I'm going to live forever

The Times (UK) ^ | 3/14/05 | Bryan Appleyard

[My2Cents]

Psalms 90:10 rather casually puts the normal lifespan at 70-80 years

For this reason, I can think of some ghastly scenarios which will make this pollyannaish view of advances in biological sciences a pipedream. People may try to live forever by monkeying with natural processes, but it will probably end up being a horror story.

[GBA]

Marry Hillary??? *shudder* Don't even kid about that.

[Sender]

“I don’t think it’s important to be human. I have no attachment to my species membership. We know we’re descended from a small number of apes. If they’d got together and decided not to evolve into us, we’d not be here talking about this. There’s no reason why we should not evolve into something else.”

Disclaimer: This was written by a DU member and only applies to the ongoing evolution of DU members.

[GBA]

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.

[RightWhale]

Suppose one is in the process of living forever. How would he know?

[Charlespg]

I remember a theory that said that sooner or later the odds,car crash etc would catch up with you
plus the fact that one day your body would reach the point of no return

[My2Cents]

I would have no problem being "bored" for 500 or 500,000 years given the opportunity.

These so-called therapies will only be for the wealthy, I'd wager. All for the best...Let's face it, most people's lives are pretty tedious. Can you imagine being a checker at Safeway for eternity? I plan to live for eternity, but not subject to the limitations of this physical body.

[Petronski]

Imagine how much house one could get on an 800-year mortgage!

[RightWhale]

Interest only. Pay forever.

[F16Fighter]

If you do live that long [beyond 120] and scientific knowledge continues to expand at its present rate, then you will almost certainly live a lot longer. In other words, the first 150-year-old is quite likely also to be the first 1,000-year-old.

Great...

A planet full of a trillion bitter, crotchety ancient 500 year-old SOBs.

[Williams]

Well, immortality is a big step, but I think invulnerability is very important too. With both those in your hip pocket ....man oh man!

[spinestein]

Unfortunately, the extension of life span from modern medicine comes mostly (but not entirely) from preventing people from dying in spite of the cumulative effects of old age.

I worked as a CNA in a nursing home and saw first hand the extreme effects of this "artificial" lengthening of life. Nearly every one of the residents was dependent on numerous medications, without which they would quickly die. Also, a majority of nursing home residents have dementia to one degree or another (as well as more than half of the population at large over the age of 85).

While I think that our modern medicine is very beneficial on balance, I also think that the negative consequences that can go along with it are sometimes not given sober consideration.

I certainly do not intend to live life past the age when I can function reasonably well physically and mentally and if the time comes when I need to have constant medication and procedures just to keep going another year I intend to refuse them and die with dignity.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

9 Have a massive medical assessment, preferably at Kronos in Phoenix, Arizona, to establish what you are doing wrong and, if possible, what genetic weaknesses you have. Continue these assessments throughout your life and adjust supplements accordingly.

Ah the oldest scheme in the book. I can help you live forever just give me money to tell you what to do.

[zeebee]

And we think Social Security is in trouble now?

[RightWhale]

Dr Kaku says that a Type 3 civilization would be immortal.

[Williams]

To paraphrase George C. Scott in Dr. Strangelove: "Man I wish we had one of those Type 3 Civilizations!"

[brivette]

First, anyone that has a Bladerunner quote as a tagline enjoys my immediate respect; it may have been Rutger's finest moment.

That said,unless we reinvent a new reason for existence beyond what we have now (grow, procreate, raise kids, die); it's pointless to live beyond 100, I believe.

Maybe science and religion will combine in our lifetime to offer new reasons to not only survive, but thrive.

I wish the Lord would send me an e-mail in this regard.

[RightWhale]

immortality is a big step, but I think invulnerability is very important

A children's story: There was a woman who got a wish and wished for eternal life. However, as she got older she began to shrink like people do. They get shorter and wrinkle up. The older she got the smaller and more wrinkled she got. Eventually she was the size of a thumb and looked like a raisin.

[My2Cents]

in 3194, blooming, youthful, beautiful, 1,200-year-old Sally is strolling along Esher High Street. A piano falls from a sixth-floor window and kills her.

This would be an interesting statistical muse. Obviously, the vast majority of people currently die of natural causes. A few people who enter this world die horrifically due to accidents. If, theoretically, humanity conquers the aging process such that no one ever dies of natural causes, that would guarantee that 100% of people would die from some accident, eventually. Also, I suspect a world full of people who don't die of natural causes would a be a world full of wars and violence (if for no other reason, than to thin-out the population). Plus, as someone has said, who really wants to live forever in a sin-wracked world? I suspect that the tediousness of life would cause most people to go insane eventually.

So, because of the statistical certainty of everyone eventually dying from war or accident, what I believe will be a more brutish world than we now live in, and the psychological effects of living in tedium forever, I suspect that the average lifespan of an "eternal" under these conditions would probably be around 200 years.

[aft_lizard]

remember they didnt have the same time keeping as we do now. not to mention alot of the stories are embellished a little.

how many times as a kid have you looked at an old man and thought to yourself man he must be a thousand years old.