41–50 of 55 posts
The second law of thermodynamics answers this question with a definitive "no".
They aren't speaking literally. From my point of view, a human who can live, say, 10,000 years is as good as 'immortal'. Sure its literally wrong, but I heard webster now defines 'literally' as 'figuratively' so I'm ready to give up on pedantry.
Assuming we could keep the human body alive forever, I don't think we could handle it a person would eventually go insane. Also it would get incredibly boring at some point and I imagine the suicide rate would be somewhere near a 100% or at minimum people would allow themselves to die. I definitely don't want to live forever. So my answer is No, and no one will ever be immortal.
I don't see how boredom could possibly be a problem. There are so many things I'd find interesting to do, but which are not important enough to warrant the time investment for me - like earn phds in all the sciences, learn a multitude of languages, read and re-read all of the classic literature (in the original language), learn how to paint, to sculpt, to create music. I could spend centuries trying to (re)prove all…
Assuming we could keep the human body alive forever, I don't think we could handle it a person would eventually go insane. Also it would get incredibly boring at some point and I imagine the suicide rate would be somewhere near a 100% or at minimum people would allow themselves to die. I definitely don't want to live forever. So my answer is No, and no one will ever be immortal.
I'd rather be bored and alive than dead. Heck a good chunk of my life is already spent being bored. I'd do unspeakable things for immortality.
Assuming we could keep the human body alive forever, I don't think we could handle it a person would eventually go insane. Also it would get incredibly boring at some point and I imagine the suicide rate would be somewhere near a 100% or at minimum people would allow themselves to die. I definitely don't want to live forever. So my answer is No, and no one will ever be immortal.
Hey, I'll let you die if you want to. I would personally like to live for as long as possible. I have a lot to live for.
Assuming we could keep the human body alive forever, I don't think we could handle it a person would eventually go insane. Also it would get incredibly boring at some point and I imagine the suicide rate would be somewhere near a 100% or at minimum people would allow themselves to die. I definitely don't want to live forever. So my answer is No, and no one will ever be immortal.
I'd rather be bored and alive than dead. Heck a good chunk of my life is already spent being bored. I'd do unspeakable things for immortality.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'd rather be bored and alive than dead. Heck a good chunk of my life is already spent being bored. I'd do unspeakable things for immortality.
What if, eventually, you realize it is no longer possible to be immortal?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I guess it depends on how you look at it. I can be bored and on the internet at the same time.
Aren't you usually avoiding something, though, when you do that?
A civilisation where people can live arbitrarily long lives may have some interesting consequences. For one, cultural stagnation caused by people with entrenched beliefs sticking around. A lot of social progress and scientific development happens over the dead bodies of the old holdouts. Then in the beginning at least there is the risk of extreme social inequality and a gerontocratic ruling class. Only the wealthy wi…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What if, eventually, you realize it is no longer possible to be immortal?
It'd be really hard to convince me that immortality is even possible. So it's unlikely I'd get into a situation where I'd be violating certain ethics.
A civilisation where people can live arbitrarily long lives may have some interesting consequences. For one, cultural stagnation caused by people with entrenched beliefs sticking around. A lot of social progress and scientific development happens over the dead bodies of the old holdouts. Then in the beginning at least there is the risk of extreme social inequality and a gerontocratic ruling class. Only the wealthy wi…
There was this movie starring justin timberlake that depicted a world like this. The plot was generic, but the setting was unique.