Fight Club is my favourite movie of all time, and it is simply because of the philosophy in it. The philosophy is not a philosophy that I ascribe to, it is more of a 'grounding' philosophy, a philosophical perspective which needs to be understood so as to keep your own life in perspective.
The philosophy is certainly very grounded in a short lifespan, but I think that it could gain even more power when applied to immortality, it will be the solution to the best counter-immortality argument: "death imposes a limit which motivates you into action, without death, we are less motivated to acheive anything worthwhile." I think this is the most true argument against immortality, I don't think it is good enough to warrant stopping our lusting after immortality, but it is true nonetheless.
What the fight club philosophy says is that 'life' is not special, life is not important, if you die, no one cares. The only think that matters is what you achieve, and your personal introspective realisation of experience. You are not defined by your lifestyle, your posessions, or your status, everything is meaningless, and i think it is the perfect counter-view point to immortality, which immortalists need to understand so that they can gain a solid foundational perspective on what an immortal life needs to be about.
If you do not know what 'the fight club philosophy' is, then aside from watching the movie 3 or more times (highly recommended) simply watching this youtube clip will help a lot:
and the lyrics to that song are allf rom the movie. The lyrics are the point: http://domspe.org/fi..._fightclub.html
[quote]
this is your life
good to the last drop,
doesn't get any better than this
this is your life, and it's ending
one minute at a time
this isn't a seminar
and this isn't a weekend retreat
where you are now
you can't even imagine
what the bottom will be like
only after disaster
can we be resurrected
it's only after you've lost
everything that you're
free to do anything
nothing is static,
everything is appalling (evolving),
everything is
falling apart
you are not a beautiful and unique snowflake
you are the same decaying
organic matter as everything else
we are all a part of the same compost heap
we are the all-singing,
all-dancing crap of the world
you are not your bank account,
you are not the clothes you wear
you are not the contents of your wallet
you are not your bowel cancer
you are not your grande latte
you are not the car you drive
you are not your fucking khakis
you have to give up
you have to realise that someday you will die,
until you know that you are useless
i say let me never be complete
i say may i never be content
i say deliver me from swedish furniture
i say deliver me from clever art
i say deliver me from clear skin and perfect teeth
i say you have to give up
i say evolve, and let the chips
fall where they may
[/quote]
Other relevent movie quotes:
[quote]
Narrator: [Tyler steers the car into the opposite lane and accelerates] What are you doing?
Tyler Durden: Guys, what would you wish you'd done before you died?
Steph: Paint a self-portrait.
The Mechanic: Build a house.
Tyler Durden: [to Narrator] And you?
Narrator: I don't know. Turn the wheel now, come on!
Tyler Durden: You have to know the answer to this question! If you died right now, how would you feel about your life?
Narrator: I don't know, I wouldn't feel anything good about my life, is that what you want to hear me say? Fine. Come on!
Tyler Durden: Not good enough. [/quote]
[quote]Tyler Durden: You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your fucking khakis. You're the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.
[/quote]
[quote]Narrator: On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
[/quote]
[quote]Tyler Durden: The things you own end up owning you. [/quote]
[quote]Narrator: After fighting, everything else in your life got the volume turned down.
[/quote]
[quote]Tyler Durden: Without pain, without sacrifice, we would have nothing. [/quote]
[quote]Narrator: And then, something happened. I let go. Lost in oblivion. Dark and silent and complete. I found freedom. Losing all hope was freedom. [/quote]
[quote][after deliberately crashing the car on the side of the road]
Tyler Durden: Goddamn!
[Histerical laughs]
Tyler Durden: You just had a near-life experience! [/quote]
[quote]Narrator: I got in everyone's hostile little face. Yes, these are bruises from fighting. Yes, I'm comfortable with that. I am enlightened. [/quote]
[quote]Narrator: I flipped through catalogs and wondered: What kind of dining set defines me as a person? [/quote]
[quote]Tyler Durden: Hitting bottom isn't a weekend retreat. It's not a goddamn seminar. Stop trying to control everything and just let go! LET GO! [/quote]
[quote][the Narrator's apartment has just been blown to pieces]
Narrator: I had it all. I had a stereo that was very decent, a wardrobe that was getting very respectable. I was close to being complete.
Tyler Durden: Shit man, now it's all gone. [/quote]
[quote]rator: It's just, when you buy furniture, you tell yourself, that's it. That's the last sofa I'm gonna need. Whatever else happens, I've got that sofa problem handled. [/quote]
And finally, althoguh I don't recall this from the book or the movie, there is this:
[quote][first lines]
Tyler Durden: Warning: If you are reading this then this warning is for you. Every word you read of this useless fine print is another second off your life. Don't you have other things to do? Is your life so empty that you honestly can't think of a better way to spend these moments? Or are you so impressed with authority that you give respect and credence to all that claim it? Do you read everything you're supposed to read? Do you think every thing you're supposed to think? Buy what you're told to want? Get out of your apartment. Meet a member of the opposite sex. Stop the excessive shopping and masturbation. Quit your job. Start a fight. Prove you're alive. If you don't claim your humanity you will become a statistic. You have been warned- Tyler
[/quote]