I loved maybe the first ten or fifteen minutes of this episode. Shenanigans, clever little signs to read, Chidi's nerdtastic Neoplatonic joke, the Good Place folks having no idea about anything, I was having so much fun!
And then Eleanor decided that what heaven really needed was no-strings euthanasia, and I... have complicated feelings about that?
Like, I'm not saying that infinite existence definitely would be rewarding for humans. I don't imagine it's something we have a lot of data about. If infinity's long enough to learn every language, read every book, and meet every person, then maybe it's too long. How would I know, really?
But from a human psychology/utopia design perspective, I feel like Team Cockroach ignored a lot of low-hanging fruit while they made their beeline for Actual Permadeath. Patty said that what saved Chidi was his friends: so do the other humans in the Good Place have their friends and family with them, or were they separated by the binary morality of the afterlife? Would it help to be reunited? The Good Place architects are canonically pretty clueless about how humans work: did anyone ever consider just not letting them fry their brains with orgasms that last centuries? Like, would capping that at around half an hour or so lead to any gains in overall contentment?
Underneath all my logic chopping, I found this episode unexpectedly troubling for some personal reasons. If you'd like to read about how Eleanor's solution collided with my mental health history, I've got an entry about it up on my journal! And for everyone else, please enjoy the complimentary stardust milkshakes. (They're vegan, lactose free, and probably only mildly habit forming!)
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ninetydegrees
no subject
on Friday, January 24th, 2020 04:15 am (UTC)I loved maybe the first ten or fifteen minutes of this episode. Shenanigans, clever little signs to read, Chidi's nerdtastic Neoplatonic joke, the Good Place folks having no idea about anything, I was having so much fun!
And then Eleanor decided that what heaven really needed was no-strings euthanasia, and I... have complicated feelings about that?
Like, I'm not saying that infinite existence definitely would be rewarding for humans. I don't imagine it's something we have a lot of data about. If infinity's long enough to learn every language, read every book, and meet every person, then maybe it's too long. How would I know, really?
But from a human psychology/utopia design perspective, I feel like Team Cockroach ignored a lot of low-hanging fruit while they made their beeline for Actual Permadeath. Patty said that what saved Chidi was his friends: so do the other humans in the Good Place have their friends and family with them, or were they separated by the binary morality of the afterlife? Would it help to be reunited? The Good Place architects are canonically pretty clueless about how humans work: did anyone ever consider just not letting them fry their brains with orgasms that last centuries? Like, would capping that at around half an hour or so lead to any gains in overall contentment?
Underneath all my logic chopping, I found this episode unexpectedly troubling for some personal reasons. If you'd like to read about how Eleanor's solution collided with my mental health history, I've got an entry about it up on my journal! And for everyone else, please enjoy the complimentary stardust milkshakes. (They're vegan, lactose free, and probably only mildly habit forming!)