A recent conversation on about the advances of medical technology turned to the idea of immortality. With the rate of advancement in bionic limbs, organ cloning, and nano machines it is becoming a distinct possibility for those with the funding to live very long lives and within the next two hundred or so years take steps towards immortality. Now with this in mind me and a shipmate of mine got to wondering if people would really want to live forever. Most would say yes in a heart beat without thinking about the real ramifications of this. To watch those that you love who do not wish to take this step or cant afford it grow old and feeble, loss their memories and eventually die would be heart wrenching. To truly live forever and not lose ones mind or take ones own life in the end I am of the opinion that a person has to have the constitution for immortality. They must be strong of mind and be able to find great pleasure in something that is as immortal as they are.
I take my own example from the character Marius De Romanus in the Ann Rice Vampire Series. He found his greatest joy in philosophy and the study of mans development and though he did love greatly many people he was always just detached enough to endure their loss should it come. I feel that to really be able to handle living forever one would have to find a great passion and find their drive though that rather then depend on people for ones happiness in life. Now of course this would rule out most of the Herd around us but there are those that have the mindset for it.
Now should the day come when one would live forever how would you go about it and would you even want to? At what price would you be willing to cast aside an immortal life ? (Such as being mostly robotic and unable to feel though out large portions of your body.)

Over my dead body.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

I am one who would answer with an instant YES. I would, indeed, choose immortality. If those I "love" wouldn't choose the same... their loss. If they couldn't (for financial reasons)... their unwillingness to make the proper preperations for it by investments and or multiple other ways to gain the finances to live forever.


Along that line of thought, have you seen this?

www.vampiretemple.com

I can answer this question with an assertive...
"I don't know?"

On one hand it would give us a great deal more time to advance ourselves, our legacy, and fulfill dreams. Imagine how great an artist could be if they could live forever.

On the other hand, is it our deaths that give our lives meaning? Although we complete so much that is significant in life, often times you find peoples deaths making their works in this life much, MUCH more valuable. Especially in the field of art.

My loved friend and relatives would all die anyway, whether I'm immortal or not. So losing them wound not be a factor in deciding to extend my own life. And of course, if some kind of immortality technology is developed, it will probably be available for them too. In any case, having a long life would give me time enough to process the grief.

As for living in a cybernetic body with limited sensitivity, even the crudest robotic body is better than be a corpse. All I have to do is wait for those upgrades.

Being only 19, I'm hoping that medical technologies will advance much further within my lifetime. I would pay a pretty penny for the opportunity to live for over a hundred years.

Well, not to answer the question with a question...but why would I want to die?

What's waiting for me? Even if there is some intangible paradise on the other end, screw it; none of my stuff is there.

The consensus, after weighing the downs and ups, is that living forever would kick ass.

Oh no. Not THIS shit again.

Without a doubt, anyone with a lick of sense wants to live as long as possible.

But to make the leap from the potentially realistic hope of living a long time to the pure fantasy of "immortality" is self-delusion.

I can think of a few religions that center themselves around the concept of immortality. If fooling yourself into buying that shit appeals to you, it won't be hard to find one to cater to exactly that hope.

I think the distinction between true immortality and increased lifespan is important. Since I judge the former to be impossible that leaves only the prospect of increasing the amount of time an individual lives. It then becomes a simple cost-benefit analysis. Would I rather have 100 mediocre years or 50 excellent ones, etc.

Precisely.

Well, i don"t think that I would want to be immortal unless if my family would also be immortal.

That is funny, because I would only want to be immortal if my family were *NOT* immortal.

I'd assume you're referring to your family as in "the people you were born into."

It's actually quite a different perspective when you choose your family - as in, you are the husband/father, or wife/mother.

Or maybe you meant the latter. In which case, my condolences.

Of course, I was being flippant. You are correct. I meant the family into which I was born.

I always felt like an alien among them. The ones who reared me did as well as they could for me with what and who they were. But they are gone now. It is the ones who still live whose immortality would concern me. When I became familiar with the opera Siegfried, I totally understood how Siegfried felt being raised by Mime.

Regarding my loved ones (as opposed to "my family") - when I love it comes with the tacit agreement that they may precede me in death. Everything one loves and experiences in this reality, one will lose. It's taken me a long time to be more in the present and enjoy the ride while it's there and less focused on the forever-ness of it.

Also, if it were my plan to live this life forever, it is possible someone I would love would not want to live forever. I would have to choose between my desire for them in my life now and my desire for them to be in my life forever.

To an immortal, a mortal person is basically terminally-ill. I love the people I do knowing they are terminally-ill - as I think I am, currently.