death. It’s sad that the narrative just accepts it as okay that the main character and the subject of the prophecy gets to be resurrected, but for anyone else to seek that would be folly.
No I know—that’s why it would have been interesting to know about the inscription and consider how HJPEV would obviously interpret it differently :)
Sorry, just realized “That was just beautiful” was ambiguous—not the inscription, but Harry’s reaction to it. The inscription could not possibly have had such a humanistic meaning in canon, I know.
In canon Hermione explains it as “life after death”, not “accepting death”.
Resurrection also counts as life after death, except that e.g. Christians expect God to provide said resurrections, and Harry seeks to accomplish it himself...
In canon, Hermione says it means exactly as Lupin thought, and Harry believes her (and J.K. Rowling intended it like that). As some of J.K. Rowling’s quotes (no sources at the moment) about canon seem to imply that she does not see her interpretation of the books is just as valid as anybody else’s, the idea that a descendant of Harry’s could go to the graveyard of the Peverells, announce plans to defeat Death, and get HJPEV’s results is canon-compliant.
In canon (as here?) it was a Bible Verse. That is, God will destroy all evils, even death, at the Last Day.
1 Corinthians 15:26, to be specific. I’m not a Bible scholar by any means, but the commentary through that link seems to suggest that mainstream theology has rather a lower opinion of death than Rowling does.