This question is interesting because it directly relates to the fear of death - do I want to remove death and face the extinction of the human race and/or the sun engulfing Earth?
I am scared of death, most of us are. I don't want to die, and this would lend itself to "live forever, regret later", but is eternal life really worth all the things I'd see? I would always be haunted by the deaths of loved ones and those around me, being forced to carry that grief with me for the rest of time (but if I live forever, said loved ones wouldn't have to go through the grief of my death). What about eventual insanity? Would I be able to keep my mental state intact as my age becomes triple digits, quadruple digits and beyond? Surely I'd get weighed down by those thoughts, and be unable to live a large majority of my infinite life with any sort of peace of mind. I would always be haunted. Sure, I might be all good for 70 years, but is that guaranteed 70 years worth it for what will be centuries on centuries of hell? It is easy for us to pick "live forever" based off our current perspective, but that could all easily change. Still, I'd probably live forever anyway, the fear of death is everything. We have one shot at life, and we're reminded on a daily basis just how easy it is to die. One accident, one mistake. Being at the wrong place in the wrong time. Death is something that, even if it comes before our time, is always unavoidable. One day, we will die. If I choose to live forever, then I won't have to worry about that, but as is obvious, the issues of eternal life are probably far greater than we can imagine. "Live forever" is a very vague term, while we know it is "eternal youth" in the context of this thread, just how far does that go?
Scenario 1: The commonly discussed point both in this thread as a whole and the current part of my post. Living forever means the inability to die - you cannot end it. Even if you're crushed, burnt, etc you'll still live that agony, and eventually you'll be nothing more than atoms floating in an empty nothingness (probably).
Scenario 2: Eternal youth means an immunity to disease, any life changing injuries, etc. I feel this would make the choice a lot easier for some people, and for me too. I wouldn't have to worry so much about my eventual "end" (if you can call it that), and it would not only allow me to live forever but perhaps be a much better and more positive contribution to society, as I would be able to use this to my advantage - then again, one could easily give into the temptation of evil. This would open up a whole new set of problems
Scenario 3: You have the capacity to live forever, and eternal youth, but this does not make you immune to death. This would be interesting as it'd allow a lot of people to choose to go out when they want, if living the immortal life became too much. Not going to dwell on this too much though, since I assume it falls outside the scope of the thread.
I sort of approached this question with more of a mentality of "live forever or live normally" rather than the specific "die right now" wording both because I thought it allowed me to explain my thoughts better and the general scope of immortality is usually approached. I assume this isn't a problem but if it is I'm happy to edit my post.
Very interesting question and thread, I do like people's responses.
I am scared of death, most of us are. I don't want to die, and this would lend itself to "live forever, regret later", but is eternal life really worth all the things I'd see? I would always be haunted by the deaths of loved ones and those around me, being forced to carry that grief with me for the rest of time (but if I live forever, said loved ones wouldn't have to go through the grief of my death). What about eventual insanity? Would I be able to keep my mental state intact as my age becomes triple digits, quadruple digits and beyond? Surely I'd get weighed down by those thoughts, and be unable to live a large majority of my infinite life with any sort of peace of mind. I would always be haunted. Sure, I might be all good for 70 years, but is that guaranteed 70 years worth it for what will be centuries on centuries of hell? It is easy for us to pick "live forever" based off our current perspective, but that could all easily change. Still, I'd probably live forever anyway, the fear of death is everything. We have one shot at life, and we're reminded on a daily basis just how easy it is to die. One accident, one mistake. Being at the wrong place in the wrong time. Death is something that, even if it comes before our time, is always unavoidable. One day, we will die. If I choose to live forever, then I won't have to worry about that, but as is obvious, the issues of eternal life are probably far greater than we can imagine. "Live forever" is a very vague term, while we know it is "eternal youth" in the context of this thread, just how far does that go?
Scenario 1: The commonly discussed point both in this thread as a whole and the current part of my post. Living forever means the inability to die - you cannot end it. Even if you're crushed, burnt, etc you'll still live that agony, and eventually you'll be nothing more than atoms floating in an empty nothingness (probably).
Scenario 2: Eternal youth means an immunity to disease, any life changing injuries, etc. I feel this would make the choice a lot easier for some people, and for me too. I wouldn't have to worry so much about my eventual "end" (if you can call it that), and it would not only allow me to live forever but perhaps be a much better and more positive contribution to society, as I would be able to use this to my advantage - then again, one could easily give into the temptation of evil. This would open up a whole new set of problems
Scenario 3: You have the capacity to live forever, and eternal youth, but this does not make you immune to death. This would be interesting as it'd allow a lot of people to choose to go out when they want, if living the immortal life became too much. Not going to dwell on this too much though, since I assume it falls outside the scope of the thread.
I sort of approached this question with more of a mentality of "live forever or live normally" rather than the specific "die right now" wording both because I thought it allowed me to explain my thoughts better and the general scope of immortality is usually approached. I assume this isn't a problem but if it is I'm happy to edit my post.
Very interesting question and thread, I do like people's responses.