Immortality~

After reading some threads in here, I had a question in my mind, if there ever was a way for you to become immortal (I am not suggesting that there currently is) would you take it? Would you want and choose everlasting life?

On the one hand, it would be great to be able to do everything I want to accomplish, but to see everyone I loved growing older and seeing them die whilst I would be left to carry on. Is the price worth it?

I myself wouldn't choose it. You?​

 

I would like to live until I could live no more. I mean, until I had nothing left to do. After that life would lose all purpose and meaning =/ (not that it has much to begin with >_> apart from what we create for ourselves of course, gah getting side-tracked >_>') Also, if I would be guaranteed good mental and physical health, there is no point in living if you are in constant pain or unable to move or communicate with the outside world.

Also the part about losing everything and everyone you hold dear, that would suck big time.

I think the best way to live would be outside time. Like being able to see all of time, experiencing all of time at once. Our experience of existence is limited to a minute slice of time, cramps your comprehension >_>.

 

Well, I would if it would be like in the first Potter that you need to drink some drink to remain immortal as it'll kinda let you to end your life whenever you want...
By not drinking it.. That way, yes I would take it. But any other way? No, I wouldn't.

 

Hmm I see your point, but how the heck could you ever complete everything you want to do? There is so much I want to do, and so much I want to see, I think that our mortality is what helps us to make the choices we do. We know that we wont ever have a chance to do everything, so we have to decide what is the most important. If we did have the time and means to do everything, then wouldn't that make everything count for less? Like if you knew you could do it, then it wouldn't be as much of an achievement.

Again, sorry but I don't like the thought of that. when we die shouldn't realistically be our choice, it is what makes us appreciate life, knowing that it could be over at any second. If you knew exactly when it was going to end? I prefer not knowing. ​

 

no i wouldn't.

seeing many loved ones lives wither away would definitly cause some serious depression, which would most likely result in desiring death, and learning you can't die would make you suffer even more, wanting death more and more each time that cycle repeats itself until you can no longer handle it and you go insane.

 

i would only do it if other people do it with me. i just wouldn't be able to take the fact that everyone i loved is dead. i would be alone forever, becuz i seriously doubt an old man would be very social in his old age.

 

No I wouldnt then I will live longer then everyone who I love and then be lony and there will be no reason to live, it is no\ice and alll but just no

 

I just thought of something, by immortal do you mean not affected by age or disease, or do you mean indestructable? Or just generally unable to die?

 

That is exactly it! I couldn't cope losing everyone I loved.

I agree with what you are saying, but even if you had some people with you, you would still have to watch everyone else you have ever known die and fade.

Again the price is too much ^^ I know exactly what you mean.

Unable to die, you would still grow old, you just wouldn't die.​

 

Argh no way then, the problem with growing old is the crippling effects of age >.<. If I could stay 20 something then maybe but not if age actually affected me D:

 

So if you could stay young and in good health you would be willing to watch those you love grow old and die? What if you fell in love? Would you be happy to let her/him grow old without you? ​

 

Immortality has it's good and bad sides. Personally, I think if Adam and Eve were to eat from the tree of life and gain immortality (sry atheists), the Earth would become way too populated by now.

 

Hence why I said maybe lol. It would be painful, but life is painful. No, I wouldn't be able to handle that. There goes immortality >_>

 

But then it would look really weird once you got to your 1,000,000th birthday... You might end up a giant wrinkled face in a glass jar.....




But yeah, I agree, I wouldn't want to watch other people die and just go on forever.... I'd go cookoo, with everyone gone. I mean, I don't see my friends for a week and I get depressed! I can't imagine watching them die, then making new friends, then watching them die, etc. It would be too painful.

 

This is fundamental, and it's impossible to answer the question without some thought:

1) Do you grow old?
If yes, then the immortality would bring you insane pain somewhere around 100 years, do to an old body that's unable to function properly.

2) Does it only affect natural death (old age, sickness), or any death, including artificial one (accidents).
If any death, then I could theoretically jump off a skyscraper...

3) Do you feel "The pain of death" (or any other pain for that matter).
That would hurt! >.<

4) What's required to attain it?
Genetic modification that works the whole time? Some magic potion that you have to drink once a day or you'll die?

5) Any added bonuses, like the ability to quickly regenerate from wounds?


My personal "image" of immortality, is a very down to earth one, that very well may be true one day, and that is removing the "reproduction limit" that our body cells have, thus giving them the ability to regenerate forever. Normally, they regenerate slower as you get older, until they stop and you die because your organs stop functioning properly (aka you die of old age). This still has a problem of regenerating brain cells, because they don't have the ability to regenerate at all (they only make more connections between themselves), but I assume this problem doesn't exist for simplicity.

If that's the case, then I would take it. I see nothing that would hinder me in this case.

However, I'd like to make a small point (that's a bit offtopic), that increasing the human life span could very well lead to immense overpopulation, and that would lead to ineviteable wars that would balance out the population "the hard way" (if not eliminate it altogether). As such, you might wonder if we should really seek this king of thing :/

 

=/ good point :P Over population is so something we do not need.

:P I didn't think so *hugs* sorry I kinda picked on the one thing I KNEW you wouldn't be able to stand =/

Firstly LOL that first bit made me laugh!

I am like that too, I miss my friends when I don't see them for a short while, let alone the rest of eternity v_v it makes me sad just imagining that.

Hmmm I like the ammount of thought you put into your answer, you raise good points, hmm. How would one define immortality exactly? ​

 

That's a good point, time itself is infinite so immortality would be defined as having an infinite lifespan =/. But then when the sun dies even an infinite lifespan wouldn't save you.

 

But then time itself is a human idea, there is NO time as such, we created the idea of it to make things less complicated for ourselves. So how could it be infinite if it doesn't technically exist?

I guess in that sense, immortality can't really be measured, if we have nothing to really measure it against. =/​

 

Well,time can be measured.You even made a thread about it remember ^_^?We just need the proper technology and resources...Even though you can't be immortal,you may can reach th end of time...The end of all creation...Ugh that gave me the creeps!

 

:P yes I did xD

Hmm I like that idea, unable to be immortal, but able to reach the end of time.

It is a creepy feeling you're right, but an interesting one.

People would say, Immortality is living for all time, so if time were to end, then isn't that almost like being immortal?​