Do you want to live forever?

[ThatOneComrade 1,091]

I'm still afraid of death so I'd go for it. Absolutely. I can only think of positives: knowledge, meeting new people, more opportunity to travel and experience history, etc. That'd be awesome.

[Kings&Hooves14 616]

No way! I've already experienced twenty-three years of "suckage"; why would I want to live through infinitely more suckage?

 

Also, how do you define "forever"--until the end of humanity?; the end of the world?; the end of the universe?

I certainly wouldn't want to end up floating around in nothingness for eternity.

[vivishy 1,032]

I would want to see where it goes but I would probably die of loneliness and sadness from seeing my friends and family grow old and die around me. My life would be meaningless

[KatonRyu 1,026]

Yes, but only if I stay healthy throughout. I don't want to be alive but so horribly decrepit I should have literally fallen apart. There's no question I'd go for it, though, since I could always off myself after a few centuries if I didn't want to live anymore.

[Rikifive 23,489]

From some point of view, I don't want to see everybody close to me die and have to live 'alone' on this world, but if I'd have a successful life, where I could be changing things for better and have some community related to that, then perhaps it would be worth to stay for longer - for the others.

 

Besides, you mentioned, that we still could die by external sources, so I think I would go for it. I'm kinda scared of getting really old ~ struggling with life every single day, while basically waiting for the end isn't really a vision, that makes me feel comfortable. So.. living normally to the very end is what makes me interested. Even if everybody would die and I really wouldn't be able to handle it anymore, I always could abandon ship at my own wish. Besides, accidents and stuff happens, so my time would come anyway, perhaps even sooner than everybody would expect.

 

So my answer is yes! Still being able to die changes everything. That wouldn't be even living forever, but just being immune to age, which is a really nice thing to consider.

Edited February 9, 2017 by Rikifive

[Moony the Cat 3,697]

Considering that i have depression and most of the time im extremely bored and have nothing to do, no.

I dont want to live forever.

 

But if they would be a cure and i could affort the Money to get it, i would maybe still do it, because im afraid of dying.

But i would probably keep my depression, except i would manage it, to finally make my Dream come true and make Movies. 

[SparklingSwirls 21,261]

No, a normal lifespan is already stressful enough.

[Olsen1987 133]

Growing old is probably one of my only fears.
Growing old, getting sick, ending up in a wheel chair, with a twisted expression, unable to move or speak.
Only relying on others to even move a finger...no thanks.

[BlueBrony 388]

I don't want to live forever, at least not in this life. This life has many hardships, and though I may have the opportunity to live forever, I would likely die from an act of violence or a freak accident (since little else could kill me). Also, having a sense of mortality helps to push me into action today, because If I don't do it now I may never get the chance. My hope is not in this life, but in the next.

[They call me Loyalty 1,941]

No, I'm tired already. Besides, I do live forever, cyclically.

[Rikifive 23,489]

Talking about living forever and seeing others mentioning becoming alone made me think of this:

 

Ouh..

[Fluttershutter 2,118]

Only if I get to live in some kind of utopia.

I hate work. Really, really hate it. The idea of having to spend most of my time supporting myself for centuries would make me kill myself.

[Member Berry 1,217]

Why not? If the option would be there I'd take it. I am very interested in chemical brain preservation. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_brain_preservation

 

If the money is there when I die (which I doubt, but I obviously can't say that for certain) then I will have it done.

[Discordian 6,013]

I would absolutely live forever but would really want it to be the kind of "can't die for any reason" kind of immortality.

 

Why? To experience EVERYTHING. Literally EVERYTHING the world has to offer. If I can't die than I wouldn't hold back. One generation I'd be a lazy guy, the next a pariah of society, maybe even the greatest athlete of the age.

 

I could see the next big entertainment medium in its infancy as well as when it's perfected. I could watch the sun die and find a new planet to experience.

 

Eternal life would be amazing. I wouldn't have to have just one life-long lover. I could have many. I could focus on one person for seventy years and then be in solitude for the next forty.

 

Yes I want immortality please.

[trademark2 485]

I just want to say I am really surprised a lot of people genuinely say no. I was always confused about why, when you read books, when immortality comes up, theres always something like, "no one would want to live forever, its a curse". Which personally I always considered extremely contrived and just bad writing for being 'unbelievable and out of character' that everyone just accepts this philosophy unquestioningly. But actually, a lot of people don't want to live forever... who knew?

Edited February 12, 2017 by trademark2

[Member Berry 1,217]

I just want to say I am really surprised a lot of people genuinely say no. I was always confused about why, when you read books, when immortality comes up, theres always something like, "no one would want to live forever, its a curse". Which personally I always considered extremely contrived and just bad writing for being 'unbelievable and out of character that everyone just accepts this philosophy unquestioningly'. But actually, a lot of people don't want to live forever... who knew?

Maybe after the first couple of 100 years it could become a depressing chore. We aren't designed to live forever so maybe it would feel wrong after a bit.

 

I'd give it a go, though lol. Maybe we could somehow still kill ourselves if it ever became too much.

[trademark2 485]

Incidentally one of the most compelling characters ever(for me) with regards to this discussion was Gerald Tarrant in 'The Coldfire Trilogy' by C.S. friedman. it is a wonderful series, anyone looking for a good series should go read it.

Edited February 10, 2017 by trademark2

[Olsen1987 133]

Talking about living forever and seeing others mentioning becoming alone made me think of this:

 

Ouh..

oh yes, that one, i try to avoid watching it because certains emotions comes out, with extreme force

[Fluttershutter 2,118]

I would absolutely live forever but would really want it to be the kind of "can't die for any reason" kind of immortality.

Remember Earth will become uninhabitable at some point. And eventually the sun will burn out. Imagine thousands or millions of years floating through the vacuum alone with absolutely no stimulation(except extremes of temperature).

I just want to say I am really surprised a lot of people genuinely say no. I was always confused about why, when you read books, when immortality comes up, theres always something like, "no one would want to live forever, its a curse". Which personally I always considered extremely contrived and just bad writing for being 'unbelievable and out of character that everyone just accepts this philosophy unquestioningly'. But actually, a lot of people don't want to live forever... who knew?

Instinct tells us to live as long as possible but our brains can tell us different things. To me life and society can be a real chore. I don't really see it getting a whole lot better in the future.

That's why I said I'd only want to live in a utopia. All play, no demands on you, no stress you don't want. The "Culture" series of books by Iain M. Banks is a good example. And I can see even that getting tiresome after thousands of years.

[Discordian 6,013]

Remember Earth will become uninhabitable at some point. And eventually the sun will burn out. Imagine thousands or millions of years floating through the vacuum alone with absolutely no stimulation(except extremes of temperature).

 

Instinct tells us to live as long as possible but our brains can tell us different things. To me life and society can be a real chore. I don't really see it getting a whole lot better in the future.

That's why I said I'd only want to live in a utopia. All play, no demands on you, no stress you don't want. The "Culture" series of books by Iain M. Banks is a good example. And I can see even that getting tiresome after thousands of years.

That would be so far down the line that I would have experienced enough to allow my imagination to keep me company forever.

 

Hell, I would probably welcome the silence after so long around people.

 

That's also assuming that we don't eventually get some sort of space travel making it possible to travel between planets as other worlds die.

[Olsen1987 133]

remember, when the sun eats the earth in 4-5 billion years, civilization would most likely have fallen and risen a thousand times.
you could bring knowledge from past civilizations to the new ones, thus contributing to the future.

in the end, humanity would probably have learned how to travel faster than the speed of light (or close), filled up new planets here and there, made a few million alien species extinct.

[Fluttershutter 2,118]

That would be so far down the line that I would have experienced enough to allow my imagination to keep me company forever.

 

Hell, I would probably welcome the silence after so long around people.

 

That's also assuming that we don't eventually get some sort of space travel making it possible to travel between planets as other worlds die.

You would still be able to feel pain. And you would constantly feel like you were suffocating.

 

And I definitely wouldn't depend on humanity to develop interstellar travel.

[Discordian 6,013]

You would still be able to feel pain. And you would constantly feel like you were suffocating.

 

And I definitely wouldn't depend on humanity to develop interstellar travel.

That all depends on the type of immortality. Don't really care that the topic arbitrarily applied such rules as still being able to die.

 

Even if I could, that doesn't mean my mindset for how to respond to pain would be the same. Especially if survival, one of the main reasons pain is unpleasant in the first place, is no longer a factor.

 

As for the development of space travel, anything could happen. If I had to I could do it myself. I'd have the time to make it happen either through funding or doing it myself.

 

Technically we already have space travel. The issue is with sustainability of resources in environments not suited to human life.

[Red Cedar 1,407]

Tough as this life may be, continuing to live beats the alternative. I'd go for it, as long as I could hold out.

[Widdershins 9,955]

 DO YEH WAN' TAE LIVE FEREVER?!!?   *starts chucking wooden beer mugs at everyone*     Five internet points if you get my reference!!!

 

 

   So, would I want to live eternally? Live past the age of my city, watch my friends & children age & wither away? Entire nations, cultures, nay the planet I once called home, wither & crumble away after having spent countless lifetimes & memories, expecting & getting used to it lasting forever. To be a man deprived of the peace of death, a man out of time. To have to keep desperately replacing parts of you as parts fall off. To continuously grasp at straws to be the being you once were...

 

  YES.

 

  By my count, life is defined by its experiences. There will always be more to see, new places to call home. There can always be new companions to adventure with, to live & love again. By my count, you may leave your friends & loved ones behind, but your memories of them never die. You can live on for them.

 

 

       Sounds like a nifty idea. A good excuse to go mad, heh.