Poll: If you could, would you "live forever"?

[CrystalShadow]

Sorry... Had to choose the third option in the poll, because it's just so... Tempting... XD


Anyway, it's true though. It kind of depends what you mean by 'forever'. 10,000 years would be a good start, but I am in a messed up enough headspace often enough that I don't know if I'd cope with actual 'forever'...

Actually... considering the question in the OP...

Eh. Seems like a reasonable trade-off. Though honestly, I'm uncomfortable in my own skin to the point that I don't think I'd want to keep this body for centuries (let alone millenia). - (but with that kind of lifespan, and the kind of technology involved to be able to make someone immortal in this sense anyway, it raises the question of whether you would even need to 'keep' your existing body. Certainly a lot of it would have to get replaced regularly anyway just to keep you alive) - Actually that's an issue too. 'clinical immortality' makes you dependent on regular medical treatments. So... If things go badly you'll die because of lack of such treatments...
The attitudes of the population in general to 'immortals' would likely also factor into how bearable it would be.

As for not having children... Well... That's a tricky one, in principle. In practice I'm incapable of having them anyway, so... That one's easy by default.

I guess it's a toss-up either way. This subject gets a little confusing when you try and deal with the probable realities of how this would work in the real world...

 

[Chaos Isaac]

Yeah, i'd live forever. I mean, it's interesting, and I can still die, but could you imagine the possibilities? It'd be kinda awesome.

Infuriating too, i'd probably be a super villain by year 100.

 

[RedDeadFred]

I wouldn't say yes even if procreation wasn't forfeited.

I couldn't imagine having to watch generations of people I love die over and over again. To me, immortality is a punishment, not a reward.

 

[snowwraith]

I've always thought a good option for immorality would be uploading personalities onto computers. Living in a virtual world where anything is possible and everything is free would essentially be paradise, and the Earth would be cleared ready for each new generation.

Interestingly this was actually done in Greg Bear's duology of Eon and Eternity where a civilisation is travelling along a wormhole in a ship that supports only a limited corporeal crew. To earn the right to exist in the flesh the personality must be exceptional. These "people" live their virtual lives, being born, having children, and even dying in the virtual world. They can apply for corporeal status and, if proven suitable, are granted a body.

 

[snowwraith]

You can read the responses to the threads and can spot the younger participants. That's not a comment to ridicule or belittle them. Merely an observation based on experience. And the crux of the issue is "experience". You see I'm at the other end of the age scale and as I've aged I've been filled up with experiences and memories. What is very apparent is that life is cyclic and everything repeats. Music, fashion, ideas, etc., and after so many repetitions it gets to be very predictable and therefore dull.

How would you feel if you heard a joke and knew the punchline because you'd heard it from a variation years before? How about a movie that you'd seen rehashed a couple times over?

The thing about being younger is that the experience bottle is still mostly empty and therefore the years ahead seem to present a vast array of new experiences to come. Logically you would think that the longer you live the more of those great new experiences you will get. It's only after you start seeing things repeating that you realise immortality isn't quite the cushy number you think it will be.

Of course on the subject of "cushy" there's also the eternal employment that you'll have to be engaged in. Right now retirement is looking really good after working so many years and the idea of all that spare time is really attractive. But if you become immortal, unless you'd got a mounmental stash of dough, you'll have to keep working, and doing something forever will also get dull really quickly.

How many people would be allowed immortality? If people stop dying, but babies are still being born, then there's going to be a population crisis. What if you were a woman and wanted a child, but weren't permitted because the population couldn't handle the strain? This last part is perhaps the biggest issue I see with immortality, and not one politician will tackle that one because noone wants to turn to you and say you can't have a child.

 

[Ten Foot Bunny]

Absolutely no way would I want to live forever. I believe in unlimited possibilities for reincarnation and I'd love to experience a life that didn't start out with many years of extreme abuse. Some days I feel like my paternal "family" fucked up any possibility I'll have of achieving a peaceful existence, especially given the recent slew of studies linking brain injuries to depression and other forms of mental illness that I have to battle on a daily basis.

It's hard enough some days NOT to push the reboot button myself. This pain isn't something that I want to feel for the rest of eternity.

 

[Shiftygiant]

Whilst kinda cool initially, to live forever would be hell. To see your loved ones die, to see your species evolve beyond you, to one day simply not exist because heat death... as well as this, what if I fell down a mineshaft or something? I have increased odds of being trapped forever.

 

[waj9876]

Yes, yes I so would.

I would love to be immortal. And I never planned on reproducing anyway.

And to the people saying they wouldn't want to live forever. Yes you do. Unless you're suicidal you want to live forever. Have you planned when you die? Have you thought about when the perfect time would be? Seventy? Eighty? Ninety? Most people would consider that and think "More." and "As long as possible."

If you become the kind of immortal OP is talking about, you are free to stop at any time. When you've had your fill of eternity and want to get off the ride, you are free to stop at any time you wish. Not to mention other ways one can die other than old age and disease.

 

[Summerstorm]

Of course i would. ONLY I DECIDE WHEN TO DIE.

I planned to live at least 500 years, but i think i could go on a few thousand - depending on how limited my brain is.

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

For sure, yeah. I never want children anyway, so that factor doesn't concern me. Knowing I have limitless time on Earth would stop me from ever thinking I'm wasting it. It'd suck to see my friends and family grow up and perish around me, but I would still be curious as to what happens in the future. And if I ever get bored of life, I can just shoot myself in the head. It isn't an eternity of living.

So yeah, why not?

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I only want one go-round and a chance to find out whether or not we move on or just fade away to darkness. I'm happy with the time I have had so far and while were I to pass on and still be somewhat conscious about it, I'd be sad I didn't get to do a bit more but I wouldn't argue with it whereas if I were to live forever, I'd eventually get bored.
Sure I'd like to see how far we go, if we ever make it to space but there's always the question of if I'm immortal, what happens if humanity ends up killing itself off sooner than I'd like and how bored would I be?
We won't be around forever and neither should I.

 

[tilmoph]

As long as suicide is an option, sure, let's do this. I really don't want children at all, so that's pretty damn cheap. The thing is, I want an out in case society takes a complete shit or life just becomes boring due to a lack of timely infinite fun devices being invented.

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

Not really? I mean, think about it. In a world where no one dies, what then happens to growing old gracefully and retiring from your labours? The thing is that everybdy should have the chance to hang up their hat at one point, but living forever? All that essentially means is that some person can then turn around and say "well, given you're going to live forever and never grow old, then that means you can keep on working from here to eternity."

Which is problematical given that after about a 100 years working for one corporation to the next your life is going to mean diddly squat because there is nothing to analyse it by. One year you consistently got out of bed and you went to work, congrats ... like the 500 years before hand.

It gets to a point where if you still have things like investments in general, it means eventually either everybody has enough to never work, or no one ever does. Think about it. Every person in world lives forever, so that means that eventually every family is going to have more money than God. Unless you change the rules of international finance or everything becomes good old Communism, eventually no one is going to be interested in doing that stuff that actually requires effort.

You know, paving roads, fixing sewers, repairing water pipes, constructing buildings, etc.

So you eliminate being able to invest your money and you go to work credits. Well congrats, then you just have eternal slavery, or a world where diminishing labour participation due to aggregation of personal wealth leads to international hyperinflationary conditions of anything that requires a human in any capacity.

Even if there was some form of 'middle ground' to the problem of money and living forever, what would you do with eternity?

Serious question. Let's say everyone lives forever. What, exactly, would there be except for undying apathy? Let's say all humanity is mintained by AI computers. Everything. Minng, construction, food supply, services, everything. What exactly is the impetus to 'leave a mark' or improve the scope of human knowledge and capabilities of society beyond entertainment and 'maintaining the system'?

Having a life and having a definite death is what keeps people on their toes. It also drives us to demand things like retirement and all that jazz. You know, the cessation of labour. The means to hang up your hat and say "I have lead a productive life, and I mean to ENJOY WHAT REMAINS ..."


Without these basic things, without age, life becomes an endless cycle of use and abuse where there is nothing to look forward to but the potential nice luncheon during your 12+ hour shift at the megacorporation of United World Food Conglomerated.

 

[lunavixen]

In all honesty, I'd have to say no, I don't want to live forever. The idea of living forever, watching all of my friends and family die around me is unappealing, and even if this thing could stop physical degradation, what about mental degradation? Not talking about Dementia or Alzheimer's, I'm talking about the brain being too stockpiled with information to be able to recall information quickly and correctly).

That being said, I'm not against the general increase of longevity in the population as long as it's kept in balance with the total population and the condition of Earth.

 

[Auron225]

What you have offered me is the equivalent of torture in exchange for another helping of torture.

1) I do want to have kids someday and
2) I think living forever is a terrible idea (watching loved ones die, inevitable boredom)

So my answer is absolutely not.

 

[Darth Marsden]

As someone who is terrified of dying, I would do it in a heartbeat, if only so that I would have enough time to make some significant contribution to the world.

 

[Techno Squidgy]

Well, I'd take it, but I'd require a few things first. A personal library. A personal laboratory. Physics grad students to do my bidding. My own personal space launch complex and/or spaceport. Alternatively, merely the opportunities to acquire such things during my immortality.

I'd also need the ability to "opt-out" when/if I felt my work was done.

There are great mysteries of the universe to figure out, and endless opportunities to explore.

Maybe I'd found my own school, teaching the important subjects required for a fundamental understanding of the universe, like Science, Mathematics, and Heavy Metal.

 

[Angelous Wang]

Yes, because with your senario you can live as long as you want, do what you want, then just kill yourself, when you are finally ready.

Of course that won't work for people who belevie in suicide = hell, but if you don't beleive in such things like me its completely fine. Especially if all you loved ones have already gone.

 

[Luminous_Umbra]

I assume adoption would be fine, given that only procreation is forbidden. With that in mind, I would probably say yes. It's not the most ideal form of immortality, but it's up there.

Besides, I'm not one for boredom or ennui. Quite the opposite honestly.

 

[Jandau]

Yes, I would. I'd die eventually - some disease or accident would finish me off at some point. But I'd very much enjoy life without the specter of imminent mortality on my shoulder.