Mark and I were talking last night, and, after reading to each other for a while, the conversation turned somewhat introspective and philosophical. He was sharing with me about this species that lives for millennia. They are a peaceful species, and have difficulty understanding humans tendency to be violent. The question arose as to whether humans would be less violent if they lived longer, and we bandied it back and forth for a while. In the end, we agreed that if we lived a thousand years, we too would be less violent. If the old are the ones with the most power, waiting until you are 800 or so would make you very wise indeed. Also, there would be more to do with your life if you had the assurance of time. Humans are on this planet for so short of a time span, it is easy to devalue a few years here or there.

Dammit, I love talking with him.