# Longevity in the Commonwealth *The Urth list — 2 messages, 2 voices, 29 Aug 2006* > Exported from an unofficial mirror of a public mailing list. Copyright > in each message remains with the person who wrote it. > Email addresses are obscured as `user at host`, the form the original > archive published. This file was rebuilt from parsed fields rather than > retained headers, so it is faithful in content but not byte-exact. --- ### Dan'l Danehy-Oakes *29 Aug 2006, 00:01* The question was asked, how we could tell how long an Autarch might live with alien medicine et al. The short answer is, we can't... ...but... ...I think that even the highest classes in the Commonwealth don't live much longer than a modern-day First World citizen. My argument is primarily thematic -- the great sin of both Typhon and Baldanders is artificially extending their lives (by, admittedly, evil and forbidden[?] methods, but if other methods were available ... well, you know). It seems to me that the Autarchs, whose position was created in reaction to Typhon, and whose purpose is to prepare for the coming of the New Sun, would not be likely to commit that particular sin. One bit of supporting textual evidence ... we know that the cacogens Severian hangs with have _shorter_ lives than humans. Therefore I suggest that they would not be a likely source of life extension technology for humans. ``` Dan'l Danehy-Oakes, writer, trainer, bon vivant ----- http://www.livejournal.com/users/sturgeonslawyer "Shovels are essential to the fantasy genre. However, they are primarily used by the authors rather than the characters." -- Stephen R. Donaldson ``` --- ### b sharp *29 Aug 2006, 13:48 · follows Dan'l Danehy-Oakes* Dan'l writes: > the great sin of both Typhon and Baldanders is artificially extending their > lives (by, admittedly, evil >and forbidden[?] methods. And the only sin greater than the Original Sin of eating fruit from the tree of Knowledge (of Good and Evil) would be to eat fruit from the Tree of Life thus throwing away God's gift to us of mortality? -bsharp p.s. Me three on Paeon as aquastor to Malrubius ---