Needs subtropes moved off: Immortality

Fine, then.

I don't think "completely unkillable, period" has ever been the definition of Immortality throughout history. The only known real life example of immortality, biological immortality, is defined here as The Ageless, which you're classifying as "fake" immortality. Heck, even Wikipedia's article on immortality includes "not aging" as immortality.

And it seems The Ageless was taken off as a subtrope. *facepalm*

Yes, your definition of immortality doesn't seem to be one that I can locate anywhere. True Immortality is almost unheard of even in fiction. Generally the term is used for as the rest of us are using it. "Is not going to die without a lot of effort and effectively not going to die."

Immortality is defined as "unending life" or "not subject to death" (from dictionary.com). I've never seen a definition of immortality that tacked on "except under special circumstances". I'm only taking the definition to its literal and logical conclusion. Granted, such a definition is rarely used in fiction, but that shouldn't change anything. Either something can die, or it can't.

edited 9th Mar '12 12:19:39 PM by shiro_okami

You haven't read the wikipedia page on it? What you're talking about is the most simplistic form of the idea. Not how the term is actually used in media.

I browsed the page (it's long), and I don't see how it helps your argument. But if you're using the definition used in media as opposed to the dictionary definition, then I give up.

We are about media after all and not about dictionaries. And I've never seen "Immortality" being used other than as shimaspawn said in scientific papers either.

The biggest problem with your definition shiro is that it's not used anywhere outside of a dictionary. My definition is how it's actually used in the wild, and dictionaries are terrible about that.

I give up then. Just remove the edit ban already.

Do you promise to stop edit warring without discussing the changes first?

Yes.

EDIT: Thanks.

edited 9th Mar '12 12:45:25 PM by shiro_okami

It's weird that you're talking about the Wikipedia page, since it seems to agree with shiro okami.

"Immortality is the ability to live forever.[2] It is unknown whether human physical immortality is an achievable condition."

It says that immortality is only True Immortality, and it uses "physical immortality" and "biological immortality" to talk about the less-than-truly-immortal kind.

I could be wrong, but I think the word used to be used mostly when talking about non-physical things - immortal souls, immortal gods.

The other uses of the word are just the definition decaying.

Most mythological gods are described as immortal, but very few of them were actually unkillable. If it's decaying, it's been decaying for a long time.

I'd also say that the Wikipedia article is not consistently using "biological immortality" to mean unaging. Look at this line:

"Certain scientists, futurists, and philosophers, such as Ray Kurzweil, advocate that human immortality is achievable in the first few decades of the 21st century, while other advocates believe that life extension is a more achievable goal in the short term, with immortality awaiting further research breakthroughs into an indefinite future."

edited 9th Mar '12 1:05:55 PM by ccoa

Has anyone gotten around to that TRS for Regenerative Immortality and/or Nigh-Invulnerability? And wasn't it agreed that Regenerative Immortality is to be temporarily redirected to Complete Immortality until the aforementioned TRS is done?

edited 24th Mar '12 1:07:10 PM by MarqFJA

Out of curiosity, is there a form of Regenerative Immortality that isn't covered by From a Single Cell and Healing Factor?

Though I guess, there is still that middle ground where a being could regenerate from a fatal wound but couldn't survive taking an attack that obliterates most of the body...

edited 24th Mar '12 5:09:34 PM by Servbot

I created a special efforts thread, since that's all that's holding this one up. Locking this.