Good questions. It depends on the state of my health. If I could live forever in my current state, or better, I would definitely want to. I wonder how overcrowded the world would become though... I would like to live forever because I love to learn. I'm sure this has been said in the rest of the thread, but I didn't read any of it. Imagine the wealth of knowledge available for you to pursue throughout a span of indeterminable years. Given enough time I could possibly even become published one day. But if I had to suffer in decrepitude, the living forever thing would be such a bore.
Depends on who was murdered and exactly how desperate a situation the homeless man is in. If the homeless man has kids, you get bonus points. If he has more than 5 kids, you get even more bonus points. Of course, if the murdered person has kids, that's negative points.
I really don't see my life as a waste...and I'm not ruining the lives of those around me, as you say. Ewww @ the suggestion to get involved in politics. Anyway, people are getting hostile for no reason, so I'll be silent...
I just want to cut in and let ya'll in on something...YOU'RE HIJACKING THE THREAD. We aren't here to argue Good versus Evil, we're on IMMORTALITY versus MORTALITY. You could always take this to another thread or your respective PM and VM pages if you are enjoying the discussion that much.
And why is being cynical compulsory all of a sudden? Sure, there are idealistic politicians who try to make our society less unjust *glares fiercely*
Sorry. The root of my participation in the spin-off discussion is this: Some people might not think that living forever sounds fun because they look at the world as a dark, miserable place. I, however, love my life and everything about it, so I would love to live forever. There, back on topic. Edit: Also, sorry Henry if I seemed to be getting hostile. I didn't mean for it to come off that way...
Agreed, zorrel. After I posted I started read the other responses and thought I had posted in the wrong thread there for a minute.
Nicely said. I think the good/evil debate has a lot to do with whether or not people feel there is enough meaning in their life for it to continue for infinity, or if they are frightened/bored by the idea...
Last I'll Say The explanation is well and dandy, but the discussion has lost all mention of IMMORTALITY versus MORTALITY and is now solely good versus evil. Therein lies the problem. Again, if the discussion of Good versus Evil is so attractive, ya'll can always start a thread dedicated to it in the Lounge.
as a philosopher, i don't 'focus' on the bad, but since it's in much more plentiful supply than the good in this species, neither can i ignore it or downplay it in a pollyana-like way, as so many non-philosophers may prefer to do... and, since bad behavior can and should be eschewed, while good behavior is okay to let exist as is, it's the facets of our species that can be improved, which call for being put in the spotlight, so they can be addressed and hopefully dealt with... and that's the end of my contribution to the hijacking of this thread... apologies to the op... hugs, m
Immortality for sure, think of all the things you could learn in infinite years. You could, well, learn everything. Instead of trying to cram the little knowledge we do know into one life like we do so often, we could take our time, learning more.
Yeah, I should probably have said that when I said I would choose immortality. I would choose immortality with Joel...not by myself.
Immortality. I envy the man who met Plato, saw the rise of the Roman Empire, the fall of Byzantium, the rebirth of Europe, the French Revolution, and many other important events and time-periods.
Immortality, without question. Though I'd prefer it phrased as "living as long as I choose" rather than the more unsavory "cannot die" variant which can be associated with some nasty ramifications. I'd consider it implicit that infirmity and sickness would be eliminated in the process, either by engineering the biology or just abandoning it entirely. There's effectively zero reason for me to choose to decay and die when there's an alternative available.
Because of my own personal and religious beliefs, I would stick with mortality. Don't even need to think about it, really. I agree with this statement: You all point out the wonders of learning while being immortal, well I believe you'd be able to do that in the afterlife, so I'm thinking mortality is a win-win situation. Plus being dead, you'd get to chill with those who've already died. There are several historical figures I'd love to have a chat with.
Being stuck in a sort of rut being that I'm back being a student and everyone is like eight or nine years younger than me, and my friends are all married/engaged/having babies, I'd say I've had my glimpse of an immortal life, and it sucks. To put it this way- to be immortal, you have to be able to sit back and watch other people's lives, and never really have your own. I'm not really down for that. Besides, I'm of the view that death is life's final adventure. Nobody actually knows, although there are constant and vibrant debates on the issue throuought history. In dying, you finally find out for sure. It's this school of thinking that helps me deal with death on a regular basis. It might be the biggest cop out in the history of fence sitting, but can anyone offer complete and utter proof of what happens after death? No? I thought not. But immortality would suck. Yes, you'd live through interesting times, but there's a reason that's an ancient chinese curse.
Everything you care about will eventually fall apart around you, meaning that you find it hard to make connections with people with the knowledge that you will outlive them all?
