Death Is Cheap: Because Death Is Not Permanent, obviously.
Unless you’re the one who inflicts it, in which case there are instrumentalities designed to ensure that that death was very, very expensive for you.
(Permadeath, now – that’s not cheap.)
The Associated Worlds
…building civilizations with my space elves in space.
Good heavens. A (small) point of agreement between the Eldrae and Eve Online.
Except in EVE, there’s no-one out there making your death more expensive for other people…
(Also, Imperial insurance companies are smart enough not to make repeated self-destruction a profitable pastime… š )
Though I’d imagine that, the prevailing technologies and attitudes being what they are, someone has found a way to make “repeated self-destruction” profitable (for given values of “profitable,” from certain perspectives) through other channels.
In particular, I’m imagining that there exists something that would appear to us as the product of a foursome between Mythbusters, Jackass, ancient Roman blood sports, and Japanese game shows; and that, while it might not be the Imperials’ cuppa tea, it has to have some popularity in the wider Associated Worlds.
Truly, the universe’s supply of bad taste is limitless.
For now.
You have read “The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect”, yes?
Sadly no, but I have read far too much Harlan Ellison than is healthy for me.