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Would you want to be immortal? And do you think immortals exist?

posted 8 years ago by vtoast
4 replies | jump to latest

I was wondering if you would like to be immortal and why or why not? These are the most obvious reasons why many people are against it and my rebuttal to each one. I am interested to know if you agree or disagree:

1) Boredom.
I think this is a poor answer though, because there are far too many things to do. The world will likely be destroyed before you can ever do every single thing there is to do on it. Places to explore, people to meet, TV shows to watch, books to read, hobbies and goals to pursue, and even just everyday things. I may be biased because I have never actually been bored in my life, but I think it is because I have various passions and know how to make things interesting. I am actually fairly confident that I could take anyone's life and "remake" it to ensure that they really enjoy it indefinitely.

Furthermore, if, for example, millions of years down the line, you decide you are too bored to live any longer, you can always just kill yourself - so you haven't given anything up, all you've done is given yourself more options.

2) Loved ones dying.
This is a valid objection in some cases but becomes irrelevant for vampires as you can make your family or friends immortal anyway.

3) Unnatural.
This is, in my opinion, the worst objection, as it is just illogical. Either (1) anything not directly existing in nature is "unnatural," meaning phones, computers, internet, TV, processed foods, planes, spaceships, printed books, and basically everything else is also unnatural, and if you use any of those things then your "it's unnatural" objection is invalid because it shows that doing unnatural things doesn't really bother you at all, or (2) anything allowable by nature IS natural - meaning, the very fact that it's possible for you to do something means it should be considered as "natural," or (3) whether something is classed as natural/unnatural is irrelevant to determining whether you should engage in it anyway.

Another way some people present this is with that line about life being meaningless without death. I don't see any sense to that, though. Yes, it's true that if every person in the world became immortal, some of them would waste their lives because they think "I have time to do it later." I see this as an inferior mindset though because if you have hobbies and passions and things that you truly enjoy and care about, then you are going to pursue them regardless of whether you have 10 years or 100 years or 10 million years at your disposal.

4) Immortals find it harder to relate to people.
I've heard this only once, and it's (likely) a valid statement, however it's also not relevant. First, you can relate to other immortals. Second, many people already find it hard to relate to others (for example people who are highly intelligent or who have unusual interests that fall outside the scope of mainstream appeal), and this doesn't make them want to die. Third, what does it even matter? The desire to "fit in" is childish (in my opinion) and if you haven't grown out of it already you definitely would after a couple of hundred years.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this and know if you have any other objections that I haven't covered, or if you disagree with anything I've said.

Last, I am also wondering if you think that immortals exist already. Of course there isn't that much evidence indicating it but I would assume that it wouldn't be easy to locate them anyway (if I were immortal I definitely wouldn't be telling people about it or doing things to draw attention to it, and I would have specific protocols for myself to follow to ensure I avoid detection). Unless you've already seen them personally it would probably be foolish to believe just on "faith," so when I ask if you think they exist, I really mean do you think the probability that they may exist is substantial, and why or why not?

If anyone is interested in this, feel free to reply. If you'd like to discuss it privately, you can also email me directly (my information is listed on my IMDB profile). Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

[–] Tajiko 8 years ago

You covered loved ones and unnatural part but regarding boredom, I think you're underestimate its actual toll as the years go by. For example, keep in mind how dull most of life is for us mortals. I mean, the majority of time we sleep, work, non-payment work just get things in order and then activities we waste time on that doesn't really do anything, meaningless distractions if you will, at least that's my perspective on it. Now if you are immortal it's not going take long before you start to see the fundamental patterns of original ideas, themes, work, activities. Give two or three centuries and I think most people would become mad with weird, insane ideas just to see if it would amuse you out of boredom. This assesment is done if we assume you're still human but stops biological aging. I'm also a sort of a cynic pessimist so I might be bias, I'm sure there are someone out there with ridiculous optimism and enthusiasm that could last thousands of years before madness or the urge to kill yourself becomes more enticing.

Have you read any well written books that depict the issues of immortality? I've been trying to find one but other than the first Anne Rice novels, this genre seems to be filled with cliché ridden super heroes fighting in a boring, old war between gods, not genuine literature that tries to depict how a life would be for a human that somehow manage to stop its biological aging.

[–] vtoast 8 years ago

the majority of time we sleep, work, non-payment work just get things in order and then activities we waste time on that doesn't really do anything, meaningless distractions if you will,

I think this is true for most people, which definitely shows why immortality may be better suited to specific lifestyles or mindsets. If someone is already often finding themselves bored and they're only 30 years old, then it may be difficult for them to imagine lasting 3,000 years, compared to someone who never gets bored. On the other hand, entertaining yourself might be seen as a skill, in which case you could develop it over the years such that by the time you actually are hundreds of years old you would have such a different outlook that you never spend a single second bored.

Have you read any well written books that depict the issues of immortality?

No I haven't, but please let me know if you find any, as I'm interested as well.

[–] Tajiko 8 years ago

I think this is true for most people, which definitely shows why immortality may be better suited to specific lifestyles or mindsets.

Indeed. I wonder if it would help once one attains immortality (whatever that way is), one adds a little extra ingredient to the equation: Something that causes unbearable pain, if you are bored for a long period of time. That way it would push you on a constant basis to try new things and spice things up. OTOH, being pushed to live only by a stick won't make you feel too good so it might be necessary to add something that gives you a sort of carrot to follow, perhaps like a life goal that will take a lot of time but it will be worthwhile if you achieve it (world peace or something like that). How the latter ingredient would work in a potential immortality device is hard to say, might require some research into what one would personally like to achieve then perhaps train yourself really hard to keep it in mind (self-brainwash if that could work). So you now have a pain motivator to keep you from stop doing things and one that will make life meaningful even if you get so old that even civilizations rise and fall.

I think it's also important if one would attain agelessness rather than actual immortality, it's probably better to keep it that way so death is still a possibility, it's just not through aging. Death has a way of giving life value since it's finite. Even for someone that could potentially live millions of years it's still nothing compared to unlimited life. I suppose the fear of death could also keep you from becoming a murderer and stuff like that since even if you become super experienced through many years, you can still make a mistake and that is more likely to happen if you have zero fear of death.

No I haven't, but please let me know if you find any, as I'm interested as well.

Will do.

I looked at your ratings and noticed you have seen Byzantium. Remember that scene when Eleanor tells the teacher that she's going to be trapped in a 16 year old body forever? That gave me shills, it was like the director knew how to set up the scene so that once she delivered the line it would feel like she meant it and that one would understand it, maybe only a shadow of how it would feel being that old.

Also, if you haven't seen The Man from Earth (2007), I highly recommend it.

[–] raf-33 8 years ago

I would just eat my loved ones once they got old, it's how they would like to go I imagine.

Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived. -Isaac Asimov