Do you want to live forever?

[man dude man 555]

As someone who's written a bunch of transhumanist threads on this site I totally agree with you on this point that it is possible via integrating with technology. However such a proposal has limitations on the evolutionary front, at least in terms of biological evolution. 

 

Also the type of immortality you are describing with the clones is just copying your brain. YOU would no longer exist, it would just be an exact replica of you with all your memories. Not exactly an ideal scenario. If you however took your brain and put it into another, younger body, that would maintain your particular self without copying your consciousness. The brain has to be in tact for you to still be you so to speak. 

 

However I would propose genetically engineering a more durable and capable species organically from humans. Make them more resilient to radiation, harsher conditions, more variable gravity conditions, bodies that do not break as easily, and an echo system to go along with these new people. Biological Evolution still has far more benefits and versatility than technology at the moment, and I'd rather be on par with the A.I when the singularity of human level intelligence happens than be trounced by something billions of times smarter than us lol.  

This is where the Cyborg conundrum comes from, what purpose is there to be in this fleshy vulnerable body when I can transcend such a thing, including more worldly desires and convictions, my body will live forever, and create consciousness electronically..(which our brains already do many do not know. ) and as for keeping the brain intact to speak, this is what I mean by creating a medium to keep your consciousness alive whlen going from A, to B, for Immortality, there would INDEFINITELY have to be a C...

[Buck Testa 5,503]

This is where the Cyborg conundrum comes from, what purpose is there to be in this fleshy vulnerable body when I can transcend such a thing, including more worldly desires and convictions, my body will live forever, and create consciousness electronically..(which our brains already do many do not know. ) and as for keeping the brain intact to speak, this is what I mean by creating a medium to keep your consciousness alive whlen going from A, to B, for Immortality, there would INDEFINITELY have to be a C...

And while that sounds nice, it has the same short sighted qualities as religious people who are obsessed with an imagined paradise. In such a scenario humans would stagnate entirely. There would be no need for advancement, space travel or any of that. People would become complacent in their own imagination until the technology housing their brains malfunction due to entropy and they die without so much as a wimpier. Not ideal at all if you ask me. There would be no perpetuation of the species, no colonization of other world (or even a need too), and it would just lead to eventual death anyway. 

 

No, it would need to be done through biological engineering if its going to be done. Evolution has made us vulnerable so far because we had no evolutionary need to be impervious to harm. Natural evolution only does what is necessary to propagate itself and adapt itself to the environment they are in. Controlled evolution can create far more resilient, intelligent, and efficient species that would not fall into the same pitfalls as your proposition. In fact it would be wise to not only manipulate and enhance humans, but an entire ecosystem around them that is interconnected, including plants, animals, insects, and microbes. For example a living space ship with asexual reproductive capabilities could weather travel too and from a planet with not only a hide built for that purpose, but a suped up healing factor that can repair the damage. You could literally design things that could seed entire planets with life that is durable and self sustaining. Such things are VERY far off, but it is indeed a possibility with controlled evolution with space travel in mind. 

[man dude man 555]

And while that sounds nice, it has the same short sighted qualities as religious people who are obsessed with an imagined paradise. In such a scenario humans would stagnate entirely. There would be no need for advancement, space travel or any of that. People would become complacent in their own imagination until the technology housing their brains malfunction due to entropy and they die without so much as a wimpier. Not ideal at all if you ask me. There would be no perpetuation of the species, no colonization of other world (or even a need too), and it would just lead to eventual death anyway. 

 

No, it would need to be done through biological engineering if its going to be done. Evolution has made us vulnerable so far because we had no evolutionary need to be impervious to harm. Natural evolution only does what is necessary to propagate itself and adapt itself to the environment they are in. Controlled evolution can create far more resilient, intelligent, and efficient species that would not fall into the same pitfalls as your proposition. In fact it would be wise to not only manipulate and enhance humans, but an entire ecosystem around them that is interconnected, including plants, animals, insects, and microbes. For example a living space ship with asexual reproductive capabilities could weather travel too and from a planet with not only a hide built for that purpose, but a suped up healing factor that can repair the damage. You could literally design things that could seed entire planets with life that is durable and self sustaining. Such things are VERY far off, but it is indeed a possibility with controlled evolution with space travel in mind. 

I am against controlled evolution, and honestly, I do not want to live forever... in this body or a robot one, the question was hypothetical.... and obviously..., you would have to biologically engineer a body that can keep your consciousness active in any go between in trying to keep any aging organ alive... biologically engineering super humans would give us the ability to reproduce, and our children would continue to naturally develop as beings, (evolve) I however believe death is natural, and it is a gift of silence, not like I am chasing it, but I do not repress the day it happens. controlled evolution is more plausible than creating eco specific formulas for beings to inhabit non Earth like planets, especially without any ground perception of the planet... but I am not one for playing god, but I will indeed play doctor.

[digit112 89]

I'd stay alive for as long as I could manage. I've always thought that the hundred years or so that I have is far too short to accomplish anything truly great. I could, feasibly, earn a nobel prize right? Well if that's possible in a hundred years, than what could I do in a thousand? a billion? I can't even comprehend what's possible a thousand years from now, by the time the sun expands my daily agenda will probably be on the order of gods.

 

 

 

And while that sounds nice, it has the same short sighted qualities as religious people who are obsessed with an imagined paradise. In such a scenario humans would stagnate entirely. There would be no need for advancement, space travel or any of that. People would become complacent in their own imagination until the technology housing their brains malfunction due to entropy and they die without so much as a wimpier. Not ideal at all if you ask me. There would be no perpetuation of the species, no colonization of other world (or even a need too), and it would just lead to eventual death anyway.

The thing is, death isn't what drives humans to move forward. So many things that humans do are completely counter intuitive towards the goal of just staying alive. Humans are the result of curiosity towards our surroundings. A non-curious species is one that works towards a singular pre-programmed goal and then stops once it is reached. Humans however, are never satisfied by any given accomplishment for too long and have to continually push forward and continually succeed to feel happy. We as humans must constantly challenge ourselves to remain happy, and thus these challenges are what push us to continue advancing in sciences, arts, and athletics.

Edited March 14, 2017 by digit112

[Buck Testa 5,503]

I am against controlled evolution, and honestly, I do not want to live forever... in this body or a robot one, the question was hypothetical.... and obviously..., you would have to biologically engineer a body that can keep your consciousness active in any go between in trying to keep any aging organ alive... biologically engineering super humans would give us the ability to reproduce, and our children would continue to naturally develop as beings, (evolve) I however believe death is natural, and it is a gift of silence, not like I am chasing it, but I do not repress the day it happens. controlled evolution is more plausible than creating eco specific formulas for beings to inhabit non Earth like planets, especially without any ground perception of the planet... but I am not one for playing god, but I will indeed play doctor.

 

I find the idea of "playing god" being a bad thing is counter intuitive. There is no god, so who else but we to play the part? 

 

Life and sapience is valuable and needs to be protected. This is not going to happen if we simply only evolve to stay on this one particular speck of rock in this one particular part of the solar system in this one particular part of the galaxy in this one part of this particular universe. Eventually we are going to need to branch out too other worlds, and other worlds are not inhabitable for us as we currently are. The best answer in the long run is to bio-engineer an entire ecosystem that can rapidly travel towards and adept to any environment and for people to live at least long enough to feasibly perform space travel (at least until we figure out warp travel).

 

Such a proposal is indeed possible, provided we get over outdated religious scruples about doing the work of imagined characters in fairy tales who claim to have created everything in the span of a few days. 

[Stone Cold Steve Jobs 22,410]

I intend to live forever. So far, so good.

[jorge123esp 912]

Nope. I don't want to live forever. I prefer living a normal life. 

[Lunarpalette 2,175]

Not forever. A 500 year life spen would be cool though! That way I can see if my art work truly becomes famous! And more time to comprehend the wonders of life, and enjoy what it offers.

[Prospekt 10,984]

Not forever. Maybe a few extra hundred years than the average human would be neat, but it would be really sad if I were to outlive all my friends and close family members.

[Malcontent 196]

I hope to leave my mark on the mlp forums and thus live on forever in that  

[LunarShadow 397]

Honestly i would not want to live forever. Would i like my life to be longer than the current average human life span? Sure. However living forever is an incredibly long time an would arguably be more of a curse than a blessing. Being forced to watch all of your loved ones wither and die generation after generation would be unbearable. Death is what gives everything we do meaning and purpose even for the little things. Without our own mortality the purpose of life becomes extinct. Immortality is achieved through the legacy you leave behind for future generations and your children. 

[proudboyz42 28]

Absolutely.  My biggest fear is that I have so little time in this lifetime to make a change and accomplish great wonders.  I guess it's also what drives me more than anything.  I can't stand the thought of leaving this world knowing I have done nothing worth while or something that would leave an everlasting impact.  I guess the ultimate question would be, if you could live forever, would you do something to live up to such a responsibility?  I would gladly take that challenge and would want to see what kind of wisdom a man could gain living after generations and generations.  I could just imagine the knowledge and teachings a person could pass on to future generations if one could live so long.  I say, why not?

[碇 シンジン 27,427]

according to my belief peoples existences are already eternal or as eternal as they want them to be  so yeah 

[Guest]

Since I have a difficult fear of death, I think I'd say yes. I'd be devastated to see all the people around me dying though so I'd probably end up regretting being immortal after all.

[Celli 4,332]

No, why would you want to live forever? It would be depressing seeing everyone around to die and the world go by.

[Stone Cold Steve Jobs 22,410]

Hell no. I can't wait for this ride to end.

[The Grobien 58]

I want to meet my great 1938266x grandchildren so I would like to live forever.

[Pr0m4NV14 837]

You know, TV Tropes has this covered for me.

[Cash In 21,493]

Nah, not really. Death is a natural part of life and I'd like to accept it when the time comes.

[Total Lunar Eclipse 515]

Would rather the people I love live forever, but they might feel the same.

[King of Canterlot 9,588]

Would I want to live forever?

NO

[Altastrofae 933]

No, I want to die at some point. People need to die. If we didn't, there would be issues. Death is necessary. If we found immortality, I can garuntee that we would not last long as a species. Like Shiva, the cosmic dancer, we need to be destroyed to make room for new life. If everyone lived forever, there may not be enough food for little Gabriel. Then Gabe will die. Now who wants to go like that? Not Gabe, I'll tell you that much.

[ChikaChan 7,320]

I have a fear of dying so yep

[cuteycindyhoney 13,283]

Nothing strikes me as being quite so sad and lonely as being immortal. Read Robert Heinlein's "Time Enough for Love" The section titled "The Tale of the Adopted Daughter" always brings me to tears. What if you, an immortal, met your soulmate, an ephemeral? 

Edited March 7, 2018 by cuteycindyhoney

[Pony Flutters 530]

If I were to be the only one to become immortal out of my friends and family, it would be awful to see each of them pass by before me. Not to mention how boring life could be once you've eventually experienced everything. Sure something new comes up every once in a while, but even that would most likely be a fleeting interest at best.