Immortality

[Indiana]

Immortality seems like it would be fundamentally boring.

[Beuford]

Originally Posted by Indiana

Immortality seems like it would be fundamentally boring.

Definitely, once the universe is gone, all that is left is you. But you don't have a body, just you. Unless of course, this means your body can't be harmed in a way that will cause your death, meaning you'd just be floating there, in the middle of no where, with nothing to do, and no where to go.

[Plays With Life]

Originally Posted by Indiana

Immortality seems like it would be fundamentally boring.

You could take one of our immortals-only cruises. For the discerning immortal who's already done it all, and still wants more!

But seriously, I can't imagine being bored. I could fill 10 lifetimes with just a few compelling interests. And I only imagine finding more, and more interests over time. Not to mention that in 10 lifetimes, new technologies to explore and learn about would surely arise. Even with immortality, I don't think I could keep up with all the interesting things there are to do.

[Indiana]

Originally Posted by Plays With Life

I could fill 10 lifetimes with just a few compelling interests. And I only imagine finding more, and more interests over time. Not to mention that in 10 lifetimes, new technologies to explore and learn about would surely arise. Even with immortality, I don't think I could keep up with all the interesting things there are to do.

I'm pretty sure I could fill 1000 lifetimes with interesting things to do. At a minimum. But forever is a reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaa lly long time.

[Tanja]

Originally Posted by Plays With Life

Even with immortality, I don't think I could keep up with all the interesting things there are to do.

For an extra price, you could throw in an entertainment package

Okay, let's say your immortality sales keep increasing and more and more people become immortal, how would that affect the population issue on the Earth? And if even newborns become immortal right away, will that eventually lead to people stop having children or we'll just emigrate to Deep Space 9?

I could set up a travel/moving service and a construction company on other planets
Yes, I've got some free time on my hands right now

[Razly]

Why would I want physical immortality when the physical is not even my real home

[Mynder]

Actually, no thank you. As it is, at some points in life, you get tired of things you've done before. Why go on forever, piling up endless knowledge of times gone by that you may or may not crave to relive, when you can just croak, think of something new to experience, and then go do it...experience something fresh with the innocent and curious eyes of a child again!

We are already immortal, and starting over and reincarnating isn't really a bad thing.

[Mynder]

Originally Posted by Tanja

And if even newborns become immortal right away

Scary thought there. Reminds me of that child vampire in "Interview with a Vampire" who aged mentally but was trapped in the body of a child. How must an individual feel, being trapped in a body that isn't anywhere "formed out"? I mean, the organs, the eyes, the brain, everything just isn't "operating at full potential" yet.

What a cruel thing to do to anyone.

[Manomanman]

As a transhumanist, immortality is not some lofty goal: it is one of our primary drives in life.

What, may I ask, do you wish to live forever? Your consciousness, or the way it is organized? You die and are reborn in every moment.

[Scipio]

Originally Posted by Plays With Life

If physical immortality were available to you, would you want it?

I'm an extremely big proponent of curing aging and all disease, since it causes so much suffering and pain. That is not immortality per se, since you could get stabbed in the neck and still die. I donate to groups like SENS:

SENS Foundation

In order to try to find a cure for aging. I remember reading somewhere, that if people did not die of aging and disease, on average they would still live to about 800 because of all sorts of other deaths (accidents, crime, war).

[Airana]

Even if you could guarantee no more wars and no terrorist acts, I think I'm opting out. If we could live a slightly longer lifespan, I wouldn't mind that. What gets me about this life is, that just when you've worked out all the answers and where you went wrong, you have one foot in the grave and the other on a banana skin!

[Mynder]

just when you've worked out all the answers and where you went wrong

...you find out that there's yet lots more questions coming up that you have no clue about the answers. and you'll go wrong again and again. it's how we grow and learn, and it never ends.

not with a 100 year life-span, not with a 1000 year life-span.

[sk8joyful]

Originally Posted by Plays With Life

If physical immortality were available to you, would you want it?

I'm asking because I'm going to be offering immortality soon, for a lump 9 figure sum. I'm just trying to gauge the market.

Well in our world, "to live is Christ (iow heaven ), to die is gain (iow immortality )", yup we're already enjoying the best, and Praise! God, neither cost us a cent. Both absolutely FREE Best deal in town

[Cado]

Originally Posted by Beuford

Definitely, once the universe is gone, all that is left is you. But you don't have a body, just you. Unless of course, this means your body can't be harmed in a way that will cause your death, meaning you'd just be floating there, in the middle of no where, with nothing to do, and no where to go.

By that point you could just create another universe. After all, why assume immortality would be your greatest feat? If you can live forever, you can will all kinds of things to happen. So I would assume.

Physical immortality doesn't matter much to me, but if I could develop the ability to, say, create a body for myself at will and discard it when I'm done, I think that would be just as good. Since there would always be a way to end my life if I found out it wasn't for me, I'd say yes.

[Maxwell Jennings]

Biological longevity and the eventual fact of immortality will definitely require a huge shift in the social mindset if either becomes available to everyone. Humans are highly adaptable when we choose to be and issues such as over population, resource depletion, and boredom can be handled with enough education and better technology. Finding your passion is a simple way to prevent boredom. This solar system is chock full of resources. We would not have to have children or at least not as many.

Personally, I have more things I would love to accomplish that could take several average life-times to do - average now being around 950 months life expectancy (+ or -).

If done safely, nano technology has the potential to extend our biological lives indefinitely and even repair the ravages of aging, diseases, and injuries. Science may discover a way to upload our full consciousness, including personality and memories into a storage device upon catastrophic or irreversible death to the biological body. A new body could be grown and a saved consciousness could be downloaded into that new brain.