If you could live forever, would you?

[adarrow2]

With the recent advancements in genetics, it may be possible in the not too distant future to double, triple or even live forever. The question I have for you is, if you would live forever, as you are now would you? Why or why not?

What about if you could turn back the hands of time genetically to a younger or ahead to an older age and remain biologically in tact at that age forever would you? Why or why not?

NOTE: In this hypothetical situation, you can still die by accidental death, by a terminal illnesses or voluntarily terminate your life.

 

[NeutronStar]

With the recent advancements in genetics, it may be possible in the not too distant future to double, triple or even live forever. The question I have for you is, if you would live forever, as you are now would you? Why or why not?

What about if you could turn back the hands of time genetically to a younger or ahead to an older age and remain biologically in tact at that age forever would you? Why or why not?

NOTE: In this hypothetical situation, you can still die by accidental death, by a terminal illnesses or voluntarily terminate your life.

I'd take the deal. Being 55 right now I wouldn't mind turning my biological clock back to about 35. I think I was at my peak at about 35 personally.

The second thing is that option for voluntary termination. I'd only want the extended life as long as I could choose to end it at any time with respect. I'd also like to have medical assistance to end it in a peaecful way should I ever decide to do that.

Without that option to respectfully end it I would decline the initial offer to extend it.

 

[phrontist]

Yes.

It's a big world, and its constantly changing, so you can never know everything, do everything, be everything, but if you could live forever you'd constantly be fighting the good fight. Everytime you learn something, you realize how much more there is to learn, and I doubt that changes as you get older. I would not need the option to terminate voluntarily.

 

[QI]

No

I turned around to my father and Stated that I had forgoten more than I would ever know. I was 13 years old.

The Idea of living forever does not appeal in the slightest as it would still be this life I lead. For me, it would be better to start again.

 

[Kerrie]

I would dig it so long as I didn't have to work too hard to maintain my living expenses...

 

[3mpathy]

Yes.

I only would do it to get an extended life though. eventually i probably would say you know what i have had my more than fair share it is time to take my bow and leave.without that option for voluntary termination NO! i don't like things with never in them and never being able to die would be a bad thing even if it took 9999999999 years for you to realize it.

 

[abitofnothingleft]

i wouldn't live forever...think of all the turmoil you'd cause. people would think you're either god or the devil, they would get scared...people are always afraid of what they don't understand.

 

[yxgao]

Yes... with that option (otherwise no)

YES
Well, given that option that I can choose to die whenever I like, then YES.
There are so many things in the future I would like to be alive for, so I would definitely take the deal.

Although I would live as I am now, I would prefer to genetically live at a younger age (in the teens). I'd like to look young and have a lot of energy rather than being older in the thirties or twenties.

 

[lordinfamous]

yes i would want to choose to live forever even without the option to self terminate my life. I don't need reason other than too LIVE.

 

[sweethart]

I don't think I'd want to live forever... I mean, who would want to hang around until who knows when, attend all their loved ones' funerals, watch as the world slowly falls apart... it's a frightening thought, to live forever. wouldn't you get tired of history repeating itself with wars over the same things over and over again? and as mentioned above, people would eventually begin to suspect that you are some form of supernatural and would begin to fear you... the novel "interview with the vampire" comes to mind

 

[jammieg]

I would choose a longer lifespan anyway, but more importantly I wonder how it would change the way people look at the world and each other...
Going back to college at 83 might be fairly young after awhile...
I suspect some people aren't going to want to, they've had enough of having enough after 10 years let alone 1000, but then I'll bet it would be a big evolutionary hurdle to cross, can people really learn to keep their brain young though, that's the real quesiton, without a young mind begetting a young brain a young body isn't going to make much difference, there was this guy who lived to be like 120 in asia somewhere and he took a walk everyday, do you think he ever got bored of seeing the same thing over and over, or did he not see the same thing everyday? Do you think sometimes people can will themselves to die? If so can they will themselves to live a bit longer too?
I wonder how long it will be until the populace realize how close we are and the investment money starts rolling in like a tidal wave, it's almost as absurd a dream as putting a man on the moon too.

 

[cyby]

I may take a longer lifespan, and a longer youth.. but never immortality in that respect.

Maybe I'm just being my natural pessimist self, but I don't like this world I'm in...

 

[motai]

Im not sure if I want to live forever. As others have pointed out all of my loved ones will die within my infinite lifespan, thus causing more strife than anything else. What if humanity were to perish yet you still were able to live forever? That would be an awfully lonely world.

Also with the current models, the sun will inevitably extinguish itself and the universe may contract on itself. So either the immortal person would freeze (or live in a dark world alone) or be torn to shreds as the universe systematically crunches everything into atoms.

 

[loseyourname]

There are examples of bacterial spores that are over 250,000,000 years old. You should ask them what it's like.

 

[TheDonk]

"people would eventually begin to suspect that you are some form of supernatural and would begin to fear you" ~ 2 people said this so far
For those who said this: You would want to die over this? Is it because you think you're making other people sad or you want to kill yourself over embaracement? I don't get why this of all reasons is something you'd say against living forever.

Your loved ones would die but you would get over it. You have quite a long time. Plus you could meet new people and get very good at meeting new people. I would still be hesitant to live forever without the option of death because who knows what I'm going to learn which might make me want to die.

 

[chound]

I definitely wood. We can see alla the new tech that man invents and share our experiences

 

[Philocrat]

With the recent advancements in genetics, it may be possible in the not too distant future to double, triple or even live forever. The question I have for you is, if you would live forever, as you are now would you? Why or why not?

What about if you could turn back the hands of time genetically to a younger or ahead to an older age and remain biologically in tact at that age forever would you? Why or why not?

NOTE: In this hypothetical situation, you can still die by accidental death, by a terminal illnesses or voluntarily terminate your life.

Your must first distinguish betweein two kinds of PERFECTION:

1) WEAK PERFECTION

This means the ability to physically progress (both in structure and in function) to a point where you can live for a very long period of time without dieing, however, without completely eliminating all the menas by which the human beings kick the bucket or die. Perhaps, genetically as you suggested, but the fact remains that you can still die by whatever other means that have not been scientifically taken care of. So, weak human perfection never completley eliminates all the means by which we die.

2) STRONG PERFECTION

Strong perfection is simply IMMORTALITY in the strongest sense of the term, and this is the type that I advocate and very much desire in my entire philosophy. If you follow my postings in this PF, you should see it on display everywhere there. So whenever I use the term perfection in my responses to people's postings you know straight away that I am talking about immortality in the strongest sense of the word. This is simply the ability for human beings to finally survive physical destruction via scientific elimination of all the means by which human beings die (fire, heavy weights, knife and gun wounds on our frigile bodies, diseases of all kinds, poisons, WMDs, natural disasters of all kinds, such as the Asian Earthquakes few days ago, etc.)

Hence, the project of survival of the human race is now by far the most important project in the whole wide world. We may pretend to be emotionally, intllectually or physically stronger than other people, and be fearless of death, behind closed doors and in the bottom of our hearts, the fact remains that we all desire everlasting life, if not for us, at least for the luckiest future generations.

IMPORTANT: We must not be selfish and stupid about this project. Most imortantly, we must not say because our own generation now may not live to witness the dream of immortality fully scientifically realized, therefore we must act so carelessly so as to completely deny our future generations the opportinuity for this dream. We must conduct ourselves in a manner that permits this dream to be fully achieved now or later in future.

 

[houserichichi]

If you mean to extend life by simply rolling back one's biological clock then sure, but I most definitely wouldn't want to live forever. Obviously the longer one's lifespan the greater the risk of cancers and disease. That's not something a proverbial biological clock can prevent. There's always the threat of war, natural disaster, or any of the myriad of ways humans can perish. If, for whatever reason one were able to get off the planet and into deep space and live there alone (and somehow happily) forever I still wouldn't do it. Current observations have the universe expanding indefinitely which means that eventually everything will cool down further until the universe is cold and barren.

I'd like to take a glimpse into the distant future, but I don't think I'd like to try living through till then. Humanity scares me at the current moment.

Besides, what's so wrong with passing away?

 

[Cosmo16]

No

My answer is a resounding NO! I think that living would begin to tire on you. Everyone you loved would be gone. While I wouldn'y mind livew for 5 or 6 centuries. I wouldn't want to live much past that. I am deeply realigious and would like to go to heaven at one point.

 

[Dayle Record]

I think that I am in the process of living forever.

 

[Philocrat]

I think that I am in the process of living forever.

Well done, Dayle...who in his or her right mind doesn't!

 

[BigStelly]

No

Man i would get bored of this life after a while and I would desire to find out what's on the other side, though i have my own personal beliefs i want to see if I am right or not.

 

[mrjeffy321]

I think the people choosing to live forever don't quite understant the idea of forever.
Forever is an awefull long time, when you choose to live forever, you are maiing a very long commitment. The obvious is that you'll outlive your family/friends, but then you outlive everything (eventually all life on Earth must end, the sun dies, humans must move or die, and eventually there will be no where left to move to), eventually, everything in the universe will die out, but you remain. a single person, cannot do much without the help of others (to grow/make/.. food/anything else you ever would want to use in an eternity of life). Then the universe will either collapse or expand forever, you'll get awefull hot (eventually being crushed into a singularity), or cold/dark, and there is no end, forever!
forever is scary when you look past the first hundred years, and into the long term, you need to have an escape clause, which some people said they wouldn't need to make their decision.

 

[learningphysics]

No

Man i would get bored of this life after a while and I would desire to find out what's on the other side, though i have my own personal beliefs i want to see if I am right or not.

Ah... but the question was about living forever... not about what form your life takes... you still want to live on the other side... so you want your life to continue in some form.

Suppose the options were living forever here or a finite life with annihilation when the life here ends... Then what would you choose?

 

[GeD]

It was said in the original post, that you could die through terminal illnesses, accidents, and even voluntary termination. Thus, it is still a mortal life - only it can be extended endlessly.

I find it funny that people are so afraid of: "what might happen - the fear of the unknown", or "the pain", or "they might think I'm the devil and make wars over me". All, and I might as well just say it - stupid reasons not to take an amazing deal. This is life, a one time deal. It is not some kind of game, that you play for 77 years before you go back to some playpen in heaven. Live it if you can, for 300 or 3000 years or even until the universe starts to cave in on itself. In my opinion, anyone who says no to such a "no cost" opportunity, is severely misunderstanding or downplaying the importance of life. It is not like you have to sacrifice your firstborn or something, and you do not decay in intellect either. This is strictly a choice of survival or death.

 

[cronxeh]

If I could live forever, I'd build a spaceship, pack it with essential supplies and equipment to stay alive forever in the universe, and head towards the unknown in hopes of discovering other civilizations

 

[Philocrat]

If I could live forever, I'd build a spaceship, pack it with essential supplies and equipment to stay alive forever in the universe, and head towards the unknown in hopes of discovering other civilizations

Now you are talking...that's more like it! It was more that well overdue that someone said something concrete. Uptimum overdrive...and there is no looking back. Keep everything on schedule and on course!

 

[BigStelly]

Ah... but the question was about living forever... not about what form your life takes... you still want to live on the other side... so you want your life to continue in some form.

Suppose the options were living forever here or a finite life with annihilation when the life here ends... Then what would you choose?

Yeah OK i see what you are saying on this one, with those conditions set( and only with those conditions) I would not mind living forever quite so much. But it would still get boring, however if its that or cold oblivion id pick immortality.

 

[selfAdjoint]

The thing is, suppose you have been given immortality. So on any given day, say after a google ($$10^{100}$$) years, you find yourself terribly bored. DO you kill yourself? I think some people do that after only 30 years! So it's an individual quirk, and not a philosophical question at all.

 

[learningphysics]

Boredom is a psychological condition. There's no reason to think it can't be eliminated or at least controlled in the future.

 

[K.J.Healey]

Are we assuming that only WE are allwoed to live forever (not family and friends and others)?
If so, then I believe it would be completely selfish to not accept immortality. The sheer amount of time you would have available would allow you to amalgamate so much information, you would be able to be an expert in every field. And with this knowledge and assuming you don't lose all creativity, you could be a leading source of new discovery to help the human race. You would have such a complete understanding of everything, that your insight woudl be priceless.

I imagine it might get boring or repetitive, but that's a small price for the value you would be to everyone else.

 

[Bartholomew]

Of course, how many people would kill themselves if they knew they could live forever if they didn't kill themselves? Not many, I think.

 

[GeD]

Not necessarily. For some (like nihilists), if they believed that there is no meaning to life (or cannot be had), then it is better to simply die (or offer no resistance to death).

Also, for idealists, a life full of sufferings will be too much, and would rather end life than to feel anymore pain.

 

[Bartholomew]

Do you believe that philosophical nihilists and idealists make up the majority of suicides?

 

[GeD]

I can see a big percentage of the people who commit suicide as having nihilist and idealist tendencies (and suiciding because of it), but not necessarily that they're "philosophical nihilists".