What business does a psychiatrist have
writing science fiction? Creating future worlds provides an
opportunity to explore how timeless psychological conflicts might
unfold within novel circumstances. While imagining the future draws
on my background in the physical and biological sciences, discovering
how changes in our surroundings might affect our emotions,
idiosyncrasies and relationships intrigues me even more as a social
scientist.
Ray Mettler, one of my protagonists, is
a deeply flawed man who struggles with crippling compulsions and
obsessions, not the least of which is his overwhelming fear of dying.
The extreme measures he takes to prevent death stymie his capacity to
experience pleasure or to live a meaningful life.
Early in The Methuselarity
Transformation, Ray is offered an extraordinary opportunity
to continue to live long after his body has died. In a single stroke,
his prospect of oblivion vanishes forever. How might he change once
the driving force behind his most prominent behaviors no longer
exists? Will those behaviors vanish or will their hold upon him, and
the demons from his past that lie beneath them, remain too strong to
resist?
Our ability to thrive is intricately
entwined with our quest for connectedness with others as well as our
capacity to be alone. Our shared mortality can be both a powerful
force that binds us together and the source of crushing loneliness.
Imagine then how Ray’s newfound immortality might affect his
relationships with those in his life who are still mortal and whom he
will eventually leave behind.
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