History Main / ImmortalApathy

->''"Now, the typical endpoint for an immortal is the wildly inhuman immortal. It's kind of an asymptotic limit for formerly human immortal characters. They approach it eventually no matter how long it takes for it to become noticeable. Basically when they live long enough their moral compass kind of wears away. The needle's still pointing somewhere but they don't really know where anymore. If all human life is ephemeral and fleeting anyway does human life hold value? Does human suffering? And without the fear of death, compassion for others, or unfinished personal goals, what's left to motivate them?"''
-->-- '''Red''', ''WebAnimation/OverlySarcasticProductions'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpBOSAoTego Trope Talk: Immortals]]

* ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}:'' Doctor Manhattan became immortal in a FreakLabAccident, and while he hasn't been immortal for very long, his perception of time is non-chronological, which means his subjective memory extends much further. Throughout the book, he's apathetic to anything going on around him because his perspective is so vast that anything humans do is inconsequential to him.

* ''Fanfic/PurpleDays'': {{Inverted}} big time with Joffrey Baratheon. After spending more than a century stuck as a GroundhogPeggySue, forced to repeatedly suffer for his blunders until he completely re-evaluated himself, he's transformed himself from the ''utterly monstrous'', cowardly, spoiled, un-empathetic, and sociopathic EnfantTerrible we know him as; into a genuinely caring, disciplined and personable young man with a lot of compassion for the smallfolk and levels of love and friendship for nearly everyone around him (sans Cersei and Jaime). To further hammer it home; when Joffrey is in the Oxcross Loop, he's fully aware that Westeros and all its inhabitants in this timeline are invariably doomed, yet he still feels compelled to help people out where he can; giving Tommen in this timeline a reassurance about how to be strong going forward, and extending royal aid to help out the starving smallfolk of King's Landing.

[[folder:Film - Live-Action]]

-->'''Thranduil''': [[BluntYes Yes]], they will die. Today, tomorrow, three days hence, a hundred years from now. What does it matter? They are ''mortal''.\\
'''Tauriel''': [[ShutUpHannibal You think your life worth more than theirs, when there is no love in it]]? There is no love in ''you''!

** The two AbusivePrecursors, the Shadows and the Vorlons, manipulate the younger races but don't seem to care for their fates. Most of the other older races, the "First Ones", stay away from the younger races and either don't care about them or are actively hostile. The Vorlon Kosh does take an interest in the main characters but is killed for "breaking the rules" of the Vorlon-Shadow conflict. His replacement is this trope '''at best'''. [[spoiler:He turns on the younger races along with his fellow Vorlons when they unleash their planet killers and has to be put down]]

* This was a subtle running theme on ''Series/{{Bewitched}}''. Magic users, who in this universe are an entirely separate race, have incredibly long lifespans numbering into the centuries (and possibly even millennia). As such, witches and warlocks tend to have an incredibly blase attitude about life--when you're a high-level RealityWarper, non-magical problems pale in comparison. Endora and Uncle Arthur even joke about being on "different sides" during the American Civil War as if it was a friendly rivalry between sports teams rather than an extremely bloody conflict. It also explains the FantasticRacism witches and warlocks feel toward humans: since they're only around for at most a tenth of an average witch's lifespan, why would they be concerned about mortals? Early in the series, Endora tells Darrin that this trope is why she disapproves of Samantha marrying him: Sam is doomed to outlive him by hundreds of years, and she doesn't want to see her daughter get hurt.
* ''Franchise/DoctorWho'': {{Defied|Trope}}. This trope is the reason why the Doctor always has a companion. This is stated outright in "The Runaway Bride" when Donna sees the Doctor drown an alien, as she tells him to never go too long without one for this very reason.
* ''Series/{{Forever|2014}}'': [[TheOlderImmortal Adam]] turns out to be a case of this, he admits to Doctor Henry Morgan that he was originally as compassionate and empathetic as Henry is now. To the point that the event that caused his first death was attempting to protect Julius Caesar from the assassins. However, after two thousand years, he has become distanced from humanity and overall bitter with existence in general, to the point he no longer cares about random innocents deaths as they are insignificant to him and only targets Henry simply cause interacting with another immortal is the first new concept he's faced in millennia. Henry is tormented by the possibility that if he doesn't find a cure for his own immortality, he too might one day become as callous.
* ''Series/TheLibrarians2014'': Jenkins is initially uninterested in aiding the Librarians-in-Training, preferring to stick to his studies and research. He even gives a speech about how he used to care but felt that he was ultimately accomplishing nothing. But a bit of [[DefrostingIceQueen defrosting]] and he becomes much more willing to help.
* On ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'', witches have similar problems to the ''Bewitched'' example listed above. They live for millennia and age extremely slowly (the show begins in the mid-1990s, and flashbacks prove that Hilda and Zelda look identical in that decade as they did in the 1700s). Furthermore, witch culture is incredibly hedonistic and centers on instant gratification. As such, nearly every magic user we see is pleasure-seeking, immature, and generally totally uncaring about anything beyond their own immediate whims. A few specific examples appear in various episodes:

** In a Season Three episode, Sabrina's Cousin Marigold commits the greatest crime imaginable--breaking TheMasquerade to a mortal--and [[BroughtDownToNormal loses her powers]] as a result. She later remarks that it was a blessing in disguise, as having to do things on her own has made her genuinely ''happy'' for the first time in her centuries-long life; magic made her totally apathetic and incapable of real emotion.
** One episode has Hilda and Zelda use "Man-Dough" to (literally) cook up a perfect date for Sabrina; they then use the leftover dough to make some dates of their own. The resulting men are fully sentient beings who are doomed to live for a matter of hours before collapsing back into dough--and neither Hilda nor Zelda shows even the slightest amount of ethical concern over this (it helps that the men themselves are aware of their own brief lifespans and [[AngstWhatAngst don't seem all that worried about it]]).

* ''Videogame/ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura'': Humans have some of the shortest lifespans of the sentient races, and members of the more LongLived races have a tendency to treat them as foolish children who never live long enough to see the consequences of their actions. One dwarf, discussing the environmental damage caused by human logging, notes that he's spent human lifetimes contemplating what sort of stone to use for a sculpture, compared to the kind of world-changing decisions a human can make in a few cycles of the moon. Another theorises that human ambition stems from them living in fear of their own death and being driven to make a mark on the world before they die, so "They act first, think second, and feel last of all". [[AllThereInTheManual The chapter of the manual]] discussing elves also notes that, while humans and elves sometimes form romantic bonds that result in [[HalfHumanHybrid half-elf children]], an elf woman who looks no older than 17 to a human has probably seen 5 generations of humans turn to dust in her lifetime, so it's little wonder elves get tired of human interaction in their old age.

* Despite being evil himself, Porky Minch provides an example in ''VideoGame/Mother3''. He's ''nearly'' immortal from all of his time-traveling shenanigans post-''VideoGame/{{EarthBound|1994}}'', but isn't fully immortal and is on the verge of dying. Following his defeat at the hands of Lucas and co., he [[DirtyCoward chickens out]] and hides in the Absolutely Safe Capsule created by [[ScienceHero Dr. Andonuts]]. This provides him with absolute immortality and prevents him from ever being damaged, but the caveat is that [[BlessedWithSuck he can never escape the capsule]]. Granted, he doesn't care, and rubs it in the face of those opposing him, knowing that he'll now live forever. WordOfGod from Creator/ShigesatoItoi states that Porky ended up surviving the [[NaturalEndOfTime Heat Death of the Universe]], and still doesn't care that everything else in existence is dead, taking solace in the fact that he gets to live forever.

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': {{Invoked|Trope}} by Marceline the Vampire Queen in the episode she's introduced in, "Evicted!". [[FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire She's not actually an example, though.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/Invincible2021'': In [[spoiler: Omni-Man]]'s MotiveRant, he explains that humans don't have any sentimental value to him because his species can live for thousands of years.
* Played for BlackComedy in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' and the "Coon and Friends" Trilogy. It's revealed that Kenny's [[TheyKilledKennyAgain countless deaths and resurrections]] are the result of his parents visiting a group of Cthulhu-worshiping cultists while his mother was pregnant, [[BlessedWithSuck cursing him]] with the power to come back from the dead while [[ImmortalityHurts still feeling and remembering the pain of every fatality]]. To make matters worse, the curse includes LaserGuidedAmnesia--people can see Kenny die ''right in front of them'' and will forget about it moments later. While Kenny [[WhoWantsToLiveForever angsts about this]] at first, he eventually becomes apathetic to his situation and, at one point, casually shoots himself in the head rather than deal with the stupid antics of his friends for another minute.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}'': [[spoiler:Qilby]] [[Characters/{{Wakfu}} the Traitor]] has a supernaturally eidetic memory which forces him to perpetually retain all his past lives' memories across his reincarnation cycle, functionally making him eternal. As a result of several millennia of enduring this and knowing it will never stop, [[spoiler:Qilby]] doesn't give much of a damn about anybody's feelings except [[ItsAllAboutMe his own]] anymore. He's willing to callously sacrifice an entire world and all its inhabitants so he can continue selfishly cruising the stars and keep his overloaded brain distracted, even tormenting and trying to kill his extended siblings (knowing they'll only reincarnate with their memories wiped if they die) for trying to stop him; with the justification that [[StrawNihilist all mortal lifeforms are nothing but passing specks of dust that come and go constantly in the larger universe]].

These characters react to this in different ways. Some distance themselves from mortals from the very start, seeing themselves as above them or simply wanting to avoid the pain of losing [[MayflyDecemberFriendship friends]] and [[MayflyDecemberRomance lovers]]. This is especially common for nonhuman characters. Others try to bring themselves down to the same level, but they will remain alive and healthy as the people around them grow old and die. [[WhoWantsToLiveForever This is a common source of angst]], and some immortals ironically become {{Death Seeker}}s. However, after outliving so many, anyone will suffer from fatigue. They stop caring or begin to change their mind on mortals after realizing [[WeAreAsMayflies just how short-lived they are]]. This can lead to serious BlueAndOrangeMorality.

In other words, the absence of death and aging makes it inherently more difficult for immortal characters to care about mortals. Fear of death is one of the most common motivations and the weirdness of meeting someone for the first time after so long becomes even weirder when one of them has changed and the other remains the same. Immortality can serve as a barrier between those that possess it and other mortals. Immortals won't necessarily be cruel to mortals, as a consequence, but it can be difficult to bring themselves down to their level.

* ''Series/{{Forever|2014}}'': [[TheOlderImmortal Adam]] turns out to be a case of this, he admits to Doctor Henry Morgan that he was originally as compassionate and empathetic as he is now. To the point that the event that caused his first death was attempting to protect Julius Caesar from the assassins. However, after two thousand years, he has become distanced from humanity and overall bitter with existence in general, to the point he no longer cares about random innocents deaths as they are insignificant to him and only targets Henry simply cause interacting with another immortal is the first new concept he's faced in millennia. Henry is tormented by the possibility that if he doesn't find a cure for his own immortality, he too might one day become as callous.

* ''Series/{{Forever}}'': [[TheOlderImmortal Adam]] turns out to be a case of this, he admits to Doctor Henry Morgan that he was originally as compassionate and empathetic as he is now. To the point that the event that caused his first death was attempting to protect Julius Caesar from the assassins. However, after two thousand years, he has become distanced from humanity and overall bitter with existence in general, to the point he no longer cares about random innocents deaths as they are insignificant to him and only targets Henry simply cause interacting with another immortal is the first new concept he's faced in millennia. Henry is tormented by the possibility that if he doesn't find a cure for his own immortality, he too might one day become as callous.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}'': [[spoiler:Qilby]] [[Characters/{{Wakfu}} the Traitor]] has a supernaturally eidetic memory which forces him to perpetually retain all his past lives' memories across his reincarnation cycle, functionally making him eternal. As a result of several millennia of enduring this and knowing it will never stop, [[spoiler:Qilby]] doesn't give much of a damn about anybody's feelings except [[ItsAllAboutMe his own]] anymore. He's willing to callously sacrifice an entire world and all its inhabitants so he can continue selfishly cruising the stars and keep his overloaded brain distracted, even tormenting and trying to kill his extended siblings (knowing they'll only reincarnate with their memories wiped if they die); with the justification that [[StrawNihilist all mortal lifeforms are nothing but passing specks of dust that come and go constantly in the larger universe]].

-->'''Thranduil''': [[BluntYes Yes]], they will die. Today, tomorrow, three days hence, a hundred years from now. What does it matter? They are ''mortal''.
-->'''Tauriel''': [[ShutUpHannibal You think your life worth more than theirs, when there is no love in it]]? There is no love in ''you''!

* ''Videogame/ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura'': Humans have some of the shortest lifespans of the sentient races, and members of the more LongLived races have a tendency to treat them as foolish children who never live long enough to see the consequences of their actions. One dwarf, discussing the environmental damage caused by human logging, notes that he's spent human lifetimes contemplating what sort of stone to use for a sculpture, compared to the kind of world-changing decisions a human can make in a few cycles of the moon. Another theorises that human ambition stems from them living in fear of their own death and being driven to make a mark on the world before they die, so "They act first, think second, and feel last of all". [[AllThereInTheManual The chapter of the manual]] discussing elves also notes that, while humans and elves sometimes form romantic bonds that result in [[HalfHumanHybrid half-elf children]], an elf woman who looks no older than 30 has probably seen 3 to 4 generations of humans turn to dust in her lifetime, so it's little wonder elves get tired of human interaction in their old age.

** One of the reasons the Daedra have BlueAndOrangeMorality when compared to mortals and are frequently dismissive of them is that Daedra are fully immortal and [[DeathIsCheap able to form new bodies for their souls to inhabit]] if their physical form is slain. Furthermore, the Daedra's inability to truly die makes it impossible for them to truly understand how mortals think — mortals live finite lives and face constant reminders of this, and their ability to simply accept this and continue existing without succumbing to despair is something no Daedra can comprehend.

** One of the reasons the Daedra have BlueAndOrangeMorality when compared to mortals and are frequently dismissive of them is that Daedra instinctively know that they are unaffected by old age and [[DeathIsCheap able to form new bodies for their souls to inhabit]] if killed with weapons. Because of this, when a Daedra tries to contemplate how a mortal thinks and behaves, they are unable to comprehend what it must be like to live a finite life and accept it without succumbing to despair.

* On ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'', witches have similar problems to the ''Bewitched'' example listed above. They live for millennia and age extremely slowly (the show begins in the mid-1990s, and flashbacks prove that Hilda and Zelda look identical in that decade as they did in the 1700s). Furthermore, witch culture is incredibly hedonistic and centers on instant gratification: Sabrina's Aunt Vesta lives in a "Pleasure Dome" where desserts make you thinner and a giant crowd of adoring fans is waiting just behind a door. As such, nearly every magic user we see is pleasure-seeking, immature, and generally totally uncaring about anything beyond their own immediate whims. Hilda and Zelda are viewed as oddballs for living in the mortal world and trying to genuinely ''make'' someting of themselves rather than simply magic up whatever they want.

* ''Series/BabylonFive'': The two AbusivePrecursors, the Shadows and the Vorlons, manipulate the younger races but don't seem to care for their fates. Most of the other older races, the "First Ones", stay away from the younger races and either don't care about them or are actively hostile.
** The Vorlon Kosh does take an interest in the main characters but is killed for "breaking the rules" of the Vorlon-Shadow conflict. His replacement is this trope '''at best'''. [[spoiler:He turns on the younger races along with his fellow Vorlons when they unleash their planet killers and has to be put down]]
** Lorien ''was'' this trope until he met Sherridan and then decreed to help him end the Shadow war.

* ''WesternAnimation/Invincible2021'': In [[spoiler: Omni-Man]]'s MotiveRant, he explains that humans don't have any sentimental value to him because his species will outlive them by thousands of years.

* ''Videogame/ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura'': Humans have the shortest lifespans of the sentient races, and members of the more LongLived races have a tendency to treat them as foolish children, motivated by a constant fear of death and driven to make a mark on the world before they die. One dwarf, discussing the environmental damage caused by human logging, notes that he's spent human lifetimes contemplating what sort of stone to use for a sculpture, compared to the kind of world-changing decisions a human can make in a few cycles of the moon. [[AllThereInTheManual The chapter of the manual]] discussing elves also notes that, while humans and elves sometimes form romantic bonds that result in [[HalfHumanHybrid half-elf children]], an elf woman who looks no older than 30 has probably seen 3 to 4 generations of humans turn to dust in her lifetime, so it's little wonder elves get tired of human interaction in their old age.
* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrolls'': One of the reasons the Daedra have BlueAndOrangeMorality when compared to mortals and are frequently dismissive of them is that Daedra instinctively know that they are unaffected by old age and [[DeathIsCheap able to form new bodies for their souls to inhabit]] if killed with weapons. Because of this, when a Daedra tries to contemplate how a mortal thinks and behaves, they are unable to comprehend what it must be like to live a finite life and accept it without succumbing to despair.

These characters react to this in different ways. Some distance themselves from mortals from the very start, seeing themselves as above them. This is especially common for nonhuman characters. Others try to bring themselves down to the same level, but they will remain alive and healthy as the people around them grow old and die. [[WhoWantsToLiveForever This is a common source of angst]], and some immortals ironically become {{Death Seeker}}s. However, after outliving so many, anyone will suffer from fatigue. They stop caring or begin to change their mind on mortals after realizing [[WeAreAsMayflies just how short-lived they are]]. This can lead to serious BlueAndOrangeMorality.

These characters react to this in different ways. Some distance themselves from mortals from the very start, seeing themselves as above them. This is especially common for nonhuman characters. Others try to bring themselves down to the same level, but they will remain alive and healthy as the people around them grow old and die. [[WhoWantsToLiveForever This is a common source of angst,]] and some immortals ironically become {{Death Seeker}}s. However, after outliving so many, anyone will suffer from fatigue. They stop caring, or begin to change their mind on mortals after realizing [[WeAreAsMayflies just how short-lived they are.]] This can lead to serious BlueAndOrangeMorality.

Distinct from ImmortalityImmorality in that the means of immortality is not necessarily evil, and SmugSuper in that the immortal character does not necessarily have any power over mortals beyond the inability to die. Related to AllAreEqualInDeath, as immortal characters are distinctly ''not'' equal in this respect. See also UnfeelingHeavens, which can overlap when applied to divine beings such as gods or angels, and DeathMeansHumanity, in which the proven mortality of a non-human character makes human characters empathize with them..

* ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}:'' Doctor Manhattan became immortal in a FreakLabAccident, and while he hasn't been immortal for very long his perception of time is non-chronological, which means his subjective memory extends much further. Throughout the book he's apathetic to anything going on around him because his perspective is so vast that anything humans do is inconsequential to him.

* ''Fanfic/PurpleDays'': {{Inverted}} big time with Joffrey Baratheon. After spending more than a century stuck as a GroundhogPeggySue, forced to repeatedly suffer for his blunders until he completely re-evaluated himself, he's transformed himself from the ''utterly monstrous'', cowardly, spoiled, un-empathetic and sociopathic EnfantTerrible we know him as; into a genuinely caring, disciplined and personable young man with a lot of compassion for the smallfolk and levels of love and friendship for nearly everyone around him (sans Cersei and Jaime). To further hammer it home; when Joffrey is in the Oxcross Loop, he's fully aware that Westeros and all its inhabitants in this timeline are invariably doomed, yet he still feels compelled to help people out where he can; giving Tommen in this timeline a reassurance about how to be strong going forward, and extending royal aid to help out the starving smallfolk of King's Landing.

** The Vorlon Kosh does take an interest in the main characters, but is killed for "breaking the rules" of the Vorlon-Shadow conflict. His replacement is this trope '''at best'''. [[spoiler:He turns on the younger races along with his fellow Vorlons when they unleash their planet killers and has to be put down]]

* ''Franchise/DoctorWho'': {{Defied|Trope}}. This trope is the reason why the Doctor always has a companion. This is stated outright in the Runaway Bride when Donna sees the Doctor drown an alien, as she tells him to never go too long without one for this very reason.
* ''Series/{{Forever}}'': [[TheOlderImmortal Adam]] turns out to be a case of this, he admits to Doctor Henry Morgan that he was originally as compassionate and empathetic as he is now. To the point that the event that caused his first death was attempting to protect Julius Caesar from the assassins. However, after two thousand years he has become distanced from humanity and overall bitter with existence in general, to the point he no longer cares about random innocents deaths as they are insignificant to him and only targets Henry simply cause interacting with another immortal is the first new concept he's faced in millennia. Henry is tormented by the possibility that if he doesn't find a cure for his own immortality, that he too might one day become as callous.
* ''Series/TheLibrarians2014'': Jenkins is initially uninterested in aiding the Librarians-in-Training, preferring to stick to his studies and research. He even gives a speech about how he used to care, but felt that he was ultimately accomplishing nothing. But a bit of [[DefrostingIceQueen defrosting]] and he becomes much more willing to help.

* ''VideoGame/StellaGlow'': This is the case of [[spoiler:Dr. Veronica, the last remaining human from the "technolomy" era (based on real-life present)]]. She lived for so many years thanks to feeding on angel wings that she grew to become indifferent towards the fate of humanity, though the main characters eventually convince her to fight alongside them to save the world.

--> '''Marceline:''' I'm not mean, I'm a thousand years old, and I just lost track of my moral code.

* Despite being evil himself, Porky Minch provides an example in ''VideoGame/Mother3''. He's ''nearly'' immortal from all of his time-traveling shenanigans post-''{{EarthBound|1994}}'', but isn't fully immortal and is on the verge of dying. Following his defeat at the hands of Lucas and co., he [[DirtyCoward chickens out]] and hides in the Absolutely Safe Capsule created by [[ScienceHero Dr. Andonuts]]. This provides him with absolute immortality and prevents him from ever being damaged, but the caveat is that [[BlessedWithSuck he can never escape the capsule]]. Granted, he doesn't care, and rubs it in the face of those opposing him, knowing that he'll now live forever. WordOfGod from Creator/ShigesatoItoi states that Porky ended up surviving the [[NaturalEndOfTime Heat Death of the Universe]], and still doesn't care that everything else in existence is dead, taking solace in the fact that he gets to live forever.

* In ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'', the Raiden Shogun's ideal is eternity. She has a difficult time understanding why the ambitions of mortals are valuable, partly because she sees them as minor in the grand scheme of things, but also because she is afraid of change. This is why she enacts the Vision Hunt Decree. [[spoiler: Being defeated by mortals and getting to see for herself what the world is like in the present changes her mind, as she realizes mortal wishes are more meaningful than she thought.]]
* Säid the {{Mummy}} of ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'' takes a very ''relaxed'' view of mortal tragedies; thanks to his centuries of unlife and his career as a businessman, he's detached to the point of callousness, scarcely demonstrating any regret for the casualties of the [[ApocalypseCult Atenist]] uprising. Indeed, Säid's biggest concern is the cost of rebuilding once the Atenists are finally put down, to the point that he's already suggesting using the disaster as a loss leader so his fellow mummies can recoup their losses. [[spoiler: Even his shame over the indirect role he played in the Tokyo Incident is motivated less by remorse for all the people killed as a result of his dealings with the [[PathOfInspiration Morninglight]] and more by a need to erase an embarrassing mistake from his resume.]] In fact, Säid's ''so'' detached that he spends most of his time on the balcony of the abandoned Hotel Wahid rather than among his allies in al-Merayah... and the hotel is infested with ravenous ghouls who have already slaughtered the mortal staff.

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* ''Franchise/DoctorWho'': {{Defied|Trope}}. This trope is the reason why the Doctor always has a companion. This is stated outright in the Runaway Bride when Donna sees the Doctor drown an alien, as she tells him to never go too long without one for this very reason.
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* ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}'': [[spoiler:Qilby]] [[Characters/{{Wakfu}} the Traitor]] has a supernaturally eidetic memory which forces him to perpetually retain all his past lives' memories across his reincarnation cycle, functionally making him eternal. As a result of several millennia of enduring this and knowing it will never stop, [[spoiler:Qilby]] doesn't give much of a damn about anybody's feelings except [[ItsAllAboutMe his own]] anymore. He's willing to callously sacrifice an entire world and all its inhabitants so he can continue selfishly cruising the stars and keep his overloaded brain distracted, even tormenting and trying to kill his extended siblings (knowing they'll only reincarnate with their memories wiped if they die); with the justification that [[StrawNihilist all mortal lifeforms are nothing but passing specks of dust that come and go constantly in the larger universe]].