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Originally Posted by openeyes  I don't see why that would be the case, so long as things continue to change. One moment will always be different from the next, never to be repeated (unless people learn to manipulate time), so taking action at the right moment will still have its merits, and you'll never be able to read EVERY book so long as there are people (and maybe AI) writing more excellent books for eternity. Unless/until you can read them more quickly than they're written, which would be an interesting possibility in itself. |
You missed my point. If your time is limited, you'll have to choose between book A and B, or film C and D for that matter. If your time is endless, you can read and see them all. I agree that reading every book ever written would take an eternity and that you'd never finish reading, because people will be writing new books all the time. They'd better! Since you are immortal, you'll need a constant flux of new mental input to avoid eternal boredom!
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Going beyond books/movies, there will be new forms of entertainment/life experience as the complexity of culture increases. Imagine what Da Vinci might come up with if he had a trillion times the thought power and would never die. Even without mental enhancements, incredible things could occur if the world's most creative people weren't limited to a few decades on Earth.
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Incredible or terrible. Perhaps an immortal Da Vinci would have been a blessing, but I'm glad to have missed out on that one because that also means that the likes of Hitler were mere mortals. I can see where immortality would be fantastic for an individual, but I fail to see the benefits for our species as a whole. Da Vinci was meant to have his brief stint of brilliance and then make place in this world for another brilliant mind.
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I don't know if physical immortality/radical healthy life extension will happen or not, but I'd be okay with trying it out. For now, I continue to live in such a way that I could die right now without feeling like I'd missed anything critical.
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Sounds like a very healthy attitude to me.
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Originally Posted by williamhessian the big difference i feel is that my goals are exponential and transcend the normal lifespan of a human being. not to say, that i have grand goals, but i dont limit my goals or desires to one lifespan. |
Well, as I mentioned before, I'm still undecided on the eternal sole thing... so I'm just focussed on what I can achieve now, while in this physical form. If there is another existence after death, I'll worry about my goals in that existence then
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plus, as a child i have always had the feeling that living forever was a possibility.
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That's just being normal... all children think they'll live forever.
Jim.
(added responses to openeyes' post)