Would you want to live forever? Discuss.

[c172]

I was FBing earlier, and moseyed on over to Atheist Republic. They posed this query and this was roughly my response:

I would not. What about our bodies? Wouldn't they continue to age into deterioration? So, even if this were doable, we'd be living as mush after a while. 
And even if that didn't happen, the ability to live forever would sure change the family structure. Seriously, not just a 100% divorce rate, but a 100% disownment rate as well. 
Plus, as much as I kind of want to know what's up with the U.S.A. or the territory it occupies in, say, 300 years,, I feel like the older I get, the more enslaved by a generation gap I'll be. Not something i care to endure.

(I'm having memory block navigating, so if this needs moved, my apologies)

[Vera]

Apeirophobia. Nothing used to scare me quite as paralysingly as a kid/teen as the thought of eternity. Of no ending. Ever. EVER. EVER. EVER

We are finite beings and the infinite is ungraspable, and terrifyingly so, to us.

Living much, much longer (healthily)? Sign me up!

[Phaedrus]

If I could have immortality through supernatural means akin to vampirism, what-have-you, then I would very much enjoy that.

[jerry mcmasters]

I think it would be dependent on what we perceive. To relive each day for the next million years as, say, a child going to disneyland or an young adult in love, sure, why not.

[EvieTheAvocado]

I'm entirely indifferent really . . .

I mean ... I think that what really matters, when it comes to quality of life, is quality of experience. And ... quality of experience is about intensity—it's not really about duration (or space. Meaning: whether it's inside me or inside somebody else it's still a good experience ... and it doesn't matter how long it lasts because as soon as it changes then the person's changed because, literally, we change who we are from second to second).

So, really, all that matters really is the quality of experience.

So, I'm entirely indifferent to whether I'd want to live forever. What I don't want is painful experiences and what I do want is pleasurable experiences.

Erm ... you know?

Pleasurable experience forever or just for a second is exactly the same as far as I'm concerned.

People get confused and think that, erm, you know, a good experience lasting long is better but that's just because that the whole experience of a good feeling tends to be ... an increase. You know? If you're feeling good things are getting better and better and better and, you know—if you're feeling bad things are getting worse and worse and worse ... but the getting worse means that the quality has already changed. You know? If it's really the exact same quality ... then ... the duration doesn't matter. You know? Like, if I felt exactly the same thing now ...

... it's a bit like Groundhog Day. If every day was the same ... then ... people ... (like, there's that film (that movie (Groundhog Day)) you think that, er, ... you think that, er, that it drives you mad but that's only because, you know, he's remembering "Oh, I've already seen this before!" or "Oh, such and such said this already! This is so annoying!"—it's only because he's got that memory. If he forgot? If he forgot instantly—if he had amnesia—he'd think it was the first day. He'd think it hadn't happened before. So ... it's not actually the fact that it's happening all the time—it's the same with boredom. It's not the "sameyness" that makes things boring. It's your memory. It's the fact you remember—— ... having done it before. If you don't remember doing it before, if you thought it was the first time ... like ...: imagine that you've lived this life a million times before. People talk about how Heaven would "eventually get boring", like, because it "went on forever" it would be "boring eventually" but ... not if you've forgot.. That, like, you know, imagine if, er, if, er, life—if this life had already happened a million times before. You'd be so bored if you remembered it all. But ... but if you only remember this life then you're not bored at all. So it's like ... it really isn't ...

... and the fact that—remember—once you remember ... then that changes the experience. Because the memory becomes part of the experience.

So ... really.

... duration doesn't matter.

So I'm entirely indifferent ...

. . . if you don't give me any additional information ... I'm entirely indifferent.

[brewerb]

Only if everybody else lived forever also. Why should I get to be special?

Did I just turn hindu?

[skyking]

I'm really good at making new friends, but I'd get tired of losing them.

[Alan V]

Living forever would likely mean working forever. No thanks.

[Tres Leches]

I can't think of one benefit of living forever vs. living a finite number of years. Name one and I'll consider it.

-Teresa

[Phaedrus]

I suppose I enjoy the concept of immortality due to how it was romanticized by Anne Rice in her vampire chronicles. If you're the type of person who has never experienced the appeal of immortality through fiction, then of course you will be turned off by it.

[Joods]

No thank you. I've had more pain and heartbreak in my life than I should have to go through at my age. I am not interested in continuing my torture for an indefinite amount of time. Sadly, I look forward to the end of my days.

[Astreja]

I wouldn't mind an extended life span with a fairly youthful body and mind. More opportunities to have interesting experiences and learn things.

But eternal life? Nope.

[Minimalist]

No, thanks.

[ghostexorcist]

Half of me says "Hell, no!" I've thought of suicide once or twice in my life. Life is boring but little things give me a rejuvenating boost from time to time. But given my interest in history and evolution, the other half of me says "Fuck, yes!" (provided I don't have to worry about money). It would be so cool to see where technology goes, perhaps even volunteer for missions to asteroids or other planets.

[EvieTheAvocado]

The fact that I have no future also makes me indifferent.

[Dancefortwo]

I sure as hell wouldn't want the eternal life Christians propose.  Kissing gods ass and worshiping him forever.  NOPE! That would be eternal hell.  I think I'd get tired of living eternally  even if my mind and body were intact. 

Yeah,  for sure, I'd just get dog tired of eternal living.  Ugh

[SYZ]

Me?  In a word... no.

At my age I'm pissed off enough already with the way society has gone to
the shithouse, and lost its way.  By 2050 we're gonna be having "Mad Max"
type wars over—not petrol—but water.  We won't be able to provide enough
food even for the developed countries, and millions of people will be dying
daily through exposure to 55ºC-plus temperatures.  

London, New York, Amsterdam, Singapore, and Sydney will be under water.
The world's largest economies will be China (1st), India (2nd) and
Indonesia (4th) while the US could be down to third place in the global
GDP rankings.

A natural pandemic could by then have killed hundreds of millions of people,
or an engineered pandemic (such as bio-warfare) could kill many more, and
threaten total civilisational collapse.

We'll have run out of accessible oil and LNG, and solar or wind power won't
provide sufficient electricity for the planet's 9.8 billion people.

So... do I really want to live beyond that period?    Nope, thank you very much.

[abaris]

It would be a terrible society of old people stuck in their ways. There couldn't be children anymore for several reasons. If noone dies, the world would be overpopulated to the brim. Noone could sustain new generations of immortal people.

But what does living forever mean anyway? No age process. People are forever stuck in the body as it was when they achieved immortality?

And say, someone really discovered something to stop aging. What would happen? Most likely only multi millionaires and billionaires would be able to afford it. So it would be a society of slaves and masters. The short lived slaves would do all the work for their immortal masters.

No, however I turn the idea over in my head, I can't find any reason to like it.

[julep]

No.  

I have always wished I had never been born.   The prospect of being conscious forever is repugnant to me.

[robvalue]

The only circumstances would be a situation where I somehow had complete control over my own experiences. Otherwise, living forever is a horrible prospect I’d want to avoid at almost any cost.

[Dom]

What I want is to live until I decide not to. 

There are lots of things that could make me want not to live any longer, such as a deteriorating body, a deteriorating mind, a deteriorating society, a deteriorating world.

Of course, if the opposite was true, such as an improving body, and improving mind, an improving society and an improving world, I'd happily stick around.

Sadly the second scenario is not likely to happen.

So - no.

[EvieTheAvocado]

No.  

I have always wished I had never been born.   The prospect of being conscious forever is repugnant to me.

I am also an anti-natalist.

But don't you draw the distinction between "a life worth ending" and "a life worth continuing"?

[julep]

No.  

I have always wished I had never been born.   The prospect of being conscious forever is repugnant to me.

I am also an anti-natalist.

But don't you draw the distinction between "a life worth ending" and "a life worth continuing"?

No.   

The concept of "worth" isn't connected to my feelings about being born or being alive.   That concept may be meaningful for other people, but it's not to me.

[EvieTheAvocado]

No.  

I have always wished I had never been born.   The prospect of being conscious forever is repugnant to me.

I am also an anti-natalist.

But don't you draw the distinction between "a life worth ending" and "a life worth continuing"?

No.   

The concept of "worth" isn't connected to my feelings about being born or being alive.   That concept may be meaningful for other people, but it's not to me.

I don't really mean "worth" in that sense.

I mean don't you think that there's a difference that matters between continuing a life and starting one? And between not starting one and ending one? (e.g. an absence of giving birth is not the same as a presence of death and to choose to not have children is not the same as to kill children).

Kinda similar to a difference between wishing some books weren't written or suggesting people burned them. Do I think that it would be better if the Bible, the Quran and the Book of Moron were never written? Hell yes! Do I approve of burning such books, or any books for that matters, hell no!

It may be better that I wasn't born but now that I'm alive I'm having a hell of a good time so I want it to continue, for example. I think my life wasn't "worth" starting but is "worth" continuing. Not talking about self-worth or anything like that.

[no one]

No!