immortality???

[pgrmdave]

And if the mind purged memories, is it worth it to forget all the people you once knew? I think that I would rather live for a hundred years than for a thousand. Even if there is nothing beyond this. If I couldn't remember my mother, or father. Or if I couldn't remember what life was like when I was younger, I don't think that it would be worth being alive that long. I'm not saying that it is worthless - I think it would be interesting to see what politics would be like if we lived that long - but I don't understand the benefit.

[C1ay]

Originally Posted by pgrmdave

I think it would be interesting to see what politics would be like if we lived that long

I think it would be interesting to watch technology and science.

[pgrmdave]

I think that technology and science would progress at the same, increasing rate. Technology builds off of itself, not off of the people who create it. Politics, on the other hand, is a short term game, because no politician needs to think about his or her constituents' children or grandchildren. If people lived much longer, we could take a more longterm view of things.

[lindagarrette]

Originally Posted by C1ay

Why not? Is there any proof that there is anything waiting for us after death? If there is no heaven, no afterlife, no reincarnation or anything else I'd just as soon stay here among the living. I think the mind would just purge older memories we don't need any longer to make room for new ones.

It doesn't matter if you live for a second or a thousand years or more. Your self is your physical being and your memories. Both of those are subject to constant change. Meanwhile, all you experience is the present moment.

[Thomas]

Originally Posted by orbsycli

Uh oh, this sounds like the Matrix.

Indeed, once we find out how to get information in a liquid form, we could just inject it into the brain, or hook up a cable in the back of our heads and instantly recieve millions of bits of information , there would be not need for school, classic education.

Why do some people keep saying they would not want to live thousands of years? I think life is great - even though I do believe in an afterlife , I would still want to live for a few thousand years . I think It would be fun. Who cares if I don't remember all of it?

[Aki]

Well personaly, I don't see why I would want to live for thousand years. By the time I get to 90, I'll be so old, that I can't walk, I can't go biking; I'll just be sitting there.

[Thomas]

Originally Posted by Aki

Well personaly, I don't see why I would want to live for thousand years. By the time I get to 90, I'll be so old, that I can't walk, I can't go biking; I'll just be sitting there.

Since technology will be further advanced, maybe you won't be just sitting there, anyway if we have to die, might as well remain concious for as long as we possibly can on the earth. Pain at least is a feeling, death is well - nothing.

The cool thing would be not just to prolong life, but to alter the speed at which on ages. for example, have the body of a teenager in you 120's and be physical body of a 40 year old in you 500's.

[pgrmdave]

Beyond that - let's look at the simply logistics. Let's assume that the ages in which you are fertile are extended as well, so women would be fertile for a few hundred years. Let's assume that people continue to have sex as often as they do now. So, now you have many more people giving birth, and living longer. A population explosion. Even if we progress to the point where there is no disease, there would still be too little food for everybody. And there would be more people in the workforce, which would drive down wages. That coupled with a food shortage would mean lowered wages and raised prices, a lot of starvation. I think that the human lifespan is long enough.

[Thomas]

Originally Posted by pgrmdave

Beyond that - let's look at the simply logistics. Let's assume that the ages in which you are fertile are extended as well, so women would be fertile for a few hundred years. Let's assume that people continue to have sex as often as they do now. So, now you have many more people giving birth, and living longer. A population explosion. Even if we progress to the point where there is no disease, there would still be too little food for everybody. And there would be more people in the workforce, which would drive down wages. That coupled with a food shortage would mean lowered wages and raised prices, a lot of starvation. I think that the human lifespan is long enough.

Very good points, it might be alright for one person, but not for 6 billion, that would be disasterous. Perhaps it is best that nobody lives past 120, but it still would be a cool experiment.

[Fishteacher73]

Originally Posted by C1ay

I think it would be interesting to watch technology and science.

Ever try to watch the standard grandma try to use a computer...With the exponentail growth of technology if we lived that long we would be useless. Unable to exist effectively in the post-modern world.