Why is immortality treated as an unambiguously bad thing in this setting?

[vettorpisani]

I don't agree with their take on immortality. That's my number one gripe with CoC2 Morrowind had the Nerevarine immune to disease and aging but still capable of dying by violence. Why can't you wish for something like that? Also the sheer number of people who have plastic surgery, painful surgeries like hip replacements to relieve pain and restore function, and who exercise every day to live a little bit longer / healthier would all consider immortality a blessing.

Watching your progeny / loved ones die would be painful but it wouldn't make you stop wanting to live. People live after the death of their parents and wives / husbands. You accept it and move on. You could meet new people, find hobbies, explore interests, do whatever you want really. I don't think its impossible to engage yourself or enjoy life even with full immortality / invulnerability.

Also events in game contradict this like when Ashe an immortal dragon is afraid to die and transfers her consciousness into the Mace. Also it isn't like the seven are all suicidal and want everything to end. They seem to spend their immortality / power productively.

Dying is a curse and a waste imo. All a persons knowledge, their personality, their potential to lead a productive life, and all future experiences for themselves and those around them are cut short. My gripe is not with immortality itself but its potential for misuse. Human beings don't handle power very well to say the least. Torture exists and was invented / is being used by human beings. It should only be granted to those who are worthy, brave, intelligent, compassionate, and capable.

 

[Punccline]

I don't agree with their take on immortality. That's my number one gripe with CoC2 Morrowind had the Nerevarine immune to disease and aging but still capable of dying by violence. Why can't you wish for something like that? Also the sheer number of people who have plastic surgery, painful surgeries like hip replacements to relieve pain and restore function, and who exercise every day to live a little bit longer / healthier would all consider immortality a blessing.

Watching your progeny / loved ones die would be painful but it wouldn't make you stop wanting to live. People live after the death of their parents and wives / husbands. You accept it and move on. You could meet new people, find hobbies, explore interests, do whatever you want really. I don't think its impossible to engage yourself or enjoy life even with full immortality / invulnerability.

Also events in game contradict this like when Ashe an immortal dragon is afraid to die and transfers her consciousness into the Mace. Also it isn't like the seven are all suicidal and want everything to end. They seem to spend their immortality / power productively.

Dying is a curse and a waste imo. All a persons knowledge, their personality, their potential to lead a productive life, and all future experiences for themselves and those around them are cut short. My gripe is not with immortality itself but its potential for misuse. Human beings don't handle power very well to say the least. Torture exists and was invented / is being used by human beings. It should only be granted to those who are worthy, brave, intelligent, compassionate, and capable.

Ultimately, I think a lot of this comes down to personal interpretation and outlook. For example, you saying "Dying is a curse and a waste." A lot of people would disagree with that statement, myself included.

Sometimes the writer feels differently about things than you do. Sucks, but that's just the way it goes.

Also, as you pointed out, immortality comes with a great many downsides. Ashelander, for example: stuck pinned to a wall with a spear in her chest for I don't even remember how many years. Kassyra: really should have died a long time ago, but she's immortal and now it's everyone else's problem. Likewise, you mentioned that immortality given to a bad person could be absolutely catastrophic for everyone else, but Oma really has no way to judge how good or worthy you are. Yes, you choosing to let her go could be an indicator of good, but it could just as easily be the mark of someone who's evil but knows that the genie is going to sabotage every wish by Monkey's Pawing you out of bitterness. It's a Cunning check, not a Purity check.

Lastly, perhaps the most important roadblock if we're being realistic here: let's imagine you could wish for Nerevarine style "Can be killed, but not by age" immortality like you mentioned in another thread.

Oma grants the wish, blammo, you now have it.

Absolutely nothing changes for you in the game. At all. Because the game does not take place over a long enough period for you to get even remotely close to dying of old age, and we don't know if the epilogue will cover that far into the future.

It would basically be a waste of a wish, which feels bad. And you can't wish for the regen you currently get on top of that because that's wishing for two things. Unless you want to argue that the ability to regenerate should make you technically immortal since age is just the slow failure of your body's internal pieces due to wearing down over time, in which case maybe that's true and you already are immortal, the game just hasn't spelled it out for you. That's how Krogan in Mass Effect work.