# Humanities & Anthropology > Philosophy >  Philosophical question number 10

## Mycernius

As Smoke seems to have left his questions at number 9, iI have decided to take up the flag with this one ( hope you don't mind mate):

*If you were offered immortality, would you accept or refuse?*
 
I ask this because it seems to have come up on the 'Why do people die thread?' and because I did a play a couple of years back called 'The Immortal City' in which an entire city was given immortality by a demon to see what would happen. Eventually everyone left the city to live a mortal life in the outside world. 
The question above sets no boundries on the immortality offered. You would remain the same and be able to go anywhere.

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## alexriversan

imaging the memories like files: every ten years one needs to update.

so does the offer includes free updates?

or, the person shifts slowly into status of oldfashioned/outmoded

(if applied to real world)

or, the scenario does not change over the decades...

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## Sensuikan San

As long as that self portrait I have in the attic is OK .... I'd go for it !

W

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## Iron Chef

I would probably say "no" because after the first few hundred years, chances are the novelty would have probably worn off by then. After travelling abroad and visiting every locale imaginable (from the exotic to the mundane), after having seen or witnessed anything and everything in this world firsthand that might have caught my fancy, sooner or later I would want to settle down. And therein lies the problem because human beings are by our very nature social creatures. 

Emotionally, it would be too difficult to get to know someone, become attached, fall in love, maybe live together or get married, and then... watch that person grow older with the passing of time, eventually to die leaving me back at square one with only the option to repeat the cycle. Watching family, friends, even one's own children pass away time after time would be too difficult for the human psyche to bear, doomed to repeat an endless cycle... And anyone that thinks they could endure the solitude of an ageless existence is only kidding themselves. 

Hardly a life worth living if you ask me...

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## Ma Cherie

Goodness, I liked your resposne Iron Chef.  :Cool:  But I think I would say no to immortality. I would say, better dead than alone.

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## Chris Weimer

What do you mean by immortality? I would reject all immortality on principle unless some sort of "god" powers were involved. Like if my hand was cut off, would it grow back? Could it even be cut off? If I was thrown into a volcano, would I merely burn in agony forever? If I was given some sort of immunity from all pain &c... I would happily accept. But without some other powers to accompany it, it's worthless.

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## Tim33

Depends on 2 factors

1: Could you choose a mortal life eventually
(Not nessesarily due to not being able to die but more the fact you KNOW you cant die even if you want to would probally eventually drive a person insane. I dont wanna be off my rocker for all eternity) I would need to be able to die if i choose to.

2: Would you age. I dont wanna be an old wrinkly or in bad health. Could i stop my age at 25?

If 1 and 2 are satisfied then i would. I could travel everywhere and learn everything(That would be possible to learn in this time) New things are invented, found out so obviously i would have to keep up with the times.

I think the fact about loved ones dieing is not really an issue. After so many years e.g. 500 you would of lost so many loves, wives, children that i imagine it will get easier and you will begin to understand that people die, you dont have a choice and so move on.
A problem i see is getting yourself in financial trouble. If you lose everything you may have to spend quite a few hundred years pennyless. So financial stability would be an issue. If of course you were really rich chances are you would stay that way but investments or just Bank interest lol (very very rich) putting you in a place to really help people with your time etc. It would suck to get something like Aids though because then that would really put a downer on you living forever. Or would this not happen, does immortality come with not being able to get diseases.

As chris said i dont wanna be tortured forever by lying in a volvano so a certain amount of other powers will be needed and to be taken into account.

However if these lose ends could be tied up by this evil demon to give me this power then i of course would take it. However i feel i ask of alot more that will not be given, there are to many little problems that could lead to a big one. In the end some kind of contract with 1 billion extra needs would need to be incorperated. Is there something you also have not thought of or i have not thought of that is not in my post. It would take that eternity of immortality to make this plan safe.

What if you some how got buried alive, could you live there unable to move or do anything for eternity. In the hope some archologist will dig you up hundreds of years later only to let you end up in some military test center in the hope they will find this secret for their soldiers etc.


I sit on the fence and ask for more. I could not turn this offer down but at the moment it has to many problems to agree with.

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## Doc

If I could have the choice of having immortality would I take it? Unfortunately for me there is no simple yes or no answer on this one. I would have to see the various options and rules that apply before I would ever make such a choice. 

1.) Who is giving me this choice? Is it somebody who represents good or is it somebody who represents evil? If it was somebody who represents good then I would take it into consideration. If it was somebody who represents evil I wouldn't even bother thinking about it at all.

2.) Is it just immortality or is it eternal youth. If I had a choice between the two I would choose eternal youth simply because I could give an extremely long and fulfilling life, and yet I still had the option to die when I wanted to. To age but never die is a very poor existence in life.

3.) If it's both immortality and eternal youth is there still an option for me to die? Meaning is there still a way I could off myself or die of natural causes when I finally decide enough is enough? Death is an integral part of life. Not having an option in death just defies the cycle of life. I would think that having an option to die would still be a good thing to have; Kind of like Achillesf heel if you know what I mean.

4.) Am I the only person who is offered this? Who else is offered to be immortal? I would like to think if there was somebody else who was in on it with you it would make all the death of generations gone by a little bit more bearable.

5.) Why am I given this opportunity? I would think there should be a good reason to be offered such an incredible power in cheating death as to having immortality. What have I done to deserve such a choice?

There are many other factors that come into play, but those are just some of the main ones. Personally if there was a way to still die in the end, and it was for good and not evil then I would go for it. Simply put my thirst for knowledge is infinite. I would explore the world, our galaxy, and beyond until I was tired, and felt that I had gained enough knowledge on this plane of existence before ending my life. Loneliness is a considerable factor since we are after all social beings, but then again loners like me kind of like the solitude. Sure it's sad to be lonely, but as long as I'm happy learning things then that's all that matters. 

Still like I said there are many factors that must come into play before I would choose such a thing. I would have to really sit down and think about it for a while too. I guess in the end it all really depends on my options; other than that I would not go with such an option despite how large my thirst for knowledge is. There are just some things you have to acknowledge about life in general before you decide to take a plunge like that. Well at least I know I would take things into account, but I don't know about anybody else.


Doc :Ramen:  :Joyful:

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## Mycernius

Some good question back to clarify what I meant by immortality. I did say you would remain the same, by that I inferred that you would not age and your body would repair itself if damaged. Almost as if time had stoppped for your body. The offer is immortality, total and absolute, there is no get out by death clause. Why would it bother you if it was offered by good or evil Doc (human concepts)? The offer has no strings attached and it is you and you alone. Hope this has answered some of your questions.

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## InnerVision

Option 1 : 

Option 2 : 

Option 3 : 

While ,

OPTION 4 : 

So, 'tis EASIER to refuse Immortality than to accept Or 'tis BETTER to Die than to Get Bored.  :Laughing: 

( This is the way i was used to express my Feelings in 2005 BC )  :Sou ka:

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## Ma Cherie

Even with God-like powers? Well, I would probably except immortality. But then, I think I would still be misrable. Walking this earth, with no real purpose. And my soul being trapped inside of me. Yeah, I think about stuff like that. But then, Anne Rice has influenced my beliefs on immortality.  :Blush:

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## HomicidalMouse

Id probably accept as long as I dont become immortal like they do in "Death Becomes Her". Then again i might not. Now i think aboot it, its not a simple question...  :Doubt:

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## InnerVision

www.deathclock.com <<<Welcome to the Death Clock(TM), the Internet's friendly reminder that life is slipping away... second by second. Like the hourglass of the Net, the Death Clock will remind you just how short life is.  :Laughing: 

I love the part when it shows 'Seconds Left in My Life .  :Laughing: 

Btw ... my date of Death is 20th May, 2056. ah ... !!!  :Laughing: 

(Sorry, in case I'm getting off-topic)

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## Doc

> Why would it bother you if it was offered by good or evil Doc (human concepts)?


 Why? It's because I would rather die than spend an eternity on this moral plane of existance, die, and then spend another eternity in Hell. Two Hells? Nope not gonna do it!

Doc :Ramen:  :Joyful:

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## Tim33

> Walking this earth, with no real purpose.


You could walk the earth doing good where it is needed. Bringing joy and happyness to those without.

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## InnerVision

> Bringing joy and happyness to those without.


better bring it with an 'I' in place of 'Y'.  :Laughing:

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## Ma Cherie

> www.deathclock.com <<<Welcome to the Death Clock(TM), the Internet's friendly reminder that life is slipping away... second by second. Like the hourglass of the Net, the Death Clock will remind you just how short life is. 
> 
> I love the part when it shows 'Seconds Left in My Life . 
> 
> Btw ... my date of Death is 20th May, 2056. ah ... !!! 
> 
> (Sorry, in case I'm getting off-topic)



That's not friendly. Besides darling, how accurate do you think that clock is? Goodness, you love to know the seconds left in your life?!  :Mad:  This is outragious, totally outragious!!!  :Mad:

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## InnerVision

> That's not friendly. Besides darling, how accurate do you think that clock is? Goodness, you love to know the seconds left in your life?!


That was quite Long ago when human started to think that he has given the ability to Invent. So, in those beautiful days of Invention he developed something called Humour & then suddenly he modified it into 'Sarcasm' .I just made Use of this Outrageous Invention. :Laughing: 




> This is outragious, totally outragious!!!


You Guys do not even Know where to put an 'I' where to Not.  :Sad:   :Laughing:

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## Ma Cherie

Well, you don't know when to use capital letters. *sticks tongue out*  :Blush:  Let's not turn this into a discussion about punctuation.  :Bluush:

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## InnerVision

> Well, you don't know when to use capital letters.


Exactly, I don'T. 'thINk I nEEd a tUTor.ANyONe InTerstEd ... ? pm ME. !!!  :Laughing: 


Ok so, the topic was how to spell immortality ...  :Poh:   :Sou ka:

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## Chris Weimer

If accompanied with these God-like powers, I might accept. With my mental and physical body at its peak (let's keep it at 25), never able to be damaged, no feeling pain, what about breathing? What if the Earth gets blown up and I'm alone in space? How will I function without oxygen?

In short, unless you can promise me Godhood, I'll probably have to decline.

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## Tim33

I might just take the offer up on curiosity, i would like to know what happens in the next 100-200 years and how far we progress, or dont.

Maybe space travel oneday will be possible, would be nice to see. Maybe one day NK disapears off the globe or China/Japan stop there moaning.
Or maybe one day soon we will blow ourselves up. Curiosity may get the better of me.

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## smoke

> As Smoke seems to have left his questions at number 9, iI have decided to take up the flag with this one ( hope you don't mind mate):
> 
> *If you were offered immortality, would you accept or refuse?*
> 
> I ask this because it seems to have come up on the 'Why do people die thread?' and because I did a play a couple of years back called 'The Immortal City' in which an entire city was given immortality by a demon to see what would happen. Eventually everyone left the city to live a mortal life in the outside world. 
> The question above sets no boundries on the immortality offered. You would remain the same and be able to go anywhere.


You thieving b******!
only fooling boss!
immortality is something i could ***** and whine about for ages...but i won't.

In short...I would refuse.

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## Mike Cash

Have you ever thought about what would happen to the life insurance industry if even one person out of a thousand were immortal?

Imagine that one out of every thousand births would result in an immortal person....but that nobody would have any way of knowing who that one person was, other than the fact that he didn't die.

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## isayhello

> www.deathclock.com <<<Welcome to the Death Clock(TM), the Internet's friendly reminder that life is slipping away... second by second. Like the hourglass of the Net, the Death Clock will remind you just how short life is. 
> 
> I love the part when it shows 'Seconds Left in My Life . 
> 
> Btw ... my date of Death is 20th May, 2056. ah ... !!! 
> 
> (Sorry, in case I'm getting off-topic)


AIIEEEEEEEEEEEEE! *claws out eyes* Why why why would anyone make a clock like that!? That's horrible! ... I'll have nightmares about my life slipping away second by second forever now... Evil people... 

I'd definitely chose immortality. Especially if I got to stay young like I am now. The only problem I see would be having to live on while your family passed away... that'S really tough. Other than that... no difficulties. Friends come and go anyways, you don't need them to DIE to have them leave you. It's just like moving a lot; you get new friends as time pass by. Some you like, and wanna spend a lot of time with, and might be a little sad when you leave them, others you don't really like but hang out with them anyways.. But Oh, the marvels of an immortal life... the things you could do, the things you could experience. Also... all the different sort of personalities you could try out; you'd have all the time in the world for finding your true self. 

Life is waaaay to short. It's unfair. You only get to make a few choices and then that'll be your life. What if you make a wrong choice? No, no time to fix that wrong choice. People say.. you can always move on, and yeah, sure. Move on. But... that wrong choice will remain fresh in everyones memories, including yours, and a life time is too little time to forget about it.

I wish I'd been born a cat. Or something that couldn't think about how short life is.

*takes a look at the Death Clock again and faints*

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## Void

Almost everyone gladly accepts immortality with god-like powers, and quickly
refuses to take it, when it can`t promice to have no pain and suffering
(for except heartache) 
So, is pleasure (self-pleasure) the main goal of human life?  :Laughing: 




> Goodness, you love to know the seconds left in your life?! This is outragious, totally outragious!!!


 :Laughing:  you know how many unexpected things can happen in a life. It is 
possible to choke to death with a cherry stone just eating your supper. Or be hit by a reckless driver. There is a possibility of meteorite falling right at the vertex. Broken heel may bring you all the waaay down the stairs... and so on... and the clocks stop ticking, but the bell starts to toll.
What is better, then?  :Embarrassment:  




> Life is waaaay to short. It's unfair


then don`t waste every precious second of it

InnerVision, sorry for messing with your pics %))) couldn`t help it  :Sorry:  
 

#2 a bit revised, but not free of yawning anyway =)
 

#3 no matter how good you are

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## Maciamo

=> If you were offered immortality, would you accept or refuse?

It depends on the conditions. Would we keep our youth and health ? Would our organs be repaired when they get damaged (e.g. if we become blind, can we recover sight at one point or be forced to live for the rest of eternity blind ?). How would we solve the problem of stocking all our memories in our limited brain ? Does that mean that we would eventuually forget what we don't need after sometime to "make some space on the hard-drive" and regenerate fresh neurons ? So that also means that we would probably only keep the most useful and intertesting part of knowledge, and eventually become a universal genius as perfect in everything as humans can be with their limited brain capacities.

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## lonesoullost3

I'd rather not accept immortality, but long life. If you are immortal, the pleasure of life are diminished. They are no longer pleasures to experience in a lifetime, but an everyday/every-year/every-decade experience. And what are decades to an immortal? Long life would allow me to experience most of life's great experiences, happy and sad, without being stuck in the world for too long that life becomes mundane.

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## xeo4d

Death should not be thought of as a destruction but as a relief. We all die sooner or later, that is what unites us. Humans have not had and never will have the hope of ataining perfection through an infinate existance, that is why choosing immortality is arrogant. To chose immortality would mean that you think that you are better than all the other people who have died before you, or who will die later. We must accept death as a release into a world of infinate freedom, not a destruction or end to our lives, but a beginning to a grander scheme that is much more than our measly 70 year average existance.

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## Tsuyoiko

> To chose immortality would mean that you think that you are better than all the other people who have died before you, or who will die later.


Not necessarily. I choose many things that have been denied to those before me, that's not arrogance, just progress.

A lot of people think immortality would be boring. How do people get bored? I don't get it. I have to cram 48 hours worth of stuff into every 24 as it is! I have a hundreds of books waiting to be read, stacks of unplayed video games, a library full of more books and DVDs across the road, hundreds of satellite channels, scores of posts here to reply to...I don't understand boredom - unless I'm at work!

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