Is death the only thing guaranteed in our lives?

Use this forum to discuss the July 2021 Book of the month, " Worldlines: A Many Worlds Novel" (Many Worlds, #1)" by Adam Guest
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yomide
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Re: Is death the only thing guaranteed in our lives?

Post by yomide »

lavkathleen wrote: 31 Jul 2021, 01:40
Neenu B_S wrote: 02 Jul 2021, 00:55 The plot of the story doesn't seem to agree with it but I do. Life is so unpredictable and the only guaranteed thing would be death which we come to all of us some day. The author says 'people say so' and so I guess the author is right.
I feel like it doesn't only concern the first book, though. We still have the rest of the series in front of us. And I just realized that if he believes that all of us, including him, are going to live forever, then does that mean he believes Michelle lives forever, too? Is the author planning on going down that route, showing us his journey there? :o
About mitchelle, i think the author already did. He clearly showed her being alive in the other worldlines. But i see your point, if the author actually believes it, the second book might shed some light. Death might not be guaranteed after all.
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Chinecherem A wrote: 10 Jul 2021, 07:04 People say that death is inevitable or something of that nature. And yes, it is pretty much the most certain thing that everyone regardless of beliefs, religion, mindset, status, nationality has in common. I think it is correct.

As for its relevance, I just think it is an interesting perspective in the book.
That is the significance of that certainty. There are other certainties that can vary as per personal beliefs. But death is a universal certainty and no one will challenge its inevitability, other than the author of this book. He has challenged its inevitability and shown that life in multiple forms is more possible than death.
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Post by revathy sw »

Yes, I have heard people voicing the philosophical opinion that death is the only thing that is truly guaranteed. And yes, I personally believe that life is so random and unpredictable that the only thing which we can all completely agree on is that it will one day end in death.
I think the first sentence is very relevant to the plot of the book and the multiverse theory on which it is premised. I found the theory a bit too complex to truly understand at some points, but what I think the author is trying to say is that our consciousness survives by drifting through an endless chain of parallel universes — so, in this sense, we never truly die. So even though our physical bodies may die, our consciousness, our essence, will never cease to exist.
Of course, I could have completely misunderstood the concept. :|
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

the_ashfeathers wrote: 10 Jul 2021, 07:11 I have often heard people say that including once my friend's conversation with her dad on this topic itself. I can't help but agree, death indeed is the only thing guaranteed in life. To relate with our current life, no one could have foreseen the circumstances we're facing today, the pandemic took the lives of some of the fittest people in life. It was the most unexpected, however, death is always expected at some point. Nothing else can be guaranteed. However, in my opinion, it doesn't hold any significance to the book.
The time of death is always unexpected. But its coming is always certain and it should be expected as well. As per the novel you should always be expecting not only death, but also a completely new beginning in a foreign universe, a thought which has to be terrifying than death, as per my view.
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Mwatu wrote: 12 Jul 2021, 10:36 I agree that death is the only thing in life that is guaranteed. The rest of life itself I feel is a chance with a luck. I haven't heard other people say it countable times, and I think the relevance of the statement is to support the story.
Well, the actual support of this statement comes in an 'opposite' manner. Though the author states it as a certainty in the beginning of his book, we feel like death is not a certainty anymore with the further revealing of the story. So, yes, for our ordinary lives death is the only thing guaranteed, but for this author and his story life and immortality is more guaranteed.
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Benaron wrote: 12 Jul 2021, 12:03
63tty wrote: 01 Jul 2021, 09:47 I don't think this was relevant to the author's story. But it is a quote that is factual, in that we all die in the end. I don't think like that and I also don't believe people think like that.
I partially agree; most people don't consciously think "I'm gonna die" throughout the day. However, I would argue that in the decision-making process, many have the thought "what the heck, what's it worth anyways" and will do whatever it is their consciousness is telling them not to do.
Many people do not think about death unless they are on the death bed or in a fatal condition at the verge of death. And that is why people live like they are immortal. Only a few think like "There is no use of what we do if we gonna die one day", and people who think morbidly like that are categorized as clinically depressed.

But in this story we actually get an chance to be immortal. And also we get a chance to see all sides of our choices by living multiple lives in multiple forms. No one has to be depressed, and if a problem arise you have to just die and begin new.
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Post by Dartemis »

In terms of the quote, my father has a saying like that but with a little more added to it. “The only thing in life that is certain is death and taxes”. As for what it means in the book, I think the author could have been saying that when you die, you could very well be going to another worldline instead, kinda like reincarnation. However instead of being reborn, your consciousness would instead be transported into another version of you that isn’t dead yet.
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Post by Novela book »

yes, death is the end of things and life itself. but living life to the fullest is what makes death meaningful. If you don't consider life meaningful then what will death mean in the end? Everyone takes death their own way, it depends on how they perceive life first. But it showed death in a multiverse in the book, does it actually ends. We surely don't know that. But we can all imagine it.
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Post by SweetSourSalty AndSpicy »

I think this statement intends to introduce one of the implications of the Many Worlds Theory. According to the theory, we are “technically immortal.” We are made up of energy. Energy is neither created nor destroyed and only transforms into another form of energy (according to the First Law of Thermodynamics). The same way that consciousness is not destroyed, and infinite. In the story, there seem to be subtle hints of Sinead contemplating death and immortality because of her mom’s health. Also, the author dedicates the book to the memory of his grandmother, which inspired the character of Mary. The concept of death seems to play a significant role in this book. If worldlines do exist, we will not be losing our loved ones. Exploring this idea could be another thought-provoking story.
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Post by Shadrack Hoidi »

I didn't understand what the author meant by this statement. The fact is death is guaranteed. I don't think that it's the only guaranteed thing, though.
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Post by Brandy_Nyongesa »

Death is inevitable. Though death is not the only thing that is a guarantee. Though the author believes that one does not die they move to the next world. I don't understand why those two aspects seem to be antagonising to each other.
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Post by Naaya123 »

I do think people say that and I for one somewhat believe in it as well. Nothing is guaranteed, expect for life and death. We all live and die as some point in time. I think it was relevant when relating to his point.
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Post by Ruchi Raina »

I agree with the point about death being guaranteed, as everyone who's born would have to die at some point. But I would have to disagree with the 'only' thing. I think that happiness, sadness and many other things are certain in life. Here the author is trying to warm us up to the multiverse theory. Gary almost died in that accident, and he survived in this universe but his professor insinuated that maybe he didn't in another universe. So I think this is how this statement is relevant to the story.
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Post by Parahiyo »

I don't think people say that. Dying is a guarantee. But it is not the only thing. That statement was relevant but not to the whole book.
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Post by Precious DA »

I am not quite sure if death is the only thing that is guaranteed in life, but it is certainly one of those things that are. Death is something we cannot escape which will come at any point of our life. I have not heard people say it the way the author put it though. I am yet to understand how the quote is relevant to the book.
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