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Would you like to live forever? Yes! Why wouldn't I?

The Director

Ancient Trainer
Nope.

Life without death is meaningless. The only reason anything we do in our life means anything is because we are spending what little time we have doing it. It shows what's truly important to a person. You only have so much life, so what you do with it matters (of course all this is excluding whatever after life or other spiritual beliefs one may have).

If I lived forever, then my life would have no meaning. What I spent my time on, or dedicated my life to wouldn't matter as it costs me nothing, I sacrifice little to nothing. If I spend most of my life volunteering now, that means something, if I spend lots of time volunteering and I lived forever, it would be meaningless as I'd have infinite time to do anything else I want.

Couldn't you then take meaning from OTHER people's death?

Also I would argue life has no meaning, but that's a bit off topic.

I would also like to note, I don't mind one or two people becoming immortal by accident or one time deals etc. but if it was given or available for everyone I would oppose it as it would stop most change. And change is the fun part of life.
 

Qmaz246

Disney Trainer
The reason most do NOT want to live forever is because some want to experience the thrill of, yes, i mean this, death.
 

Athenas_Wrath

Sabrina's Apprentice
Couldn't you then take meaning from OTHER people's death?

Also I would argue life has no meaning, but that's a bit off topic.

I would also like to note, I don't mind one or two people becoming immortal by accident or one time deals etc. but if it was given or available for everyone I would oppose it as it would stop most change. And change is the fun part of life.

Perhaps, but (to me anyway) my life would still be meaningless. I want more then anything else, to live a life with meaning. What meaning I haven't found yet but to live forever robs me of that chance. Sure I can do great things forever, and to others I would be a tremendous person but to me it would be hollow as I'd know there was no cost or meaning to what I gave.

It's like finding a penny on the street and giving it to a beggar, sure the beggar gets the money (I'll be it only a penny) but does it really make you feel good? Probably not, as that penny came at no cost to you nor did it have much meaning to you so while you helped someone else, you still don't feel redeemed. (maybe this was a bad analogy, if so sorry).
 

Dark Eevee

Well-Known Member
I would not want to live forever. The loss of loved ones, eventually getting bored, and having to live through any crap that happens (wars, enviormental horrors etc.).
And what if you still aged? Either mental or physical.

And another thing, what if you couldn't die, (and didn't need to breathe, eat etc.) You would eventually get stuck somewhere. Think, earthquake you trapped underground, no escape and you cannot die. How lovely.
 

Eevee*93

Member
I'd have to agree with Dark Eevee...life just wasn't meant to last forever. If one were to live an ongoing life, they would eventually come to the conclusion of major depression. One by one, your friends and loved ones would leave you while life styles continue to change through major ways.

It is better to live a life full of cherished memories for a time being as opposed to living a life for all eternity.
 

paracelsus

Well-Known Member
Perception of time is based on the storage of new incoming sensory information, and as such is relative with age. as you get older, your perception of time actually speeds up. So if you live forever, your perception of events would speed up to a blinding pace, with which you wouldn't be able to keep up.
 

Dark Eevee

Well-Known Member
Perception of time is based on the storage of new incoming sensory information, and as such is relative with age. as you get older, your perception of time actually speeds up. So if you live forever, your perception of events would speed up to a blinding pace, with which you wouldn't be able to keep up.

Doesn't that sound like fun?
Think of how that would be in 200 years, or 1000 or 100000000....
What fun.
 

Grei

not the color
Experiencing the death of loved ones is probably really awful when you can't die yourself. I know that if I was immortal, I would feel supremely guilty for being able to never die while my loved ones were forced to. Even if it's an irrational guilt, I'm positive that guilt would be there. It's a part of being a compassionate human being, in my opinion.

So the OP is flawed, because it's not taking into account any feelings that would arise in direct relation to the immortality aspect. Also, fellow family members and friends of the one who died would most certainly displace their anger and emotion over the loss at the immortal one. If I was grieving the loss of my friend Billy, I'd definitely feel angry with John the immortal, even if it's not fair to him. It's just human nature.

Plus, I have no reason to want to live forever. What's the point in living if it's never going to end? Part of living is the idea of memento mori (knowing that you will die), and in turn following the concept of carpe diem (seizing the day). If you openly recognize that your life will not last forever, you'll be driven to live life to the fullest. If you cannot die, then you're way more prone to just saying, "I'll do it tomorrow" and never live life to the fullest. That sounds like an awful waste of a lifestyle, especially if the immortal one isn't someone who is overly charitable or something.

Yeah. Immortality really sucks. In my opinion, it's only got it's perks if you really don't think too hard about it.
 

~Sam~

Trader and Battler
you would have to keep moving because people would start to get suspishous when you are supposidly 70 and you have no grey hair
 

Kutie Pie

"It is my destiny."
you would have to keep moving because people would start to get suspishous when you are supposidly 70 and you have no grey hair

Ha ha, this. If I was to say "yes" to immortality, then I would need the addition of having the ability to move all over the place, AND change my appearance. Otherwise, it's going to get awkward really, really fast.

But honestly, I don't want to live forever, not in this life, anyway. The world is rather too risky to have an immortal body, in my honest opinion. There are many, many things out there that will be harmful, and unless our bodies can survive a hail of bullets without a scratch, meaning we won't bleed and be covered in holes, think of the media attention about this "indestructible person" if we are prone to accidents, and are able to survive massive damage. I wouldn't be able to shake the cameras off of me, and I wouldn't be able to live a peaceful, quiet life like I want.

In fact, actually, if our immortal bodies are prone to scarring, if we are involved in many horrific accidents, then it would be rather awful to go through. I don't care if I'm beautiful or not, if I look really disfigured, then chances are high that I will ask for death, because the pressure of not being able to interact properly with people who avoid me because I look ugly will get to me eventually.

But if we are able to escape being harmed and unhurt, then chances are people will get suspicious. Especially when it comes to aging, I'd have to move around. And chances are that if I were to be married, my husband will die old while I remain young, and if my body is unchanging, then there's a likely chance I can't have children.

I'm sure it would be interesting to move around the world, experiencing different cultures and learning new languages, but the world is changing for the better or for the worse every day. I will have to experience horrors beyond our imagination, and unless I can erase them from memory, I will remember them forever, and that's something I don't wish to have. I'm not a strong enough person to handle great destruction and evil than what is there before me today. My mind will break by the next century if I was to live forever.

And of course, there's the loss of my family and friends whom I've come to love. Sure, telling myself they're in a better place will help me move on, but I would get the feeling of being alone. There are billions of people on the earth, but I don't think I can cherish every single life.

So, I'd rather not live forever. I'm not that strong enough to handle it, even if I did undergo vast chances to have it so I can't get hurt or killed.
 

coolminun

Banned
Well, experiencing your relatives dying is a natural part of life, but when you're much older, you'll start experiencing friends dying, and possibly kids younger than you or your children dying, and it will probably pile up on you.

That's not the reason I'd say no though. If the deal was that I'd have to live forever, the chances would approach 1:1 that eventually I'll get into an accident, maybe trip and fall off a cliff, or accidently get into a natural disaster, and be trapped somewhere, unable to free myself from the trap by dying. I think dying is easier than being entombed somewhere for eternity.

I wouldn't say no to controlling how long I get to live, though.

Just as you said. Except I didn't think about the being entombed somewhere for all eternity. That's a very scary prospect.
 

Akrasia

New Member
If being immortal is defined as not aging, I would definitely enjoy being immortal. There is so much of the world to experience - people, places, ideas - that I could go on forever consuming them, absorbing them, and building things. This is honestly my life's goal anyways. But there are many languages I will never learn, swaths of literature I will never touch, hundreds of ideas in my chosen discipline, philosophy, that I will never encounter with the limited time I probably have. If I were to be immortal, I could easily be rich. Investing in property and putting some money in investments ought to work well enough if society remains vaguely intact. I would just have to live simply for maybe fifty years. If that doesn't happen, or in any direction, I always have the option of terminating my existence.

Themes of immortality are pervasive in culture. I think Doctor Who and Torchwood offer two interesting perspectives. The Doctor's immortality is tied more so with his identity as a Time Lord, meaning he has great powers and thus a moral responsibility to help people in some sense. Thus, he has seen time and again both his successes and failures and experienced much pain. Harkness equally experiences this sort of loss. But he seems to have more fun. I recall that there is one time where is locked in a coffin from like 100 BC to the 1800s and just has to sit there. That wouldn't be fun.

If immortality means it is impossible for me to die, it would be a more difficult decision. The universe is doomed - eventually it entrophy into an equal distribution of chaos and energy. However, I still think the possibility of access for many centuries to the sum of knowledge of humanity (and possibly other civilizations) would be worthwhile.
 

Remedy

Tis be a Fish M'lord
No, I enjoy life, but part of everything is that it doesn't last forever. You said about your loved ones like your parents and uncles and stuff, but that's all part of life, having children and spouses over and over is not, they would pass away and you would keep going, maybe you would have a new family but it would just be a cycle, it would loose all emotion and point. True, Id like to see Final Fantasy 843592, but I don't want to live forever. And if you where having a reeeeally crappy life and everything sucks and you just can't die... its pretty scary... Imagine if there was a nuclear war or something and everyone died, you where the only human... You would just have to stand there... forever... Never die. *Shiver*
 

Charizardfan900

Charizard King!
Yes. But it would be painful. I would not only watch my older family die, but what about my nieces and nephews? I wouldn't have children because their deaths would be horrible for me.

It also depends on the terms. Am I invulnerable to everything? Have I got eternal youth? Am I immune to diseases?

But I guess the want for knowledge and the fear of death is what would drive me to do it.
 

Razor Xtreme

Well-Known Member
Absolutely not. Death is there for a reason. Not only do I want to know what happens after death, it's just unnatural to live forever. It just has wayyy too many flaws in it. Eventually, planets with life go away, what would you do, float in space for all eternity?
 

Marbi Z

Cin-Der-Race!
No! To be perfectly honest I would rather live just 25 years the longevity of life is irrelevant to me.
 

Simipour

<('.'<) (>'.')>
If it was eternal youth, yes. Though I wouldn't wanna age forever, being a complete vegetable for most of my eternal existence would not be a pleasant thing.
 

Grei

not the color
Plus, what if there was some secret to your immortality that fell into the wrong hands? Hell, what if you yourself turned corrupt or insane as time goes on? Not only would you have no natural way of escaping such torment, but if you happened to become a leader of some kind, your leadership would be tyrannical and those affected would suffer, quite literally, eternally.

That's an awful idea.
 
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