Do you want immortality?

If you ask people, I think most of them would like to live a little while longer irrespectively how old they are. Why want to die?
To exist must always be better than to not exist. And I assume our technological development will soon make eternal life possible, and we should also be able to upgrade ourselves so that we won't define us as humans in the future. Whith endless development why should we get bored?
 
Immortality. Inability to die.

Forget procreation. You can't have kids, because they don't die.

Forget promotion, because the boss never dies either.

Forget progress, because the folks at the top see no reason to change.

Only you can't forget. Anything. Because the little grey cells are immortal too.

Or are we all assuming immortality applies only to us?

Imagine immortality in a world of mortals and dwell for a moment on the horror of it. Only a moment. Imagine dwelling on it forever.

No. Soddit. I WANT to die.

But not this day.
 
"Forget procreation. You can't have kids, because they don't die."
Of course you can. It's gonna be a little bit crowded down here on earth though, so we better expand a bit, there's the moon, mars, and thousands of other places in the solar system and other places in the galaxy. Just as we explored earth it's in our nature to continue to explore the universe.

"Forget promotion, because the boss never dies either."
Just as the labor market has developed it will continue to do so, creating new jobs and new branches and new markets. And you could have many different careers during your thousands of years of life or longer.

"Forget progress, because the folks at the top see no reason to change."
Yes, but there will always be competition, forcing change and progress.

I think you have a very pessimistic view on humanity and humans. Why would we stop to grow and develop just because we wouldn't die?
 
#1: so your position is, that posting on jref throughout immortality would be boring. can you project what year posting on jref and/or attending TAM64 will become boring?
 
Seb1- I have a very pessimistic view of immortality. My view of humanity is irrelevant.
Remember that Paul's question is not about a hypothetical future where all problems have been solved and everything is possible. It's about reality.
If nobody ever dies, (even of starvation), we would have maybe one generation to discover the energy and propulsion systems we need to get off Earth en masse, before increasing demand stripped the world of usable energy sources and trapped us here forever, probably locked in an everlasting and unwinnable war over dwindling resources.

Immortality might mean we could solve all such problems in time, but it does not give us the time.Nor would it make us more cooperative.Any idea how fast 6 billion humans could expand to fill all the real estate in the solar system if none of them died?
You think everyone would be able to maintain a constantly rising standard of living?
What about the ones who don't get off Earth soon? What when all the oil is gone, the coal, the clean water, the land- and more people just keep being born, none of whom ever die?
Sheesh. Give it a minute's thought. And thank your lucky stars for the Grim Reaper.
 
Of course immortality would mean enourmus difficulties, if it was available to everyone. And I don't think our nature would change just because we were immortal. There would still be wars and poverty, uneven distribution of wealth.
I just see no reason it would mean the stop of development.
And as for myself, I would very much remain young, youthful and immortal, no matter the long term consequences.
I think the technological development could mean we could perhaps escape the boundaries of our mortal bodies which also would mean we could live in cyberspace, consuming virtually no energy, and also in a few million years have spread across the galaxy.
But for the short term, I agree immortality would result in enormous difficulties..
 
Seb1 said:
There would still be wars and poverty, uneven distribution of wealth.
Click to expand...

Socialism will have to be stamped out, then. You don't want politicians getting in the way of you spending the next hundred years growing trees on your plot of land and building your own awesome house.

No, seriously. What's it for? You can't starve to death. No one can kill you -- perhaps no one can even cause you physical pain. If someone locks you up in a titanium box, you can keep pounding at the door until you escape. When you don't have to worry about being injured or killed, you can struggle arbitrarily hard until the attacker just gives up, bored, and goes away. Thus slaves are freed.

People will not be able to steal your house since you can just keep fighting back until they get tired and leave, just wanting some peace. So, too, if the tax collector comes. No police can put you in jail, or if they did, keep you there. No more extortion of money from you because they cannot physically extend the claw of control over you anymore.

Yeah, I'll take that world over this one, thanks.
 
Immortality? Nay.

I'd like a longer life, yes, but I'd like it to be much longer during my youth, and really short once I get to "old age." Let me be beautiful and full of energy for 500 or 1000 years, and then kill me off within one year with a fatal heart attack or stroke--something quick, and to me, painless.
 
I'd decline immortality, but settle for a prolonged life span (about a thousand,, maybe two thousand years..) and quasi-eternal youth for that time. =) What's the fun in living without staying active or living with muddled mind?
 
A few hundred years living off pizza, Big Macs, greasy cheeseburgers, and pave-a-poivre and playing all day, well, I wouldn't mind a few lifetimes of that.

Then we can talk about doing something worthwhile with our time.

Wouldn't it suck if it turns out this reality is one where you're supposed to play around and have a good time? If I were religious, upon death, the first thing I'd do is ask for my money back. So, too, if I were a political worry-wart of any persuasion.
 
I don't think humans are equipped to contemplate immortality. The mind just doesn't grasp infinity. I can perhaps imagine living for 500 years. 500 is a number I can grasp. But ten million years? ... It's just beyond comprehension.
 
Almo said:
I don't think humans are equipped to contemplate immortality. The mind just doesn't grasp infinity. I can perhaps imagine living for 500 years. 500 is a number I can grasp. But ten million years? ... It's just beyond comprehension.
Click to expand...

By the time you have watched Casablanca for the 10 millionth time or sat through The Sound of Music twice maybe immortality would lose its appeal.
 
Almo said:
I don't think humans are equipped to contemplate immortality. The mind just doesn't grasp infinity. I can perhaps imagine living for 500 years. 500 is a number I can grasp. But ten million years? ... It's just beyond comprehension.
Click to expand...
Life is very different now than it was 500 years ago. My guess is that it will be even more different 500 years from now. And I'd be surprised if in 5000 years life is anything like it is now. I think by then it would be comprehensible.
 
Dcdrac said:
By the time you have watched Casablanca for the 10 millionth time or sat through The Sound of Music twice maybe immortality would lose its appeal.
Click to expand...
I don't understand the bored argument. I wish I could have been born 2000 years ago and seen everything that has happened since then. And things are only changing faster now. I don't think I'll get the chance, but I'd be first in line to volunteer for immortality.

It's hard for me to imagine not wanting immortality. It reminds me when mobile phones were new and I kept meeting people who would say, "you'll never catch me with one of those things, they're too invasive." And now all of those people have mobile phones and wouldn't know how to live without them. I think as soon as immortality is an option, dying will go out of fashion pretty quick.
 
Imaginative said:
If imortality became a reality, would Religion die out ?
Click to expand...
It'd be hard to imagine that faith-based religion wouldn't die out -- at least after a while. Without the promise of rewards in the afterlife, I think faith-based religions would lose most of their pull.

I keep saying faith-based, because I'd like to see community belief systems that offer some of the benefits of religion rise in popularity without depending on faith or irrational thought.
 
I think immortality would be more appealing if only I, or a limited amount of people had it. If EVERYONE had it, it WOULD get boring, there would be little social change, no new ideas, ect. But I'd love the opportunity to see how humanity will evolve (or not) and to explore everything there is to explore.

Probably, by the time you were done exploring all that could be explored, you'd have forgotten what happened in the beginning, so you could just start all over again. :)
 
Paul C. Anagnostopoulos said:
So, what do you think? Immortality? Or death?

~~ Paul
Click to expand...

Immortality,
It's more risk and more fun, i want to see an exploding sun.
Even if eternal madness is the price.

Carn

And there's always the possibility to kill some time by insulting every living being - in alphabetical order.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom