If you were immortal would you be happier?

[Mr Rayon]

If all human beings were immortal and we knew this were the case, would this make people happier?

 

Or would it make them sadder?

 

Would you like to be immortal?

If you thought you were, how would you live your life more different?

[keelanz]

I presume we all feel partly immortal due to the fact most of us (me included) cant actually comprehend death and to the most extent deny ourselves the truth that we will one day die. By that token if you told the world that everybody had 1 year left to live then im sure we would all conduct ourselves in a very different manner, there would certainly be no long term goal for oneself or even humanity which would lead me to believe things like our ego would be gone with the wind. Being immortal itself would have strains on your general outlook of life because things would loose an overall sense of purpose however if you are content with your existence im sure being immortal would be positive, however if you have to come to the conclusion existence is mediocre (which im sure you would have if your immortal due the amount of possibilities you can do) then existence could be loath-sum.

 

my conclusion is that if you were actually immortal at some point in time you would get exhausted with existence itself and hence fed up of being immortal, you would however for a certain amount of time be very blissful in the ideology of being a sort of god of the natural world to which the rules dont apply, if we take a child as an example of someone being immortal (by its own belief) but within a set of constraints from society i believe life might start to show shortcoming perhaps before 18 years of existence at which point i presume we conclude death is imminent and a purpose must exist in some form.

 

this seems like a good "modern" religious reference: enjoy.

http://en.wikipedia....ki/Extropianism

 

i would like to be immortal yes, but only through my own means, so euthanasia would still be possible by myself but no other mortal or immortal (so in other words i get to exist indefinitely until i cant bear existence anymore)

Edited May 3, 2011 by keelanz

[Stefan-CoA]

I'd love to be immortal. You could just carry on learning everything there is to learn. Experience everything there is to experience. On earth. And by the time you're done with that, you could then go visit other planet (because we'll totally have discovered Warp drive by then)

 

I think immortality would prove to be one of the most fascinating experiences ever.

[Spyman]

If all human beings were immortal and we knew this were the case, would this make people happier?

 

Or would it make them sadder?

 

Would you like to be immortal?

If you thought you were, how would you live your life more different?

Would the immortality come with a full security packet providing immunity to all diseases and accidents?

 

The possibility of an eternal life in pain and misery does not sound like heaven to me...

[Moontanman]

Being immortal would remove the worry of dying and allow longer term goals but I doubt it would by it's self make anyone happy...

Edited May 3, 2011 by Moontanman

[lemur]

Is this the kind of immortality where our bodies never deteriorate no matter how we treat them. Or is it the kind where our bodies DO deteriorate based on how we treat them and other health events, but they never die completely so we're just stuck eternally aging and falling apart as slowly as we can allow it? If it was the latter, I would take very good care of my body with the knowledge that it could cause me a great deal of suffering when I had evolved into a Yoda-type being 800 years down the road. If it was the former, I would not worry about how I treated my body as much because I would think that it would just regenerate and heal itself for eternity and I could do whatever I wanted and never reap any dire consequences.

[rktpro]

If all human beings were immortal and we knew this were the case, would this make people happier?

 

Or would it make them sadder?

 

Would you like to be immortal?

If you thought you were, how would you live your life more different?

 

No one would like immortality other than those fairy tales villains. We can't ensure a disease free environment and a DISASTER free earth.

For me, it would be sadder because just being immortal wouldn't make someone like Osama Bin Laden dead.

If I were immortal, I would have been indulging in bad habits. Don't you agree that it is the fear of death or pain that forces us to live a healthy life.

Edited May 4, 2011 by rktpro

[imatfaal]

Personally, I think the chance to witness long term changes in society and culture would be worth almost any cost (excepting permanent physical torture or mental incapacitance). We cannot imagine what it would be like to witness change 300 years into our future, but we can start to envisage how an individual would have perceived the last 300 years of our past. The perspective gained from watching from the beginnings of the enlightenment to the nuclear age, hearing both Mozart and the Stones performing live, watching from a distance as your family grows to the size of a small state etc

[Spyman]

...watching from a distance as your family grows to the size of a small state etc

If all human beings were immortal then family growth would probably not be a good idea.

[CaptainPanic]

I'd like to have the option to extend my life expectancy by 100 years at a time - always having the option to say no and die peacefully.

 

Eternity is a long, long time...

[imatfaal]

If all human beings were immortal then family growth would probably not be a good idea.

 

I hadn't read the question properly

[Spyman]

I hadn't read the question properly

Well to be fair, the thread is named: "If you were" but in the OP it's asked: "If all human beings were" so it's quite easy to be to hasty.

[Marat]

Heidegger said that you can tell a person knows he is mortal just by the way he drinks his morning coffee: it has a certain imperative quality to it that it would not have if he knew he had infinite time ahead of him. It is sometimes argued that everything would lack value if we knew we had infinite time ahead of us, since there would never be any point in doing anything well, since it could always be repeated at no significant loss of time. Since many existentialist philosophers have argued that it is essential to the type of beings that we are that we know ourselves to exist in dialectic with an ultimate and approaching limit to our available time, then to ask whether 'we' could ever be immortal seems to state a paradox, since if 'we' were immortal we could no longer be ourselves in any meaningful sense, but just some other sort of beings put in our place.

 

Already in a normal human life we can notice that as major personal events start to happen for the second and third time, life starts to lose its vitality and meaning. Certainly being alive at 40 has nothing like the same interest, curiosity, and intensity as being alive at 20 when so many things are emerging for the first time. It is likely that active life extending much past age 80 would become tedious and oppressive, since we lack the breadth of mind and depth of spirit to continue to find meaning in events past that point. This is why endless posthumous life in heaven seems a false promise.

[ZhangA]

Yes being immortal would make anyone happier, in the sense that there would be nothing to worry about, being immortal you become god.

simple:

 

dead<living

[imnobodyx]

If all human kind was immortal it would allow us to be with our loved ones and enjoy thing. Also to do things we would otherwise never be able to do. But, this also means people who are mentally unastable people who whish to cause harm such murderers,rapists, terrorists, etc. Would be able to to as they please sooooo immortality for anyone has its pro's and con's. I would personally think that immortality is something we should not strive towards as human beings. Our mortality is what make us human, life must end for new life to begin. Death is something that must happen if we all lived forever it would be hell.

[TheQuestion]

Depends on the kind of immortality.

 

In Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle, the elves are immortal, but stil vulnerable to physical injuries.

 

As Stefan-CoA said, it would be great to learn everything there is to learn, see everything there is to learn, experience all the experiences, and become "wise".

 

Then go kill myself or die doing something noble.

[GateOfRain]

If I were immortal I would be happier every day. And here I am, happy... continously happy, increasing a little every day.

[Fogo]

 

[ecoli]

If I were immortal I would be happier every day. And here I am, happy... continously happy, increasing a little every day.

 

If you integrate over total lifetime happiness, you're more likely to have more happiness in your life if you live forever. OTOH, you don't get much utility from not being alive.

[Phi for All]

It would be easy to imagine immortality as being able to rapidly regenerate each cell in our body instead of forming scar tissue. Teeth would grow back, severed digits and limbs would regenerate, there would be no disease because each organ could simply grow back new and shiny. Could we assume that you would pretty much stop aging once you'd reached your full growth (around 18 for women, 20 for men)?

 

The only way we could die is through catastrophic means like decapitation, being blown up or drowning. I actually think this would make us value life more because there would be more to lose. I think laws regarding weapons that could cause catastrophic injury would be more strictly enforced.

 

Isn't that strange to think, that since life is less than 100 years, it's OK to be reckless with it, but if we were immortal, well, that's different, it would really be worth something then....

 

So I think I'll go with happier, since aging and medical problems would be a couple of big things less to worry about. You'd have to add more sad for not being able to have as many children, unless immortality could help us develop off-planet exploration more rapidly.

[Guest demmiewatson]

To be immortal you essentially become a prisoner ... of thisworld. There's no way to get out. Even if you get sick and tired of things. Doyou think you could still remain sane after enduring centuries of living? Idoubt it.

 

Thoughyou have a point if you're thinking how nice it will be to learn thingsendlessly, to be always present to enjoy the world, you are only looking at oneside. Imagine establishing connection with other people only to watch them dieand leave you always...

[the asinine cretin]

I would be happier if I were immortal, or at least graced with extreme longevity. I often lament the shortness of the human lifespan as I would like to see the ages of history, the far future, to study much more of human knowledge than is practical now, to travel in space, to see alien worlds... The wonders untold that must await in this vast universe. They do not await such as us. A virtual infinity of possibilities that is unattainable due to the fact that we will soon wisp away like every other forgotten ape who has eaten, shat, and perished on this little speck of rock.

 

Oh, says the naysayer, but for all you know the future will be ages upon ages of stagnant barbarism and drudgery, or the accessible universe may prove ultimately monotonous and empty after all. Sure, but it is the hope and the possibility of living to see a Type II civilization, and the rest of it, that would make me happy, and should any of it come to pass then all the more. Being utterly denied the possibility of transcending this world and this lowly state is the worst bitterness. To see the fringes of infinity and know that my existence will be a minuscule sequence of mundane chores and worthless prattle, unto oblivion... And so it is.

[Kowalski]

Perhaps some people think they will be happier if they're immortal , but no one will be . Our life goes up and downs , and no one is sure that he'll last on one situation , sometimes the rich becomes poor , the healthy sickens , .. etc . Besides , we don't forget the negative feelings that makes people hurt each other , and many other things makes life hard .

As a religious person , I think life is just a journey full of exams , we can't endure it for ever , which makes us need another place to find rest and the ultimate happiness .

[matty]

So what say you, a little red wine, anyone?

 

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2016279031_genefight22.html

 

Drink, smoke, gain weight and still live a happy long life.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/03/genes-key-longevity-lifestyle-modifiable-behavior_n_917145.html

 

But work hard, don't take things too lightly and don't get married.

 

http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/medical/story/2011/02/5-myths-about-living-longer/44304898/1

[questionposter]

If the goal of an organism is to live and it cannot die, why would it be sad? I can easily imagine people being fed up with living long boring lives, but if all these living things fight to survive, why would immortality eventually make you depressed?

I guess if your life is boring you'd get tired of it, but I can also imagine it equally likely that people who always have things to do and explore new things constantly probably wouldn't be so tired of life.

 

The only explanations I can think of is that there is some inherent mechanism in DNA and in your brain that you should want to die after living a long life and creating offspring, or that your conscious is very separated from your subconscious, even more than previously thought.

Edited October 18, 2011 by questionposter