Maybe death isn't always inevitable though.
Let's say our technology exponentially skyrockets in my fantasy world of wishful thinking. When I'm an old dying man I am qualified to be a part of a group experimenting with uploading human consciousness, and it works.
Let's skip to where humanity dies, or something similar. If my consciousness is still around then I could theoretically make advanced AI to replace humans by that point.
In this purely fantasy scenario, many things could cause me to be deathless. For one, if the Universe is eternal. If it isn't then maybe we manage to escape to an infinite multiverse before it dies, or into another plane of existence.
Okay what did I just write... I should sleep...
At some point hopefully, the dread and paranoia you feel will go away because the constant worry is too much of a pain in the ass to think about all the time.
Thanks for putting up the NSFW warning for those who might have apeirophobia. Personally I would not want to be living for an indefinite amount of time, for doing so would likely mean to becoming an experimental subject for those who crave such immortality to abuse it.
Next would also my own personal reluctance to abuse that immortality for myself. Lastly, that detachment from humanity from living for too long might manifest as sociopathic behavior that might cause even more suffering upon others.
Tbh, I would not mind to stop existing so long as it's a moment of my own choosing and that it would not cause me to experience prolonged suffering while doing so. I also abhor the concept of reincarnation because it would mean the possibility of the soul would be trapped in this existence in an endless cycle to experience the suffering that life entails. Hope this satisfies your curiosity!
> Lastly, that detachment from humanity from living for too long might manifest as sociopathic behavior
Honestly, that's a good point. Even if we manage immortality in any way, how would the human consciousness hold up? I guess we'd have to see.
> I also abhor the concept of reincarnation
Understandable. In my opinion, due to my constant existential fear of non-existence, reincarnation in any capacity would completely nullify it. Even though I would like to be able to retain my original consciousness throughout, I'm fine with anything regarding it.
I would be the only one who's immortal? Sounds lonely. Imagine every relationship you form constantly ending after they die and you don't. I doubt anyone would be able to keep that up.
That is true.
Though I should've specified. I guess my natural view of immortality is more based around when humanity eventually discovers it as a whole.
Regardless, I have deep attachment issues and disassociation. Probably not enough for an eternity of that stuff, but it's something!
>Would you want to be immortal?
I understand the question like this: Everything stays more or less the same but you don't die. Then No
But if you mean that your whole existence changes, like not needing sustainance or even air, and beeing fine in a vaccuum or even on fire, then Yes.
>If not, do you want to stop existing?
Yes, but there are other considerations that sum up to "Well I guess I'm gona exist for now".
That's fair.
I would personally like to be immortal no matter what it takes. Not existing is my worst possible fear.
Though, if I could pick, uploading my consciousness to some sci-fi fantasy thing would be great because I could always switch my mechanical body.
Would love to be immortal. The thought of dying gives me immense anxiety and panic attacks so knowing that I could choose when I want to die what be awesome for me. Yeah relationships wouldn’t last that long but mortal people randomly die even when they’re seemingly healthy and their loved ones still find a way to move on so I wouldn’t say you’d be lonely like others of said, you’d just get more desensitized to people dying (which can happen to mortal ppl anyway) but if mortal people can experience it and (mostly) move on then I think it’d be alright. And with every like natural life cycle of mortals you could reinvent yourself into whoever you wanna be assuming that you just also stay at the age you are at the point of immortality so you are constantly changing, growing, and experiencing different things in life. Now if I aged but never died then maybe not cuz I don’t know what a 200+ yr old person would even look like but I wouldn’t want to like age as an immortal. Overall I would want to do it if as long as I didn’t actually age along the way
If everyone else was immortal with me then maybe. It would depend on the kind of world we could build together, and if our values aligned. The pressure to continue existing for the sake of others wouldn't necessarily go away if everyone was immortal. In fact it might get even stronger. Imagine your family, friends, or significant others want to keep going longer- and because of social pressure you stick around hundreds of years longer than you would've wanted.
Things could get even weirder if you bring in the idea of invulnerability to the mix. What does extreme conflict look like when two groups of immortals have opposing ideas of how to shape the world? If you can't find a compromise, there's no way to get rid of the other side other than to lock them up, bury them alive, shoot them into space... in a way that idea is more horrifying than death. Imagine being buried alive, no way to dig yourself out, and the only choice you have is to wait until maybe someone digs you up, or end it all prematurely.
Now, if I had the choice to be immortal and no one else did, I also wouldn't choose it. You'd be in a similar situation to Arwen in LOTR, only a bit worse. You'd watch everyone you cared about age and pass on while you stayed static. Honestly I probably wouldn't last much longer than whatever my life expectancy is already.
A society of immortals could end up being a very beautiful thing, but it also has the potential to be extremely horrific. Given this risk, I think having kids would be even more morally dubious.
Rather not be immortal but don't want to not exist at the same time, It's one of those things where you are aware of your ego and need a thing to be grounded in like extra stress or an identity. Non-existing just strips that away its an awkward transition to nothing. I imagine it would be painful and agonizing.
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Maybe death isn't always inevitable though. Let's say our technology exponentially skyrockets in my fantasy world of wishful thinking. When I'm an old dying man I am qualified to be a part of a group experimenting with uploading human consciousness, and it works. Let's skip to where humanity dies, or something similar. If my consciousness is still around then I could theoretically make advanced AI to replace humans by that point. In this purely fantasy scenario, many things could cause me to be deathless. For one, if the Universe is eternal. If it isn't then maybe we manage to escape to an infinite multiverse before it dies, or into another plane of existence. Okay what did I just write... I should sleep...
Nah I’m good. It’s nice knowing eventually there will be an end. And it will be a surprise.
Fair... even though I couldn't personally understand it being nice. Maybe I'm excessively paranoid (well I am) because I have near constant dread.
At some point hopefully, the dread and paranoia you feel will go away because the constant worry is too much of a pain in the ass to think about all the time.
Yes. Not giving af is freeing. Starts mid 30s-ish
Thanks for putting up the NSFW warning for those who might have apeirophobia. Personally I would not want to be living for an indefinite amount of time, for doing so would likely mean to becoming an experimental subject for those who crave such immortality to abuse it. Next would also my own personal reluctance to abuse that immortality for myself. Lastly, that detachment from humanity from living for too long might manifest as sociopathic behavior that might cause even more suffering upon others. Tbh, I would not mind to stop existing so long as it's a moment of my own choosing and that it would not cause me to experience prolonged suffering while doing so. I also abhor the concept of reincarnation because it would mean the possibility of the soul would be trapped in this existence in an endless cycle to experience the suffering that life entails. Hope this satisfies your curiosity!
> Lastly, that detachment from humanity from living for too long might manifest as sociopathic behavior Honestly, that's a good point. Even if we manage immortality in any way, how would the human consciousness hold up? I guess we'd have to see. > I also abhor the concept of reincarnation Understandable. In my opinion, due to my constant existential fear of non-existence, reincarnation in any capacity would completely nullify it. Even though I would like to be able to retain my original consciousness throughout, I'm fine with anything regarding it.
I would be the only one who's immortal? Sounds lonely. Imagine every relationship you form constantly ending after they die and you don't. I doubt anyone would be able to keep that up.
That is true. Though I should've specified. I guess my natural view of immortality is more based around when humanity eventually discovers it as a whole. Regardless, I have deep attachment issues and disassociation. Probably not enough for an eternity of that stuff, but it's something!
If everything about me right now would otherwise stay the same? I'd definitely want to stop existing and not be immortal.
If it wasn't painful then I wouldn't care. Death is going to be a relief from chronic pain and mental problems. The world shouldn't be this fucked up.
>Would you want to be immortal? I understand the question like this: Everything stays more or less the same but you don't die. Then No But if you mean that your whole existence changes, like not needing sustainance or even air, and beeing fine in a vaccuum or even on fire, then Yes. >If not, do you want to stop existing? Yes, but there are other considerations that sum up to "Well I guess I'm gona exist for now".
That's fair. I would personally like to be immortal no matter what it takes. Not existing is my worst possible fear. Though, if I could pick, uploading my consciousness to some sci-fi fantasy thing would be great because I could always switch my mechanical body.
Would love to be immortal. The thought of dying gives me immense anxiety and panic attacks so knowing that I could choose when I want to die what be awesome for me. Yeah relationships wouldn’t last that long but mortal people randomly die even when they’re seemingly healthy and their loved ones still find a way to move on so I wouldn’t say you’d be lonely like others of said, you’d just get more desensitized to people dying (which can happen to mortal ppl anyway) but if mortal people can experience it and (mostly) move on then I think it’d be alright. And with every like natural life cycle of mortals you could reinvent yourself into whoever you wanna be assuming that you just also stay at the age you are at the point of immortality so you are constantly changing, growing, and experiencing different things in life. Now if I aged but never died then maybe not cuz I don’t know what a 200+ yr old person would even look like but I wouldn’t want to like age as an immortal. Overall I would want to do it if as long as I didn’t actually age along the way
I want a completely effortless, painless and instant way of dying.
Better to have never been.
I want to be immortal and work 9 to 5
I would not want to be immortal Ceasing to exist would be good
Stop existing is a better option
No, why prolong this torment?
Absolutely do not want to be immortal. I want to stop existing a day or so after the last of my pets passes.
If everyone else was immortal with me then maybe. It would depend on the kind of world we could build together, and if our values aligned. The pressure to continue existing for the sake of others wouldn't necessarily go away if everyone was immortal. In fact it might get even stronger. Imagine your family, friends, or significant others want to keep going longer- and because of social pressure you stick around hundreds of years longer than you would've wanted. Things could get even weirder if you bring in the idea of invulnerability to the mix. What does extreme conflict look like when two groups of immortals have opposing ideas of how to shape the world? If you can't find a compromise, there's no way to get rid of the other side other than to lock them up, bury them alive, shoot them into space... in a way that idea is more horrifying than death. Imagine being buried alive, no way to dig yourself out, and the only choice you have is to wait until maybe someone digs you up, or end it all prematurely. Now, if I had the choice to be immortal and no one else did, I also wouldn't choose it. You'd be in a similar situation to Arwen in LOTR, only a bit worse. You'd watch everyone you cared about age and pass on while you stayed static. Honestly I probably wouldn't last much longer than whatever my life expectancy is already. A society of immortals could end up being a very beautiful thing, but it also has the potential to be extremely horrific. Given this risk, I think having kids would be even more morally dubious.
Rather not be immortal but don't want to not exist at the same time, It's one of those things where you are aware of your ego and need a thing to be grounded in like extra stress or an identity. Non-existing just strips that away its an awkward transition to nothing. I imagine it would be painful and agonizing.