Can People Be Immortal?

I think it's possible, but not very unlikely. If you have the ability to stop your life timespan or obtain the power to live forever, then I believe that you can live forever. But live forever or not, when we die, we will live forever in the afterlife.

 

in a way it has been acomplished if you read the bible thogh it may have only been in the new testament i dont remember that well a few of crists aposels wher granted by him eternal life as their reguest to him

 

in the future then it's possible, but it would lead to world problems like overcrowding and less food and water, if it were to happen it means that in the future, there would be no possiblity of having children

 

ah that is true infact i would in extension like to add to my previous post and say that givin the oprotunity to live forever on earth i would decline as i have an eternal life waiting for me in one of the three kingdoms of god. also in a reply to a well thoght out comment by AngelsNeedFlight living forever would indeed cause economic problems as well as deprive our unborn brothers and sister in heaven of establishing bodies ad families of their own now im gonna leve cause its 3:20am here and im only thirteen



Cya everyone

 

Yes, we can be immortal.

But at what price? Free, or Bill Gates' retirement fund? Would anyone be allowed it? What about criminals in jail for life?

The question is who would get it. Could any old person get it, or would I have to buy it?

Is it right to keep people alive with it if they do not want it? Would taking someone off it be considered homocide?

These are just some ethical questionings.

If we gain immortality, I feel that heated debate will erupt. No reason not to try to get it, but the question of immortality is far too complex for one thread. It almost needs its own section.

 

Religious texts can't be used as valid evidence in a discussion such as this. I'm a Christian myself, but the Bible doesn't have any proof to any of the supernatural feats it tells of (hence why it's called faith). So unless some one has proof these men are still alive to this day, then that claim doesn't have validity in this discussion.

 

I did say I would like relegious points of views on this, if their is something from the bible or other holy books, it should be allowed. I mean I did only say 'can humans achieve immortality?' well close to the same line, but I didn't just mean biologically, I also meant spiritually and so on.

 

There are many different kinds of immortality. For example, we live on as memories in other people (as corny as it sounds >_>). We are all just information really. We exist as what other peoples senses tell them that is there, as well as what our senses tell us. Of course it does go beyond that, with our consciousness and sapience.

Really it all depends on what level of immortality you are looking for, or are willing to accept. The Romans are immortal, their empire died long ago and yet we still all know who they were and many of their feats (both good and bad).

There is also the fact that dying makes life special. If we lived forever life would lose what little meaning it has. There would be no constraints and nothing to move us forward and progress as both individuals and race as a whole.

As for biological immortality, people are living longer all the time and it is already being seen as a bad thing. Massive increases in pension costs, debilitating diseases and all the costs that involves as well as the general loss of space. Unless we were willing (as an entire race) to basically stop having children, we could not afford to be immortal.

Children or immortality?

Progression or perpetuity?

 

Oh, sorry didn't see that ^_^. Well in that case, I suppose it can be used somewhat.

 

I mean, another way people can be technically immortal is by leaving an autobiography behind, and as long as their story lives so do they, and if people always remember someone, then they will live as long as they are remembered.
It's just how you see the question.

 

hmm... yes, if you put it like that then people like elvis presley are immortal, thought their bodies are long gone from this earth.

I think if we ever acheived a way to become immortal then i agree with pika. Huge arguments would break out, and the people to get immortality would be the people we DON'T want to live forever, such as spoilt rich celebrities etc.

Hmm.. *deep in thought*... one day i think we will find the secret to immortality, but the scientists will keep it a secret, in anticipation of how the human race will react.

 

Reminds me of the elves from lord of the rings o:

...Anywho, when you put it that way it does sound possible. I mean, who knows what humans could evolve into in a couple million years?

 

well, i read this in a book one time and i liked the concept very throughly. to live forever, all you have to do is to write a book featuring characters from your life. cuz then whenever the book is read, the characters sort of come to life and they sure feel like they are alive when you read the book. i know, this might sound stupid to some people but i liked it.

 

I'm sorry if you are non-christian but I believe we are immortal already.

I mean, sure after a while our body stops working and we 'die' but we have our eternal life with God. Besides, It would end up being really boring living forever. So in faith, people can be immortal but I think it would eventually be boring to be physically immortal anyway

 

I think you can become immortal through the method surpressing the degeneration
of the organs and white blood cells in the body.With the amount of white bloods cells in the body
at a very old age it would mean that you would have immunity to disease and the organs would
be able to process alot more blood,enzymes,etc so that you would be able to move and do the things
you could do when your younger.You would be alot more hydrated so your skin wouldn't bet
wrinkles.You would remain young and healthy forever, unless you got in an accident of course.Absolute immortality is Virtually impossible.

 

Would have sure been nice for someone to have responded to my post. >_>

Anyway, to the person a few posts up. You say immortal physical life would probably get boring, yet you also express enthusiasm towards a life with God in Heaven.

Why would an eternal life with God be more exciting than eternity of physical life on Earth?

 

God prohibited that so taht people couldn't live foreever and cause massive chaos. It's like saying that Adolfo Hitler, Sadam Josein and Osama Binladen are immortal and will cause about 99 world wars... GOD I SOUNDED LIKE A METAL GEAR SOLID GAME!

 

Metal gear solid shows us alot more than just fictionIt does have points and morals.

I think that immortality would just be endless suffering.A limit is put on our life span for a reason because death is inavoidable.A person must except death at some point.I have excepted it and i'm 15 but some never except death until their death bed.The reason behind death is that after awhile your life has been done and you can't do anything.The reason death is feared is because no one understands what happens when your dead.Death is another frontier and tieing yourself to life when there is so much more is little short of narrow mindedness and blissful ignorance.

 

The way I see it imortality isn't just eternal of life but being remembered forever is also immortality (in a way)

 

You do raise some important questions. While we could hope any 'life prolonging' techniques would be able to be received by anyone, the rich are often the ones who have access to the best stuff. I don't think people would stand for that for too long though.

Also, we'd have to redesign the way people think and realize that our culture would have to change some things around whether we could have life extended to 200 years or past that. We would have to think about how many offspring people could have and other such things, as well as certainly thinking of the impact on the world and becoming a lot more used to not using things that harm our atmosphere etc.

Things like the ethical debate of people not being entitled to it would also be up for debate. Does someone want a person who is mentally severely handicapped to be stuck like that? What about criminals who are serial killers and repeat rapists etc? It would probably be an issue to seriously ponder.

However, other than people who are actually very religious and insist that there's an afterlife where you get to live forever in some Heaven of some sort, I think most people would actually like to have a prolonged life or at least one where aging would become not so much an issue to daily life and progression of years. Aging has a lot of negatives with it because the body and mind can break down over time and removing the problem or alleviating it would certainly let people have happier lives without so many trips to the doctor all the time. Also, people might feel better about themselves physically and there are many positives to it in that regard.

This is a good point and for those who believe though, they are going to say it is because God wills it and it is an existence without a mortal body that can feel pain and aging etc. People that believe in Heaven are vesting in the hopeful fact that they transcend into greater beings that do not know age, disease, famine, etc which are the conditions of a life on earth they are supposed to endure to get there.

Since I don't really see no proof that there's a Heaven or God or anything as of yet, I would be inclined to believe we should be helping ourselves in this life we have rather than waiting for promises that only believers insist they can verify. In the end though, it should be a choice for a person to have the option or not so if people don't want it, they shouldn't stand in the way of others who do. However, I suspect that if a way is found to extend life, we will have a war on our hands because of people that will have a hard time with it and feel that it is corrupting people. There are two sides to the issue of course, and if I were a believer, I too would ask 'why would someone want this when they can leave earth and be happy for eternity in Heaven where there's no strife?' As I would believe in personal choice though, I wouldn't be abhorred. Some militant sorts though very well would.

God didn't prohibit it because it would cause mass chaos. The reason men and women are 'mortal' is because Adam and Eve did their crime of eating the forbidden fruit and God booted them out of Eden and made them mortal. He also made Eve suffer childbirth and put her subservient to Adam and all women would suffer etc. That is the reason declared in the Bible for it and well...I've never been a fan of the story myself. Also, ...not to be **** here but it's Adolf Hitler, Sadam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden. If people came around that were that despotic, whether long lived, immortal or not, they can still be killed by conventional means. It's not like they've suddenly become bullet proof.