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 Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2010 7:56 pm
Matasoga Someone started a discussion in ED about the ethics of eternal life. I had this to say. "I see immortality as terrible...If its wasted on the common idiot. Only those with brilliance, with unparalleled creativity, unbridaled genius, or something else that would better the world should ever have the option of living forever. Seeing eternal life handed out at frat parties, the GD, or churches would make me take my own life right now. I however, would like to live on, eternally. When I am all out of stories, all out of art, all out of ideas, and the world has nothing more to offer me, nor I it, I can sleep peacefully in my grave, but the world inspires me and new things are created every instant of every moment, of every second of every minute of every hour of every day. I will never throw it all away, if I had the choice. And to throw it away for what? Heaven? Hell? The more likely oblivion? Never. Not I. " When I was very young, and I first learned that "old age," was a cause of death, I was horrified. My young mind reeled with the knowledge that all who were born would one day die. I have never been comfortable with my mortality, and I know that I never shall be...Those of you who have been here for long enough may find hints of my mortiphobia, though I am loathe to use the term, as a "phobia," is an irrational fear, an affliction. Unless you are religiously afflicted, who, other than those with less to offer than I would not fear death? What are your thoughts or feelings on the matter? Well, first off, I think that you are being quite unfair to the idiots of the world. While religions can be a bit stupid (love everyone, but anyone who sins will die in a fiery pit called hell) I believe that everyone should have the right to immortality. What you suggest is slightly akin to racism in that only the creative and smart people should become immortal. Yes, idiots will become bored after a few centuries, but what problem will that be? You will be immortal, you have all the time in the world, ignore the fools. Just because some religions are stupid and hypocritical doesn't mean that one should feel the need to insult them. As for fearing death, who honestly can say that they truly, from the bottom of their hearts, want to die? For those who say that they would rather die than be without their loved ones, I think that the saying 'time heals all wounds' would apply nicely. Suicidal people don't want to die, and probably don't actually want to. Religious people may accept death, but hope that it will come much, much later, and that all they want is done by the time they 'go to heaven'. I think that living eternally would be quite nice, as I could do anything I want and more eventually and whenever I feel like it.
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Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 1:35 am
Immortality is both fantastic and scary at the same time. What would the limits to it be? Could you still die like any other person if you were hit by a car? Would sickness effect you? Would you age but never die? If there was a real immortality that didn't leave you vulnerable to these, I could see the appeal. But of course, if something of that ilk existed, it would inevitably fall into the wrong hands, and there would be immortal gang wars, corrupt politicians that never seem to die. How would the spread of this be selected? Only the geniuses of the world would get to become immortal? The rich?
I've wondered before if I would actually want to be immortal, if I had the chance. My initial response is yes, but I don't know how well I'd deal with seeing my family, my friends and my siblings all age and die around me while I stayed young. Even with the love I have for life, and how much I'd want to see things a thousand years from now and watch the world evolve, I don't know how I'd react after losing everyone that mattered to me to death. I suppose every pain fades over time, but knowledge that all the lives and people you've known are gone forever while you live on in a world of new souls who haven't lived with the pain of hundreds of years of loss, famine, poverty and war. Unless I managed to find someone like myself to live with, I don't imagine that all the time in the world would be that appealing.
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Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 1:55 pm
I think that living forever would possibly be the worst thing that could happen to anyone. Personally, I find my little corner of the world boring enough as it is. If I were trapped in it forever? It'd be a living hell. Then again, even if I acquired the means to travel the world and do as I please on my own pace, well, it's no different. I personally hate traveling. I have ADHD. So things that require long amounts of focus don't do well with me. And traveling sucks.
And if you say that ADHD isn't a real disorder, 1: You're not a real person. 2: Your opinion doesn't matter. And 3: Kiss my Attention Deficit Hyperactive a**.
Anyway, as I was saying. It might be interesting to watch the world shift and change as a whole, but it would take so long that you might end up losing sense of time at all and just lose your grip on reality and go insane. Any emotional connections you would have with anyone would be a waste, so you'd have to commit to being a hermit. And if anyone ever found out that you could live forever, guess who was just volunteered to be experimented on until the gift of eternal life becomes available at your nearest Walgreen's?
So, as a recap. You'd be bored out of your mind even with all the 'fantastic' things going on with humanity. You'd never be able to really, truly care for anyone. If anyone found out you hold the secret, they'd capture you and cut you open until they figure out how to commercialize it. And let's not forget that you'd be stuck, surrounded by humans for all eternity. Or at least until we die out. And do you really want that?
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Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2010 1:20 pm
Epic Irony I think that living forever would possibly be the worst thing that could happen to anyone. Personally, I find my little corner of the world boring enough as it is. If I were trapped in it forever? It'd be a living hell. Then again, even if I acquired the means to travel the world and do as I please on my own pace, well, it's no different. I personally hate traveling. I have ADHD. So things that require long amounts of focus don't do well with me. And traveling sucks. And if you say that ADHD isn't a real disorder, 1: You're not a real person. 2: Your opinion doesn't matter. And 3: Kiss my Attention Deficit Hyperactive a**.Anyway, as I was saying. It might be interesting to watch the world shift and change as a whole, but it would take so long that you might end up losing sense of time at all and just lose your grip on reality and go insane. Any emotional connections you would have with anyone would be a waste, so you'd have to commit to being a hermit. And if anyone ever found out that you could live forever, guess who was just volunteered to be experimented on until the gift of eternal life becomes available at your nearest Walgreen's? So, as a recap. You'd be bored out of your mind even with all the 'fantastic' things going on with humanity. You'd never be able to really, truly care for anyone. If anyone found out you hold the secret, they'd capture you and cut you open until they figure out how to commercialize it. And let's not forget that you'd be stuck, surrounded by humans for all eternity. Or at least until we die out. And do you really want that? Note to Self: Return here when I've time... Oh, how much you've left me to reply to.
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Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 11:22 am
I don't think I would want for live forever but if I were going to I would hope that there would be at least one other immortal person out there. Someone who would comfort me as the people I invariably grew to care for died around me, to keep me company when I become lonely, and to share all the wonders of the world. There are so many, many things that given the opportunity and the time that I would like to learn, to experience. Immortality would eliminate the problem of time and would enable me to make the opportunities. I do not know if I would try to have any affect on the world around me or if I would just want to watch it evolve on it's own, I think it would depend on how the world was evolving and what sort of effect I would have on it.
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Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 4:54 pm
@ OP: To quote Voltaire, "Death is nothing at all". Although I'm not a particularly huge fan of Voltaire, he has some genius writings on the subject of immortality, & the aforementioned quote is sort of the belief at the center of all of them. The reason I mention this, of course, is because the ideas & attitude expressed in that quote seem to lie at the center of all my beliefs on immortality, death, & anything else along those lines.
I'm not scared to die. I am, however, scared of living a life that doesn't make me happy & doesn't make me proud. As far as I'm concerned, immortality is a joke, & there's nothing to be afraid of when you no longer exist. I fear not living my life in a way that I'm content with, because my life is what I value, not my death.
Of course, it's beyond natural to fear death & ponder ideas of eternal life... Being faced with the stark reality of ones own mortality is downright sad.
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Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 5:33 pm
elyzia @ OP: To quote Voltaire, "Death is nothing at all". Although I'm not a particularly huge fan of Voltaire, he has some genius writings on the subject of immortality, & the aforementioned quote is sort of the belief at the center of all of them. The reason I mention this, of course, is because the ideas & attitude expressed in that quote seem to lie at the center of all my beliefs on immortality, death, & anything else along those lines.
I'm not scared to die. I am, however, scared of living a life that doesn't make me happy & doesn't make me proud. As far as I'm concerned, immortality is a joke, & there's nothing to be afraid of when you no longer exist. I fear not living my life in a way that I'm content with, because my life is what I value, not my death.
Of course, it's beyond natural to fear death & ponder ideas of eternal life... Being faced with the stark reality of ones own mortality is downright sad. I can't say that I agree wholeheartedly, though those are definitely interesting views. As for Voltaire, I can certainly say that I am something of a fan. When I heard that he was asked, on his deathbed, to repudiate the devil, he said "I don't think that this is the time to be making enemies," I was immediately a rather ardent appreciator, but I don't know nearly enough else about him to really discuss him further, I am ashamed to say. I do know that this is in keeping with what I've heard of his somewhat mocking views of religion. I still have much to read of his body of work... Ah well. One day. So is any of this based on what you believe comes after, or are you rather instead comfortable with the idea of an endless oblivion?
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Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 10:50 pm
To be honest I don't really fear dying. I fear pain and making people who care about me sad, but death not so much. Watching my Mom slowly die due to illnesses affected me more than I realized. I try to live my life to the fullest and be the best person I can be. I've impacted many people over the course of my life either intentionally or unintentionally, for the better or for the worse, though I tried for the better in most cases.
This may sound a little strange coming from the religious person, but I really don't think that much about the afterlife. I figure if its there, then it will be there; if it's not, then it won't be. If there's nothing there, then that it. Nothing to be concerned about since I won't exist anymore. If there is some sort of heavenly or hellish realm, then I just kinda have to trust that the process is going to be just. Personally I'm more inclined toward reincarnation since living in some heavenly realm with the same human drives would get kinda boring, though that assumes that I would be still considered human if I did reside in some heavenly realm. If not human and something else, that might be a different story altogether and might not be so bad.
Anyway, yeah I'm not too concerned about what the afterlife holds since I figure whatever will happen, will happen and I accept the concequences and responsiblity for my actions.
Edit: I think it might be worth noting (since this is partially in regards to) that "eternal" in the New Testament can refer to both a state and/or a quality. Most focus on the "state" viewpoint but from a "quality" view point, "eternal life" would mean "living the life you have to the best that you can".
Also in regards to reincarnation, my only personal qualms with it would be that it would be like a hell to me. I mean it would be like playing a video game, you get to the final boss and then the power goes out and you have to start the game all over again since the power outage also fried your save file as well. This is just mho on this but I don't like restarting things from scratch. To each thier own though.
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 9:19 pm
Immortality is an interesting thing and something I might actually want. Though it does bring with it many problems. Like always outliving your loved ones and possibly, the whole world. It makes one rather lonely.
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Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2014 11:37 pm
/epic necro because I'm bored
Living forever doesn't appeal to me. Never has. I'd go insane and trap myself in my mind if I somehow turned up immortal. My body is set to expire, and when it expires, it either gets burnt to a crisp or put in a box that goes under a mound of dirt with a stone to mark the spot
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Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2014 11:30 pm
Kitalpha Hart /epic necro because I'm bored Living forever doesn't appeal to me. Never has. I'd go insane and trap myself in my mind if I somehow turned up immortal. My body is set to expire, and when it expires, it either gets burnt to a crisp or put in a box that goes under a mound of dirt with a stone to mark the spot If it wasn't intended to be necroed, it would have been archived. /Ironic talk about necroing a thread that was a discussion about never dying. I don't think I have anything else to say that I haven't said before, though I don't remember if I've covered eventualities. I wouldn't want to live through something that would physically destroy my brain and the rest of my body, such as the sun engulfing the earth (if there are still any humans living there, by then), or similar catastrophes.
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