Who wants to live forever?

[Duncan]

A buddy of mine, who is also a "soft " atheist, and I got into a discussion about life after death the other day. He whole heartedly believes that once you're dead, that's it; there is no more. I said I wasn't sure. He, in return, said that was partly because I wanted to believe in life eternal when there was really no proof for such a thing. I agreed. When I responded with "What, and you don't?" He exclaimed, "Nope. Who the hell wants to live forever anyway? I actually like the idea of a finite life."

Well, as absurd as the notion may be, I for one would sure like to live forever. Doesn't mean it's true, or that it is going to happen just because I want it to, but I'm curious to see what some of you think. I know most of the people on this board don't believe in life after death, and in a way, neither do I, but if it was proven that there was, would you be happy about it, or would you as well prefer the finite life.

Side note: One little thing that keeps me clutching to this belief is that if energy cannot be created or destroyed, only converted in to other forms of energy, and if we possess some form of spiritual energy, then is it possible that when we pass away, this energy, even if our consciousness does not remain, will continue on. I know, I have no proof of spiritual energy, but I feel there is something in all of us that makes us who we are. Anyway, I'm getting off topic in my own thread.

Just wondering who would rather have an infinate life rather than a finite one. I just thought it odd that my buddy would actually choose not to live forever if given the choice, but who knows, maybe I'm the odd one.

[Stimpson J. Cat]

Frankly, I cannot even concieve of living forever. I want to live until I no longer want to live anymore, and not a moment longer.

Dr. Stupid

[chulbert]

What do you do with eternity after you've done all the things you love to the point that you don't love them any more?

[Checkmite]

I plan to live forever. So far, it's working perfectly.

[toddjh]

Originally posted by Duncan
Side note: One little thing that keeps me clutching to this belief is that if energy cannot be created or destroyed, only converted in to other forms of energy, and if we possess some form of spiritual energy, then is it possible that when we pass away, this energy, even if our consciousness does not remain, will continue on.

First, there is no reason to believe that "spriritual energy" exists. Second, even if it does, there is no reason to believe that it obeys some kind of conservation law. Third, I believe that if my memories and consciousness are not preserved, then whatever is "still out there," no matter how spiritual it might be, is not me.

Just wondering who would rather have an infinate life rather than a finite one. I just thought it odd that my buddy would actually choose not to live forever if given the choice, but who knows, maybe I'm the odd one.

I'd certainly prefer a life of indefinite length rather than 80 years if I'm lucky. Whether I'd actually want to live forever is something I don't think any mere mortal is qualified to answer. Who's to say what a person feels after ho-humming for a few billion eons?

Jeremy

[Ensign Steve]

Forever is a really long time. Consider the age of the universe (what are we up to about 10-15 billion years?), the age of the earth 4 billion years or so, the age of humanity, 100-500 thousand years, depending on your definition of humanity. That is nothing compared to forever. Forever is a very long time, and it would get old and boring in a hurry. Like chulbert said, how long could you do your favorite thing before you got tired of it? You could learn to do more things and more things, and by the time you have learned every language, mastered every instrument, viewed every work of art, you would still have forever to look forward to. No Thanks!

I do feel that I won't have enough time on this earth to do everything I want to do, but a couple thousand years I think would be more than enough for me.

Besides, where would you live? I think the andromeda galaxy is set to tear the milky way in half a few billion years before the sun plans to go nova or whatever it's going to do. It could get ugly around here! ;)

[Ruby]

I would not mind living forever!:wink8:

[Torment]

I'd prefer living forever. Once humanity ended I'm not sure what I'd do though, hopefully by that time I would be smart enough to make some sort of transportation device and escape to another place that had intelligent life.

I'd still prefer to live forever though, even if I was the last human. The survival instinct in me is too strong to lay down and die, despite any boredom that may ensue without the rest of humanity.

[Frostbite]

Who the hell wouldn't want all eternity to drink beer, go to strip clubs and play video games?

[Ladewig]

I have no desire to live forever. I would however jump at the chance to live my remaing years out at the rate of one per decade. I mean keep my same age and jump immediately to 2013, live for one year, then jump without aging to 2023 and so on. Mostly, it is just curiousness about what the not so immediate future holds. Seeing 2103 or 2203 would be a trip.

[jj]

Originally posted by Stimpson J. Cat
Frankly, I cannot even concieve of living forever. I want to live until I no longer want to live anymore, and not a moment longer.

Dr. Stupid

That's exactly how I answer the question, Stimpson.

Almost to the word.

It's like being asked "Would you be president of the USA". Well, being a natural-born citizen over 35, I "qualify" but even in the absurd reach that it was a possibility I would simply NOT want the job. I think the only people who do want it are probably disqualified because they are nuts enough to want it.

[Sundog]

Originally posted by Stimpson J. Cat
Frankly, I cannot even concieve of living forever. I want to live until I no longer want to live anymore, and not a moment longer.

Dr. Stupid

Already been there, a couple of times. I was wrong. I want a time-delay mechanism built in just in case I change my mind.

[Yahweh]

Originally posted by Duncan
Side note: One little thing that keeps me clutching to this belief is that if energy cannot be created or destroyed, only converted in to other forms of energy, and if we possess some form of spiritual energy, then is it possible that when we pass away, this energy, even if our consciousness does not remain, will continue on.
No, humans have no spiritual energy. Since you've applied a physical law (first law of thermodynamics), you make the assumption the energy is physical. For it to exist, it'd need to exist in a potential state. Still, the energy would need to be transferred in some way to a spirtual plane. To get passed this, you could suggest the spiritual energy doesnt have to obey the natural laws of physics, but then it wouldnt be "energy".

But there is no such thing as "spiritual energy", no need to think so hard.

I know, I have no proof of spiritual energy, but I feel there is something in all of us that makes us who we are. Anyway, I'm getting off topic in my own thread.
You are letting your inner convictions do your reasoning for you, not a good way to reason.


I'd like to live forever without ever growing older, then I'd get tired of it and kill myself.

[joyrex]

It would be nice to live forever in the sense that certain belief systems approach the subject - that is, our 'soul' is forever and it travels from person to person thru reincarnation. But no, I wouldn't like this one ego / person, which I curretly am, to live forever.

[A_Feeble_Mind]

The whole "wouldn't it be boring to live forever" argument sounds like sour grapes to me. We cannot live forever, so it is easier to convince yourself that you don't want that, anyways.

Although, I have wondered if the technology to keep people alive indefinately would have already been invented if the lies of "eternal life after death" hadn't made so many people complacent.

[Ladewig]

It's like being asked "Would you be president of the USA". Well, being a natural-born citizen over 35, I "qualify" but even in the absurd reach that it was a possibility I would simply NOT want the job. I think the only people who do want it are probably disqualified because they are nuts enough to want it.

Amen to that.
As has been said before, it takes a special kind of psychosis to wake up one morning and say, "I know what's wrong with this country. What's wrong with this country is that I'm not running it!"

[Ladewig]

Side note: One little thing that keeps me clutching to this belief is that if energy cannot be created or destroyed, only converted in to other forms of energy, and if we possess some form of spiritual energy, then is it possible that when we pass away, this energy, even if our consciousness does not remain, will continue on. I know, I have no proof of spiritual energy, but I feel there is something in all of us that makes us who we are. Anyway, I'm getting off topic in my own thread.

If this spiritual energy cannot be created, where do people get it from? Do they get it when they are born? When they are conceived? Why do you believe that this energy cannot be dissipated to the point of being useless or turned into some other energy (e.g. thermal energy in a steam engine being irreversibly lost to the environment when it is turned off.) Conservation of energy does not prevent batteries from dying, why should conservation of energy prevent your consciousness from dying?

[calladus]

Originally posted by Duncan
One little thing that keeps me clutching to this belief is that if energy cannot be created or destroyed, only converted in to other forms of energy, and if we possess some form of spiritual energy, then is it possible that when we pass away, this energy, even if our consciousness does not remain, will continue on. I know, I have no proof of spiritual energy, but I feel there is something in all of us that makes us who we are. Anyway, I'm getting off topic in my own thread.

Just wondering who would rather have an infinate life rather than a finite one. I just thought it odd that my buddy would actually choose not to live forever if given the choice, but who knows, maybe I'm the odd one.

After death your body gets reused in one way or another. The electrochemical impulses in your brain dissapate. But if your consciousness doesn't continue then it won't really matter to you.

As for living forever - Hmm I've often thought I would love to do that, but with a couple of rules to it.
First, I must be able to kill myself when I can't stand to live any longer.
Second, I want to live at a fixed (or even flexable) biological age. Living to be 300 years old in a 300 year old body would NOT be fun!
Third, I would want to be able to keep the memories that I want to keep - no sense in living a few thousand years if you can't remember the first hundred (or thousand!)


After that, I would probably spend most of my existance in school, or doing research. Learning new occupations. I could work at an occupation for 40 years or so, then go back to school for another 10 or so to get my next PhD, and start my next career.

After the first hundred years or so I wouldn't need to worry about money too much anymore - the magic of compound interest would take care of me.

Hmmm - maybe not for forever, but I could get into a thousand years or 3.

[Ratman_tf]

I wouldn't want to live forever. Not for the 'gets boring' reason, but because without death, I would be taking up energy and space beyond my natural lifespan. Kind of a 'circle of life' kinda deal. Who am I to cling to life when others have died and made room for the next generations?

Would I like to exist forever as some kind of disembodied spirit? It depends heavily on the nature of my existence, something most religions don't go into beyond: 'It's Paradise! Whee! Don't think about it too hard!' :rolleyes:

[SquishyDave]

I agree with calladus, but I would add the extra proviso that when I wanted to die, there would be a 100 or a 500 year delay, that can be cancelled at any time, just in case I change my mind if something interesting happens. If something has lived for tens of thousands of years, what's 500?

I understand many of the reasons given here for not wanting a greatly increased life span, but I know people who don't want to live for a long time coz they think life is boring. They have wrong end of the stick if you ask me.

[rustypouch]

I have a few comments.

First, the whole "energy cannot be created or destroyed" uses the scientific definition of energy as the potential to do work; and is expressed in joules.

If such a spiritual energy exists, how come it has never been measured or quantified?

Second: I would like to live forever, assuming my body would not degrade. I would be like Kain and walk the Earth...

[T'ai Chi]

I'll want to do whatever nature would like me to do.

[The Mad Linguist]

Coupla millennia would be cool. Forever? I think the heat-death of the universe might have somehting to say about that.

[Cleopatra]

I do not wish to think about living for ever even as a joke. I cannot imagine living happily without my friends or the people I grew-up with. And living for ever as what? As a young person or as an older one without the physical strength I have now?

In any case, no thank you.

[Leif Roar]

Personally, I intend to live forever or die in the attempt.

[Duncan]

Okay, I submit. Uncle... Uncle, I said!

I no longer believe in spiritual energy, although I must admit, I didn't hold a whole hell of a lot of validity toward it in the first place. Anyway, I can see all your points about why you wouldn't want to live forever. Makes much more sense now. Forever is a pretty long time, even in a utopia fantasyland, but given the choice, I have to agree with Torment.

I'd still prefer to live forever though, even if I was the last human. The survival instinct in me is too strong to lay down and die, despite any boredom that may ensue without the rest of humanity

That pretty much sums it up for me.

[Correa Neto]

Live forever?

Sure. But just if I am able to continue young and in good shape. I would not even care about no longer being able to see the sunlight, drink blood, feed on someone else´s souls, sell my soul to the devil (bad deal for him, since I would never die).

Would see new things, learn new things, improve myself (even if artificially), spread my DNA and so on. Survival instinct working at its prime.

Yes, there´s the issue of missing the ones you love. I will be very pragmatic in this case- my survival instinct would help dealing with this. People do marry again after all, don´t them?

Just two points-
(1) What is forever or eternity? 1 million years? 1Gy?

(2) The best argument against "eternal life" spiritual or not is that most of our cosmological data point to a cold end to this ever-expanding universe. So, if the universe will fade in to oblivion, why would someone belive that can last forever? What brings you to point (1)...

[Ladewig]

agree with calladus, but I would add the extra proviso that when I wanted to die, there would be a 100 or a 500 year delay, that can be cancelled at any time, just in case I change my mind if something interesting happens. If something has lived for tens of thousands of years, what's 500?

If you are in chronic pain (one reason for killing oneself) then 500 years is a long, long time.

[mindless]

Considering that you live forever, everyone would die that you ever loved, and in the end you would be left alone. with no conversation and nothing to do you would end up going insane.

Im trying to picture the result of a mental patient that has enough time to exercise there insanity fully without limits of medication or care. Im thinking you could become very unique.

The concept of living forever would be like a nightmare to me. As people have said once you have tried everything you would be bored.

The thing is that forever is so long that you have a good chance of forgetting lots of things, so when so see them again they are like new. This is the best I expect you could hope for. To end up deluded that you are having new unique experiences.

[chulbert]

Originally posted by A_Feeble_Mind
The whole "wouldn't it be boring to live forever" argument sounds like sour grapes to me. We cannot live forever, so it is easier to convince yourself that you don't want that, anyways.

Although, I have wondered if the technology to keep people alive indefinately would have already been invented if the lies of "eternal life after death" hadn't made so many people complacent.

Your argument doesn't hold. There are countless things I can't do that I might want to (or dream of) and just as many things I can do that I don't want to. Consider the hypothetical, "Would you want to fly?" I can't, but I would answer "yes" to the question.

Quite to the contrary, I think most people who want to live forever do so because they cannot. But as they say, be careful what you wish for...

[kedo1981]

I think the Judeo-Christian concept of eternal life is really just a HELL in disguise! Think about it, they believe that everyone that ever lived is “immortal” you, me, Randi, Hitler.
Immortal is very different from “living forever” living forever means to be able to end your life, immortal means you are not able to end it.
No just think about it, on Judgment day most people are thrown into hell, a small number are let into heaven (lets call that number S {for saved}).
According to the BIBLE one can be cast out of the presence of God for sin, Satan and his minions were after all, so there is every reason to believe that expulsion could happen after a “soul” makes it though the pearly gates.
Say one “soul” gets the boot every billion years or so; S-1; the next billion years; S-2; and so on and so on till there is no one left; everyone ends up in hell “bummer”.
So the answer is no, I’d just prefer to fade out

[A_Feeble_Mind]

Originally posted by chulbert


Your argument doesn't hold. There are countless things I can't do that I might want to (or dream of) and just as many things I can do that I don't want to. Consider the hypothetical, "Would you want to fly?" I can't, but I would answer "yes" to the question.


Perhaps it doesn't hold. But, I suspect that it is easier to sit back at a young age, thinking death is many years away, and say that you are just sure you would be bored and it is good that you won't live forever. However, is it common for the elderly to be ready to die? How many old people decide that they have done everything and are bored?

Actually, there are probably many elderly who would say they are ready to die and go off to heaven and hang with Jesus etc. etc. How many nonreligious get tired of life, then?


Quite to the contrary, I think most people who want to live forever do so because they cannot. But as they say, be careful what you wish for...

I'm not claiming that you are doomed to live forever; there need not be something from preventing you from ending your life at any point. I just wonder, if you aren't ready to die now, why would you be ready to die later?

[calladus]

Originally posted by A_Feeble_Mind
Actually, there are probably many elderly who would say they are ready to die and go off to heaven and hang with Jesus etc. etc. How many nonreligious get tired of life, then?

What would such an elderly person say if you offered him eternal youth? At the age or ages of his or her choosing?

People are people - everyone is different. What would drive one person right 'round the twist would be sheer joy to another.

[Tony]

Would I want to live forever? Absolutely!!

[Upchurch]

The trouble with living forever is that most of us have already missed the first many billion years of forever. The best we could do now is to live for the remaining portion of forever, unless some sort of time travel were involved...

[chulbert]

Originally posted by Upchurch
The trouble with living forever is that most of us have already missed the first many billion years of forever. The best we could do now is to live for the remaining portion of forever, unless some sort of time travel were involved...

Why does that bother you? The "first many billion years" is not even a drop in the bucket of forever.

[Upchurch]

Originally posted by chulbert


Why does that bother you? The "first many billion years" is not even a drop in the bucket of forever. maybe not. Maybe it's like living one less than infinity? It's still infinity?


Hmm.... ponderous.

[chulbert]

Originally posted by A_Feeble_Mind
I'm not claiming that you are doomed to live forever; there need not be something from preventing you from ending your life at any point. I just wonder, if you aren't ready to die now, why would you be ready to die later?

Great, then we're on the same page. "Doomed to live forever" is exactly the correct phrase; It means you recognize there is a point, however far into the future, that you will no longer have the desire to live. I agree with that position.

[A_Feeble_Mind]

Originally posted by chulbert


Great, then we're on the same page. "Doomed to live forever" is exactly the correct phrase; It means you recognize there is a point, however far into the future, that you will no longer have the desire to live. I agree with that position.

That is not quite what I meant. My point is that, assuming that you could live indefinitely and only die when you choose to, you would be as likely to have the desire to live as you do now. A billion years from now you would still have the ability to end it all, just like now. Wouldn't you still have the same "maybe-in-a-billion-years" feeling?

[Crufix Fondue]

I would love to live forever. Although there is no feasible way to attain perfection, Havng an infinite life would be asymptiotic (is that a word?) Eternal life is as close to perfection as one can possibly get. I for one would have a grand old time in my ~15 Billion year life.

My only catch would be I no longer want to breathe, just so I could stay in space and not implode on myself....

I see now that we have defined these words. I would prefer to be IMMORTAL, as in, I cannot die. I know, that even if all life in the universe were to cease to exist, and the Universe did whatever it's going to do in the future, I still have my brain. and I can stay up in my imagination for eons, especially with all my accumulated knowledge/wealth/power/athletic ability/etc.

[Sundog]

Originally posted by Crufix Fondue
I would love to live forever. Although there is no feasible way to attain perfection, Havng an infinite life would be asymptiotic (is that a word?) Eternal life is as close to perfection as one can possibly get. I for one would have a grand old time in my ~15 Billion year life.

My only catch would be I no longer want to breathe, just so I could stay in space and not implode on myself....

I see now that we have defined these words. I would prefer to be IMMORTAL, as in, I cannot die. I know, that even if all life in the universe were to cease to exist, and the Universe did whatever it's going to do in the future, I still have my brain. and I can stay up in my imagination for eons, especially with all my accumulated knowledge/wealth/power/athletic ability/etc.

Oh, come on, people. You all imagine "living forever" as some sort of dream retirement on Mount Olympus. What if life just goes on the way it is now? Imagine going to your job every day forever. No one likes their jobs THAT much.

Hell, I'm bored NOW. I can't imagine how bored I'd be after a few hundred years. What a great premise for a movie though: the immortal person, bored as Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged, trying method after method of suicide, all doomed to failure...

[Cleopatra]

Sundog, think about it and be honest please.

Wouldn't you want to be like this hero in the movie the "The Highlander" who found himself in different historical periods every other day?

Of course now that you have discovered that you are Welsh we will have difficulties in persuading you to get the sheeps out of your life... but hypothetically speaking...

Wouldn't be fascinating to find youself as a Holly Inquisitor the one day and the next date spending your time debating Religion and Paranormal on line?

:p:p:p:p:p

[Sundog]

Originally posted by Cleopatra
Sundog, think about it and be honest please.

Wouldn't you want to be like this hero in the movie the "The Highlander" who found himself in different historical periods every other day?

Of course now that you have discovered that you are Welsh we will have difficulties in persuading you to get the sheeps out of your life... but hypothetically speaking...

Wouldn't be fascinating to find youself as a Holly Inquisitor the one day and the next date spending your time debating Religion and Paranormal on line?

:p:p:p:p:p

Oh you bet. If I get godlike powers along with immortality, I wouldn't get bored.

But in the real world, it would just mean I'd have to sweat it out through an infinite number of more Republican administrations. I'd have an infinite number of children and forget all their birthdays. I'd drive away even MY wonderful wife after a few million years.

Naah. I'll take the cards I was dealt. ;)

[Hegel]

Assuming that I become some kind of etheral being, that really has no way of interacting with the "real world," I really wouldn't have a problem living with eternity, especially if I get god-like powers. I don't personally believe there is a life after death, but then again you can't PROVE it so...Back to the point, if I had god-like powers, when I'm bored with this universe, I can just move on and creat another one. Hypothetically there are an infinate number of alternate universe types...so infinate number of universes infinate amount of time, seems to add up to me.

[nightwind]

I think that it would be better just to be able to stop at a certain point, say age 60, and then start over again at say 12, and just keep doing this over and over again.

I would like to see what happens if I made different decisions other than what I did.

Probably some of these lifetimes would turn out great, while others would probably stink.

But if I could freeze at the ripe old age of say, 25, that would be OK too.

[calladus]

So many people here keep bringing up all the downfalls of living forever - boredom being the worst of the lot, followed by boredom (or increasing dislike) for your spouse, your job, and your multitude of children, grandchildren, great, great, .... well, you get the picture.

I think we are all missing the forest for the trees here - what I mean is that there is ALREADY a large portion of our culture who firmly believe that they will live forever. (In an altered form).

You can imagine having it bad waiting for the heat death of the universe? Changing from one challanging job to another, going back to school (or other education) umpty-ump times?

That's nothing compared to a Christian in his afterlife. Long after God has wrapped up the universe the Christian soul will still be around, thinking up new ways to praise him. Geeze! I'ld rather spend a millenium flipping burgers!

As for school, learning new things, why bother? God has all the answers - just ask! What would it do to your psyche to know that the science you are trying so hard to learn is just a current fad to the all powerful tinker toy master. Even studying human psychology would be unfullfilling because your fellow humans are no mystery to him.

What kind of torture would you be in when you realize that no matter how much you learn and grow as an immortal soul, you will still amount to less than a nanofraction of a piss-ant to the all-knowing god.

Some non-believers think it would be a burden to live a mere couple millenia - pity the poor believer that is doomed to an infinite second life, with no ability to suicide.

[DialecticMaterialist]

Definately. The whole thing sounds preferable to the alternative and the universe being as big a place as it is, there will always be new things to discuss and learn about. I'd also love to see how mankind progressed throughout the centuries, or regressed perhaps?

[Darwin]

If "living forever" means immortality (not being able to die) then it might be a horrible "experience".Living very long does not sound like a bad idea but I think living forever is something that an average person,not being able to think in "deep time",passes off as great.I think that to live forever is just as much a restraint as having to die fairly soon.
What are you going to do when you just do not want to live anymore? Having had a lot of depression in my life,the very thought of death has sometimes been the ultimate driving force that has kept me going.One thing that I have a problem with concerning death,anyway,is the inability to learn anymore.
Frequently I dream of time travel to the past,from era to era.As fascinating as the idea is,sometimes I feel that it flows all over me.It is so extremely hard a concept to digest with a human brain only,now what would eternity be like?

[fishbait]

Approaching this question honestly forces me to admit that, on an emotional level, the thought of death scares me. All the rational thinking that I am capable of still leads to the conclusion that I really don't know anything. I believe some things to the point of virtual certainty, have great confidence in other things, have a measure of both faith and doubt in others things. Was it Socrates who said the highest form of wisdom is knowing that you don't know anything?

Knowing that I don't know what comes next is disquieting for me. My most basic response is to want to live forever and whimp out on the whole situation. Can anyone honestly say they don't have these thoughts from time to time?

I realize that I would appear to be a prime target for the fundies but that ain't gonna happen! I'm not about to start writing checks to Benny Hinn for a seat on the Rapture Express.

Approaching the immortality question logically brings up some interesting points.

The first question that comes to mind is: If there is never a time when I am not living, then how could I know that I am living now?

This may seem like a silly question, but let me run my logic and see if it makes sense.

It seems to be that we are aware of things only when they are referenced to something else. One example is the idea of up and down or left and right. If there was no up then it logically follows that there would be no down.
The direction up only exists when it is defined by comparing it to the direction down. Likewise, left and right
Each of these directions define one another and exist only because their opposites exist.Inside and outside are another example. Could you have an inside without an outside? Could you have a something without a nothing with which to compare it? Although these are all opposites, they appear to just be parts of the same thing. Like two sides to a coin. Two opposite sides but one coin.

Following this logic a bit further, and adding a temporal dimension, could you have a here now without a not here then?

This leads to the question: If you were never not living, how could you know that you were living now? Using the logic examples it seems that our awarness of being alive is defined by its opposite: Not being alive.

So, if being immortal means that its opposite (being dead) does not exist for you, then your immortality would be irrelevant since you would not be aware that you were alive. Let's put it this way: If at some time you were never cold and wet, you would not be aware of how good it feels to be warm and dry.

Does all this make sense or should I have my medication adjusted again?

[Rayn]

It makes sense, but we're discussing a hypothetical here. I suppose if I, personally, were "immortal" the world would probably implode with me at its center. But, I'm not sure if logical paradoxes spell the end of the universe, like they do for robots.

Anyways, Stimpy put it forth the best way, but if I could live life for as long as I chose to, then I'd do it with the restrictions Yahweh put forth. I don't know if there will ever be a time when I'm tired of creating art though, I'd be able to create as many sensory universes as I chose to. Talk about god-like powers! :)

[fishbait]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Rayn
[B]It makes sense, but we're discussing a hypothetical here. I suppose if I, personally, were "immortal" the world would probably implode with me at its center. But, I'm not sure if logical paradoxes spell the end of the universe, like they do for robots.

Huh? Discussing a hypothetical means that it's ok to dismiss logic?

I would call that indulging in fantasy.

Why would immortality place you at the center of the Earth?
And, why would immortality cause the world to implode?

[PogoPedant]

Though experiment time:

I'm immortal.

What do I do? Hm.. First couple of years I guess I'll be touring around making appearences at various talk-shows and extreme-sport events. 'So how does it feel to be immortal?' 'Good thanks', 'Afraid of getting bored?' 'No, there's always something to do, I guess'.
After a few years of this, I get borded with the glamorous life of a celebrity and become a superhero thwarting evil schemes. After all, there is nothing the baddies can do to me, right?

And so a couple of (thousand? million?) years go by, I'm having a blast, though I miss having friends that stay around for more than a couple of decades. Then the sun explodes, eats up the earth, sucks most of the solar system in to it's middle, I'm very hot for a while, then everything grows dark as the sun cools down, and I'm stuck in the middle of a dead star. Great. And I can't die.

Maybe I won't pick immortality...

[Rayn]

No, discussing a hypothetical does not mean we should discard logic, I was just trying to bring a little levity to the topic. In an episode of Futurama, logical paradoxes can destroy robots.

As for the world imploding with me at its center, I think that was just an extrapolation on that idea. If the universe could not stand a paradox, such as me being immortal, then it would cease to exist (if it were robot-like, I suppose), and since I cause it by becoming immortal, then I assume it would implode around me.

Anyways, it was just me running with a joke that I didn't state in my post, so it is quite obviously absurd and ridiculous. You can just ignore that post if you like. I still find it funny. Kinda.

[fishbait]

Ah, levity! We don't have much of that around where I live. I was the last practitioner of irony until the bottom dropped out back in '85. Where I live, if you act dumb then you're treated as an equal. So, I act like a moron as much as possible and find that it can be quite relaxing.

I don't know from robots, but I do know all about chainsaws.

Regards, f

[Rayn]

Ah, the Great Irony Depression of '85, what a sad time. The Satire Secession of '92 was a bit rough for me as well. Chainsaws and irony are a potent combination in the fight against solemn discussion. Fight the power!

[billydkid]

Actually I would prefer to get to live my own life over and over again until I got it right. Actually, people do get tired of life. As you get older and less well it becomes easier to imagine just ending it all. On the other hand, if you could be 18 forever that wouldn't be a bad deal.

[elliotfc]

Let's not forget Tithonus!

I'd want to live forever if I could drag others along with me!

-Elliot

[calladus]

Originally posted by PogoPedant
Though experiment time:

I'm immortal.

What do I do? Hm.. First couple of years I guess I'll be touring around making appearences at various talk-shows and extreme-sport events. 'So how does it feel to be immortal?' 'Good thanks', 'Afraid of getting bored?' 'No, there's always something to do, I guess'.
After a few years of this, I get borded with the glamorous life of a celebrity and become a superhero thwarting evil schemes. After all, there is nothing the baddies can do to me, right?

And so a couple of (thousand? million?) years go by, I'm having a blast, though I miss having friends that stay around for more than a couple of decades. Then the sun explodes, eats up the earth, sucks most of the solar system in to it's middle, I'm very hot for a while, then everything grows dark as the sun cools down, and I'm stuck in the middle of a dead star. Great. And I can't die.

Maybe I won't pick immortality...

You would think that if you could live forever, after a billion years on Earth you would be able to figure out a means to get out of the solar system before the Sun expanded into it's giant phase!!