Our lives are about development, mutation and the possibility of change; that is almost a definition of what life is: change... If you disable change, if you effectively stop time, if you prevent the possibility of the alteration of an individual's circumstances - and that must include at least the possibility that they alter for the worse - then you don't have life after death; you just have death.
In Iain M. Banks' perspective, life intrinsically revolves around growth, evolution, and the potential for change, which he posits as a fundamental aspect of existence. He suggests that if one were to halt change and freeze time, it would deny the essence of life. Life is characterized not just by stability, but also by the capacity for circumstances to evolve, whether for better or worse.
By preventing change, Banks argues, we essentially eliminate the concept of life after death. Instead of experiencing a continued existence filled with growth and adaptation, one would merely encounter stagnation. The nuance of living, therefore, lies in embracing transformation, as it embodies the very definition of being alive, rather than simply existing without progression.
