04-23-2003, 11:37 PM
I agree with Wha?... simply too much knowledge could be painful in a way. Read the Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson (Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars)... basically these scientists are the lead terraformers of Mars, and while they are there, they use new treatments that extend their lives... so some of them get over 200 years old, and they have so much knowledge, so many memories, it becomes a problem. Sometimes they just forget things, but it gets so bad that many of them just die without any warning. There's only so much one can handle....