Imagining the Downside of Immortality!

[Falkirion]

No thanks. Although the whole not dying thing could be great, seeing so many ages pass would be too much to bear for the human mind. You'd more than likely go insane from seeing things change.

[Krauter]

^ This

[razark]

One major problem with immortality would be watching the world change around you. In 1903, the Wright Flyer flew. In 1969, 66 years later, men walked on the moon. In the 1940s, computers were huge, slow machines. Today, everyone has two, three, ten computers at their fingertips, to the point of not even noticing them. In the span of about 100 years, humans went from steam, to electricity, to nuclear power.

Think about the technological things in your daily life today. How many of them did your parents know about, let alone own? How many new technologies will there be in 20, 50, or 100 years? How about language? Do you still use the same slang and other vocabulary that your parents or grandparents used? How many people struggle to read Shakespeare, or Chaucer, or Beowulf?

That's what immortality would mean. It's a constant stream of change, going far beyond what you have any experience with, even given the rapid pace of change today.

[AVGWarhawk]

Western culture is highly individualistic - and thanatophobic. I see a link between both. We value the individual and it'S rights and freedoms extremely high. and by that it seems that we lose the meaning of death out of our sight. Avoiding leads to no longer learning. Lack of insight leads to fear. And by this, we become obsessed with the idea of wanting to live forever/stay forever young.

Not me brother. As tired as I am a dirt bed for eternity does not sound that bad!

[Flaxpants]

Well I think it sounds great!

Just one question- Does the wife live forever as well?

[Jimbuna]

What happens to you if there is a worldwide nuclear war that devastates and kills all of mankind or the planet gets hit by a huge asteroid that destroys Earth?

[Flaxpants]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

What happens to you if there is a worldwide nuclear war that devastates and kills all of mankind or the planet gets hit by a huge asteroid that destroys Earth?

As you would have millions of years, your best bet would be to sit around and wait by the side of a bubbling pool- eventually some new friends will walk out of it, that's the beauty of evolution.

If you don't believe in evolution, then I guess you could sort of float around?

[Torplexed]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

What happens to you if there is a worldwide nuclear war that devastates and kills all of mankind or the planet gets hit by a huge asteroid that destroys Earth?

Let's see. You're trapped under tons of radioactive rubble in darkness and you can barely move. But you're immortal and you can't sicken or die.

The irony would make for a decent Twilight Zone episode.

[Osmium Steele]

Ann Rice wrote very well about the wonders and horrors of immortality in her Vampire Chronicles. I've never read a better description.

[vienna]

Immoratality would give one pause when considering the "'til death do us part' idea...

[Jimbuna]

Whilst watching 'The Highlander' films I was always full of envy when flashbacks of previous centuries showing the women they enjoyed the company of were portrayed

[August]

Originally Posted by Anthony W.

If we found a way to live forever, the first thing I'd try is probably to give a nuke a hug - while it goes off

Or jump from a commercial jet

Or drive a smartcar head on into a semi truck

Excellent, can I haz your stuff?

[the_tyrant]

Imagine subsim if we all lived forever
soon jim's post count will be so long it will no longer fit on my screen

I am not frightened about death, I just don't want to be there when it happens. Woody allen