But again, that thought of emptiness comes from negative thoughts. Being content in what you've done and the life you've lead is not the same thing. In this scenario, you're not giving up on life, but simply satisfied with the amount of experiences they've had and don't feel the need to live longer for its own sake. Why force someone to live longer than they want?The thing is depression isn't always anger or sadness, it's emptiness that you can believe there's nothing else left for you in this world. That you no longer belong here. I've been through it, maybe you have too. IDK
From what you're expounding, existence by its very nature is better than non-existence, no matter the circumstances. Do you believe that someone who is living in pain, whether it's physical or mental, should be forced to live, even if they will never escape that pain? They should be forced to live in that pain forever? Or do they have the right to choose to end it? I think we all should have the right to choose, to have agency over our lives.
True, but just like real life, we all go at different times. We need to get over the thought that the ending of life is the worst possible thing to happen, in particular in this instance. We need to start to celebrate the life we do have, and lean into the fact that yes, we might have lost someone dear to us, yet their memory will live on in those who are left behind.You say the decision wouldn't be made straight away but not everyone would make the decision at the same time and that makes it even more fucked up for the people who don't join you. There's not a universal amount of time when it's become nice to go through with it. Hopefully you're right and they do something more tasteful and inspiring in the end besides just walking to their ends.
We can still celebrate who they were. We can still honor their accomplishments after they're gone. We can still continue their traditions and the good works they left for us can still be treasured and disseminated to everyone.
Getting back to this show, with this change, essentially The Good Place will be closer to earth in that life can be finite, but only at the time of your own choosing. This will give the time you have more meaning, the same as it is on earth.
And how would it be substantially different from just wiping their memories of being in The Good Place, as far as loved ones are concerned? They still would've lost a substantial amount of memories they share, as most likely they would've been together in The Good Place longer than their time on earth. You would, in essence, be living with someone who has Parkinson's. Do you want to have to make new memories from scratch with your wife every few hundred years? Wouldn't that get tiring after a while? Even reincarnation could get tiring after a few millennia, especially if you are made to recall past lives after a point.
So I say again, we are thinking too short-term. After so much time, you would get bored of doing the same thing. Having the option to end it all, permanently, makes sense.