What would you do with your life if you lived forever?

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Stealing from a bank is approved of since they make millions every day by screwing people over.

I was cycling 5 miles every day to get myself a better education. Stealing from me is not approved of. Especially when its my only form of transport.

No, it's not approved of. It's theft of property that's somebody else's. "Screwing people over"? Please. It's not like you're forced to use the bank, you choose to out of your own free will. Just because it's a "big scary corporation", doesn't mean it's not illegal, and immoral.
 
Huh, Immortality hey... lets see..

The first thing i would is is go to school and learn everything i ever wanted to (be an astronaut, doctor, lawyer, racecar driver etc)

Then i would learn all forms of Karate and self defense and become a ninja ( i have forever to perfect my skill :) )

Then, just live and do what i want when i want.

But i agree with everyone here, if you cant die, life losses its meaning
 
Never get married :lol:

Jerome
 
A)Yes, your immortal.

B)No, your not Edward Cullen.

C)There are no downsides, except for getting fat if you eat a lot (still not going to get you killed though).

D) The fact that you can't get sick... is that a super power? No health issues (eg. Cancer, Tumors, Other deadly diseases).

E)Let's make it 21.. because an average person is at their best physical shape during that time I think?

Thanks for the clarification.

First thing's first. I'd cancel my life and health insurance.

The biggest advantage of being able to live forever is being able to amass a fortune. I think I'd start out on life much the same way I have already. I'd go to school, become and engineer, work on advancing the state of the art, and make some money to save for retirement. Along the way I'd collect all sorts of things that could be sold hundreds of years later as museum pieces.

After a while of living frugally, saving, working, collecting and selling, I'd have a fortune that could sustain itself well beyond my desire to spend it. However, some diversity is in order. Since I can outlive governments and currency, that fortune needs to be tied up in valuable possessions in various countries. I would also make money by becoming a venture capitalist - funding promising research and startup companies that I found to be moving society in the right direction. The goal, always, would be to accumulate a massive fortune.

After 4-500 years, when I had enough money (and founding supporters), I would find a way to use that money to found my own country. From there, I would work endlessly to ensure that my nation secured the blessings of liberty, and see it prosper into a model for all humanity.

My nation would be funded with an endowment (which I and other founders would retain control of) that would be used to permanently run the government - no taxes necessary. The nation would be a constitutionally limited republic, with myself as a permanent chief of the court system, a protector of the limitations of the government. After the aforementioned 500 years, I think I could have developed a pretty solid bill of rights. Citizenship in my nation would have stringent requirements for knowledge and understanding of fundamental liberties.

From then on, that is what I would spend my time doing. Vigilantly protecting that nation from the natural urge to oppress the minority. It would take all of my time, and I would be happy to devote my eternal life to it.

It would be difficult to watch everyone I know and love grow old and die. I would forge new relationships only to see them grow old and die as well. I don't know how much of that I could take, and at some point I might have to keep everyone at arm's length. Not sure. That would definitely take some experimenting.
 
After 4-500 years, when I had enough money (and founding supporters), I would find a way to use that money to found my own country. From there, I would work endlessly to ensure that my nation secured the blessings of liberty, and see it prosper into a model for all humanity.

My nation would be funded with an endowment (which I and other founders would retain control of) that would be used to permanently run the government - no taxes necessary. The nation would be a constitutionally limited republic, with myself as a permanent chief of the court system, a protector of the limitations of the government. After the aforementioned 500 years, I think I could have developed a pretty solid bill of rights. Citizenship in my nation would have stringent requirements for knowledge and understanding of fundamental liberties.

From then on, that is what I would spend my time doing. Vigilantly protecting that nation from the natural urge to oppress the minority. It would take all of my time, and I would be happy to devote my eternal life to it.

Fascinating. Now I get it: you'd be like a benevolent tyrant.


“There are two novels that can transform a bookish 14-year-kld’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish daydream that can lead to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood in which large chunks of the day are spent inventing ways to make real life more like a fantasy novel. The other is a book about orcs.” – “The Value of Nothing” by Raj Pate
 
After quickly reading the thread, I have to ask, what's so boring about living forever?
 
After quickly reading the thread, I have to ask, what's so boring about living forever?

Since its a hypothetical scenario, there is no objective answer to give you. But I once read an opinion that if the weather never ever changed, people would eventually go mad.

Again, its hypothetical, so you'll never know. Its enough to observe that we dont live forever, however much we may beg for more life at our final hour in this world, and also that people risk their lives all the time doing exciting things. You cant extract the excitement or thrill of living from a vacuum of no risk.
The risk of dying. Living forever as a person is contrary to nature of which we are but a small small part, and any attempt to make living forever 'make sense' is egotistical nonsense.
 
“There are two novels that can transform a bookish 14-year-kld’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish daydream that can lead to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood in which large chunks of the day are spent inventing ways to make real life more like a fantasy novel. The other is a book about orcs.” – “The Value of Nothing” by Raj Pate

Wow, that made me laugh out loud. I need to quote that somewhere due to it's brillance.
 
Fascinating. Now I get it: you'd be like a benevolent tyrant.


“There are two novels that can transform a bookish 14-year-kld’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish daydream that can lead to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood in which large chunks of the day are spent inventing ways to make real life more like a fantasy novel. The other is a book about orcs.” – “The Value of Nothing” by Raj Pate

Wow, that made me laugh out loud. I need to quote that somewhere due to it's brillance.

Yea, my libertarian friends and I have used this as a running joke for some time now. It's funny.
 
Since its a hypothetical scenario, there is no objective answer to give you.

That's fine, I was just hoping for those who thought that way to explain.

But I once read an opinion that if the weather never ever changed, people would eventually go mad.
Well, it's not like being immortal would make everyday the same forever.


The risk of dying. Living forever as a person is contrary to nature of which we are but a small small part, and any attempt to make living forever 'make sense' is egotistical nonsense.

While many people are motivated by the risk of death, I most certainly am not, and I often look for ways to remove it to make things more enjoyable. A risk that does motivate me is the risk of failure. I like to take a challenge; do something without a given outcome, and immortality doesn't take this away at all.

Try this (directed at those who say immortality is boring), imagine you were born at the beginning of civilization, and from the beginning you took up art, or science, etc. When exactly would it have gotten repetitive?
 
That's fine, I was just hoping for those who thought that way to explain.

I am one of those people!

But perhaps its a question of temperament, too. Getting bored and/or the negative experience of repetition is a personal thing. And since no one is in the position to say how their temperament would or wouldnt change over the course of anything more than their personal human life -much less how it would change if they were alive since the beginning of human civilization- is why I called it egotistical nonsense.

More importantly, people will try to say what they would do if they lived forever, and yet turn into denial monsters at the notion of accepting reincarnation and its implications. I'm assuming that you, since you seem attracted to the idea of living forever, would accept reincarnation as a legitimate idea? If not, then why not? Why would someone confident about being alive since the dawn of humanity shrink from the (more realistic, to be sure) notion that we live as people (mortal people) more than once?
 
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I am one of those people!

But perhaps its a question of temperament, too. Getting bored and/or the negative experience of repetition is a personal thing. And since no one is in the position to say how their temperament would or wouldnt change over the course of anything more than their personal human life -much less how it would change if they were alive since the beginning of human civilization- is why I called it egotistical nonsense.

That makes sense. I can't deny that living forever is a strange concept as far as human experience goes, but I think we can make some assumptions just for the sake of discussion. Also, going by the same logic, wouldn't it be an assumption to think that immortality would lead to bordem?

More importantly, people will try to say what they would do if they lived forever, and yet turn into denial monsters at the notion of accepting reincarnation and its implications. I'm assuming that you, since you seem attracted to the idea of living forever, would accept reincarnation as a legitimate idea? If not, then why not? Why would someone confident about being alive since the dawn of humanity shrink from the (more realistic, to be sure) notion that we live as people (mortal people) more than once?

I have no problems with reincarnation, as a matter of fact giving life another go in a different form would be interesting, though it might be moot if I forget my previous lives.

Also, I wouldn't say that I'm attracted to living forever, I just don't think it would be boring (until maybe the heat death of universe). Now if God* came down and told me that death = not existing, I might become attracted to immortality, but I don't know what not existing feels like so I can't be sure. If it's boring, I won't like it, but if I can't feel bored because I don't exist, I guess it wouldn't be so bad.

*I don't believe in any form of after life, nor do I have any idea what it's like after death, this is just an example.



That doesn't take a lifetime, but certainly your entire life for 3 years!


I'd hope it wouldn't take forever, just 4 years of loans is bad enough! I meant I'd be an engineer forever.

EDIT: actually I had a thought, if the loans you took only needed to be paid back once you graduated...
 
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Immortality?

Not eternality, ergo, the inability to die of any cause?

I would study. Doctor of Medicine, multiple PhDs (one in Astrophysics), an EdD, a Doctor of Dentistry, too, while I'm at it. I would study languages, because I'll need it for what I'm going to do next.

Invest. Multiple long term investments. Use whatever money I have and build build build. Build a network of political and business connections.

Estabilsh a corporation/foundation/whatever dedicated solely to escape. To find ways to get humanity off this dirty little mudball. Lines of research will include cracking my immortality to be able to confer it upon other possible colonists for the stars.

Oh... and in the meantime, get rich, travel the world, experience all there is to experience on this planet, before I leave it.
 
While many people are motivated by the risk of death, I most certainly am not, and I often look for ways to remove it to make things more enjoyable. A risk that does motivate me is the risk of failure. I like to take a challenge; do something without a given outcome, and immortality doesn't take this away at all.

I find this funny, as you have a fast car as your avatar.

You may not think you are "motivated" by death, but it is what makes things like going on roller coasters and driving fast fun. If you know nothing bad can happen to you your adrenaline won't get up nearly as much.

Try this (directed at those who say immortality is boring), imagine you were born at the beginning of civilization, and from the beginning you took up art, or science, etc. When exactly would it have gotten repetitive?

There are people who are currently alive(in other words, mortal) who get bored of those things after awhile. Even professional athletes get bored and retire, some even at the top of their prime.

Anyways, if I were immortal I would be the first person to walk across the bottom of all 5 oceans.
 
I find this funny, as you have a fast car as your avatar.

You may not think you are "motivated" by death, but it is what makes things like going on roller coasters and driving fast fun. If you know nothing bad can happen to you your adrenaline won't get up nearly as much.

I can't really agree. If I think a roller coaster is going to kill me, I'm not going to ride it. What draws me to cars and coasters is the sense of speed and movement. I also happen to prefer driving to riding because I'm in control. Now I don't usually think about being in control as a matter of life or death, but when I am in control, I tend to keep myself as far from death as possible.


There are people who are currently alive(in other words, mortal) who get bored of those things after awhile. Even professional athletes get bored and retire, some even at the top of their prime.

Excellent point, but I'm sure that the next step for a retired sports star isn't suicide, but perhaps another hobby. I'm also sure that a retired (or non retired) sports star wouldn't be able to learn every artistic technique and every scientific theory, even if he was 10,000 years old. He would also need to keep up with the ever increasing amount of knowledge that is discovered daily.
 
I can't really agree. If I think a roller coaster is going to kill me, I'm not going to ride it. What draws me to cars and coasters is the sense of speed and movement. I also happen to prefer driving to riding because I'm in control. Now I don't usually think about being in control as a matter of life or death, but when I am in control, I tend to keep myself as far from death as possible.

It's not something you think about, it just happens naturally in your body. This is why being in a skydiving simulator is nowhere near as fun as actually jumping out of a plane, or why flying in a big passenger plane is nowhere near as fun as a jet fighter.

As the risk of death goes up the more adrenaline your body produces, obviously there is more to it than that, but "death factor" plays a role in it.

Edit: Also, everything has a risk of killing you, some things are just more likely than others.
 
it just happens naturally in your body.

Well that's the difference. Your body doesn't know that the roller coaster won't kill you, even if your mind does. It's not the risk of death that's exciting, it's the complex physical reaction going on in your body that makes things exciting.

If your mind knows that the roller coaster will kill you, I doubt that you would ride it.

Being immortal does not imply that you won't have human emotions/feelings/etc, but prolonged and continuous exposure to proof of your immortality may change things.

Also, on the note of the jet fighter vs passenger plane, one is not inherently more dangerous than the other (unless you're assuming that the fighter plane is in a war zone), even then, I'd think most people would find the fighter more exciting.
 
It's the same thing with the jet fighter vs passenger plane and kiddie coaster vs mega coaster.

As the speed and height raises, your body starts to freak out, and your internal impulses go "Oh 🤬", hence the excitement :D
 
Play music to the world for eternity. ;)

Simple as that. Oh and get my greasy hands on a Ferrari 308. :D

t4
 
I also happen to prefer driving to riding because I'm in control.

It's in this instance alone that I am less scared of climbing a tree or doing a high dive than of getting in an elevator. One of the two is more likely to kill me, but I've got control over one and I have to put my faith in the honesty of an engineer in the other.

Despite all the interlocking safety systems in modern elevators, a relatively new elevator fell four floors locally, injuring the people inside... I'm scared witless of some public building elevators.

Carnival rides fail, get stuck or fall apart. In a car that I've maintained myself, with tires I've checked the pressures on and with me behind the wheel, taking a corner with the rear end going sideways is more thrilling and less scary than taking a rollercoaster at the same speed.
 
A)Yes, your immortal.

B)No, your not Edward Cullen.

C)There are no downsides, except for getting fat if you eat a lot (still not going to get you killed though).

D) The fact that you can't get sick... is that a super power? No health issues (eg. Cancer, Tumors, Other deadly diseases).

E)Let's make it 21.. because an average person is at their best physical shape during that time I think?

Probably start off in school and go to college to become engineer, then go travelling / partying for a few hundred years gaining a wealth of experience from all different situations and cultures, things you cant learn from a book. Then i would sit back and reasses and start to build an "empire" something like what Danoff said only without my own country / leader. I would be always seeking to learn and master new things and hopefully become a wealth of wisdom and knowledge and somewhat of a "good guy" who is generous and helpful.

I think it would be a lot of fun for at least 400 - 500 years after which it becomes impossible to speculate since we really aren't able to comprehend what it would be like to live that long especially with a body that stays 21.
 
Rethinking my crazy idea from before, I have a new one.

I'd set out to learn some of the most widely used languages. After that was done I just go racing, and climb throughout the ranks. Maybe afterwards I would spend years blueprinting and designing a street legal LMP car, using a handbuilt 3.5 Liter Twin-Turbo. I don't know what else, become the philosifer (how do you spell that?) that I am, spreading wisdom through peace, and using my immortality and values to better the world.

Less dysfunctional than crashing NYC with a space shuttle, isn't it?
 
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