Who Wants To Live Forever?
December 24, 2008
Who wants to live forever in their earthly form? Would you choose to do so, if you could? Well, the chance to live forever may be closer than you think.
When I first met Robin of Lets Live Forever, I was more than a little skeptical about her idea that we could live forever. But Robin is a scientist and they’re not renowned for their belief in things that haven’t yet been scientifically proven.
And Robin is the only one who believes in the possibility that humans could live forever. Other scientists have made a film – What If? The Movie,which explores the amazing potential of the human mind and gives strength to the notion that we may be able to live for hundreds of years on this earth.
I’m looking forward to watching the film, but I’m not so sure I would want to live forever unless Olay invent some wonder cream to keep me looking reasonably useful. But I love the idea that our minds have the capability to achieve far greater things.
And just for a bit of fun – I’ve been considering the pros and cons of being able to live forever:
The Pros Of Being Able To Live Forever
No need to go through painful death and reincarnation when you live forever.
We’d have more time to learn more and embrace the full potential of our minds.
History would be far more accurate, if folk who are still around had been there.
Being able to heal ourselves would cut back on the costs of expensive health care.
There’d be no grieving process to face, when a loved one died, if they could live forever.
There would be fewer lonely widowers.
Folk would be more genuine in their actions, as opposed to just scoring points to gain a spot in heaven.
We’d be able to get to know our ancestors intimately if they were able to live forever too.
It would be easier to create family tree.
Women could become well established in their career, before taking a break to have children. If we could live until 300 years old, there’d be nothing to stop women putting off having kids until they were 100.
The Cons of Being Able To Live Forever
The world could become over-run with people and it could wind up feeling more like a living hell. (this one was contributed by my son Joshua)
If only a few people decided to live forever, they may wind up being subject to unpleasant experiments. (another one from Joshua)
It could restrict the essential learning experiences we’d get if our souls were reincarnated.
Some folk do little with their lives and spend much of their time being bored. Would it be beneficial for them to live for another 300 boring years?
Some people re-marry two times, or more already. How many marriages would folk get through if they lived several hundred years – 20 plus? With numbers that high, there would be a bigger risk of inbreeding.
Some folk will want to live for hundreds of years and others will be dead against it. Once there’s a significant number of long lifers, the world will change for sure. If those changes are severe, many regular lifers could declare war on the long lifers, in the hope of wiping them out.
There would be a huge pressure to change some laws from those who choose to live forever. Things like the copyright law – would need to be changed and retirement age would need to be increased dramatically. These changes would likely be opposed by those who didn’t want to live for hundreds of years.
It would create an even bigger divide between rich and poor. The poorest people in many countries are just trying to keep their heads above water, so it’s unlikely that many of them would want to live forever.
Who wants to live forever, if you could? Please share your opinion in the comments section.
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Comments
26 Responses to “Who Wants To Live Forever?”
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Living forever, here on earth…I’m not sure I’m ready for that!
I do love Robin’s outlook on life, and the idea of living forever is a powerful one – she’s a favorite visiting place of mine! This idea of living forever is one worth exploring, one worth understanding, and one worth talking about. Indeed, that’s how we learn and grow…
I like how you’ve listed pros and cons, Cath. I think that shows it’s not a cut and dried yes or no on this. And that’s what makes it interesting…
Lance’s last blog post..This Challenged Me – Part 1
Hi Cath – How would you know if there was life after death if you lived forever? Merry Christmas!
Betsy’s last blog post..AND THE GLORY OF THE LORD SHALL BE REVEALED . . .
Hi Cath, Live forever? I’ll save that for the life to come. For science fiction fans, there’s a great anthology, “The Year’s Best Science Fiction”, edited by Garndner Dozois. The last few editions have a number of excellent short stories that delve into the topic of extended human life. These stories are fascinating, and dramatize many of the pros and cons you talk about in this post. For example, in the current edition, the 25th, “Of Late I Dreamt of Venus”, by James Van Pelt and “The Immortals of Atlantis” by Brian Stableford, are fabulous!
Brad Shorr’s last blog post..Eco-Friendly Christmas Cartoon
The biggest con is that you would have to see your children die, and your grandchildren, and your great-grandchildren…
Also, in this hypothetical, do you continually age, or do you stay 20-ish like in Highlander? I would certainly say no if you are still going to be bedridden after say age 90…
But on the pro side, think of all the Christmas cards you’d get over the years! I love the idea of being able to look back on history. You would also be able to build one hell of a great retirement fund…
~Graham
PS – Merry Christmas to you and yours Cath!
Graham Strong’s last blog post..How You Can Add More Punch to Your Press Releases
If I could stay 23 forever, wouldn’t be so bad. I see your point, there are so many pros for obvious reasons but it’s too heavily relied upon religious reasons. A lot of people have different views on religion (myself particularly) and would not include that in any factor. Religion is a tough topic to bring up and talk about in conversation because you never know others views and would never want to offend someone.
For me none of that would have play, but think there could be great educational reasons and to see how history plays through.
Also, I could never get tired of hearing Thunder Road, even 300 yrs from now.
Happy holidays Cath and everyone!
It’s a wonderful idea to live our potential to its fullest, but having said that, I prefer to try out different settings of life. I’m a quick learner, and I’m afraid I’d get bored in the same old setting after so many years. And reincarnation is not that painful.
Kind of like wanting to wear different dresses for different occasions ^_^
Akemi “spiritual entrepreneur” @ Yes to Me’s last blog post..Best Spirituality Blog Posts 2008
Nope
For scientific reasons not religious reasons
Patricia’s last blog post..Happy Holidays From the Folks at Patricia’s Wisdom
Hi Cath. Hmm. I thought about this and every time I ponder the idea of living forever, I feel trapped. Weird, I know. But I’ve never actually sat down and looked at it… I mean really thought about it.
It feels that if we knew we were going to live forever, there would be no motivation to live. Weird contradiction, I know.
When I think a bit more… with death being an obvious certainty, life becomes more precious.
I dunno. I can’t figure this out yet.
Davina’s last blog post..A Positively Dysfunctional Christmas
hi Cath,
This is a deep question. Too deep even for this guru. The first thing I wonder is, would we not grow old? Would we not age? Would we be frozen in time, and would we not see our kids grow up? Would we be stuck with crazy four-year-olds forever?
This is just too much to ponder. Instead I will wonder what Santa is bringing tonight…
Merry Christmas!
~ the brain-overloaded trade show guru
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Hi Lance – it’s an interesting idea isn’t it. I had never even thought about the possibility until I visited Robin’s blog.
LMAO Betsy – I had never thought about that one.
Hi Brad – it sounds like I need to check out those stories.
Hi Graham – Those are good points – staying twenty something would be cool. I would have to reverse the aging process a lot first though. The retirement fund would definitely be a huge bonus.
Hi Craig – That’s a good point. I guess the concept would offend a lot of religious people – but you should never be afraid of offending folk, just because they don’t believe the same things as you. Unless they threaten to burn you at the stake of course – then you’d need to grovel to them as much as possible.
Hi Akemi – I didn’t think you’d fancy the idea of living forever. I like the idea of different dresses for different occassions too. But I must admit – I do worry about where I’ll end up next time.
Hi Patricia – It sounds like you’re not the only one who doesn’t fancy the idea. I’m getting the feeling those who want to live a few hundred years are going to be in the minority.
Hi Davina – that is a good point. Would we really value life so much if we were going to live for a few centuries – or even forever? And what if we had a fatal accident – would we be able to heal ourselves from that too?
Hi Steve – those are good points. Would we stop aging altogether at some point? The older we get the more or skins thin. I would feel kind of odd if it wore a way completely. Stuart is also just mentioning the shrinking factor. How small would we wind up after a couple of centuries?
Davina nails it! Yes, yes, yes, we’d be trapped on earth in an “is that all there is” mode! What would the reason be to keep living, then, indeed! But horror of horrors, you couldn’t even off yourself out of it, no? It would be the most extreme slavery, doomed to inevitability. I am thankful we can’t. I want to see what’s on the other side, and come back again, too. Merry Christmas!
Betsy’s last blog post..BEHOLD!
According to my Christain teachings I’m supposed to live forever anyway, so I’m banking on that. And meantime trying not to be too much of a pain in the ass in this realm, cause you guys are stuck with me until I go.
Jannie’s last blog post..Holly-Jolly 2008
Hi Betsy – I’ve been thinking about what Davina said all day. It would be like a horror film wouldn’t it? I have visions of a group of people, desperate to find a way out, before they’re doomed here for life.
Mind you – I don’t think Robin’s vision of life on earth is as it is now, because she sees the possibility of heaven on earth.
Hi Jannie – I’m guessing you’re not supposed to live forever in your physical form – but I don’t know what you’ve been learning.
Cath Lawson’s last blog post..Who Wants To Live Forever?
I would want to live forever if I could stay young forever, and if my family and friends stayed alive with me.
But Joshua is right. Overpopulation would become a huge problem.
Vered – MomGrind’s last blog post..Last-Minute Holiday Shopping? May I Suggest The Perfect Gift
Great post, but still no one knows what would happen after death. It’ll only take someone to come back alive after a few months to prove it
-Mike
Hi again, Cath – I received a book from my stepson for Christmas – 90 Minutes in Heaven, I think it’s called, or something like that, my mother-in-law wanted to read it and I lent it to her. It’s about a guy who was dead for 90 minutes (or maybe it was 45) and then came back. So, I will report back on what he found out when I get the book back from Pete’s mom.
Betsy’s last blog post..BEHOLD!
Hi Vered – It would be much better if your family and friends could live forever too. If we can make ourselves live forever – maybe we’ll find a way to make the world bigger too.
Hi Mike – That’s a good point. If someone was able to do that – we’d know what was there after we’d died.
Hi Betsy – I know the book you mean – I have it on my wishlist. I must admit – the reason I didn’t buy it yet was that I found it difficult to swallow that he could be dead for all that time and come back to life. I would love to hear what you think of it once you’ve read it.
Cath Lawson’s last blog post..Who Wants To Live Forever?
Living forever?
Cath, this is a very creative topic, and your list of pros and cons certainly provides some interesting food for thought.
One more argument on the ‘cons’ side. If everyone lived forever, then this would include oppressive leaders such as Robert Mugabe and Kim Jong Il.
The upshot of this could potentially be that the poor residents of places like Zimbabwe, Burma and North Korea, just to name a few, could remain under the oppression of men like these for centuries, or even perhaps eternity – not just decades.
Andrew’s last blog post..Merry Christmas
Hi Andrew – now that is one major negative I hadn’t thought of. The thought of folk like Mugabe living forever makes my skin crawl.
I know Akemi mentioned folk who are light workers – working towards the light, in another post. It would be better if folk only had a certain time to become a lightworker, or they’d expire early. That would fix the bad guys for sure.
I’m full of cold and going to bed early, so I still didn’t get to watch this film. But I’m betting it will be awesome. I just wish we could watch it from the TV instead of the laptop.
Nah, I don’t want to live forever, even the god is offering me to do so…
Try to live everyday as your last day and it’ will a blessing moment, even we died in accident or any unexpected disaster…
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Hi Cath – laughed at your pros and cons – they are are so funny.
It’s interesting to drop into this so late, after being MIA over Christmas.
About the feeling trapped thing – my view is that seeing what reactions we have to the idea of living forever can show us the unconscious thoughts we have that are holding us back in life, so if I felt trapped, i would be telling myself “life is not a trap” – or something like that (e.g. breathe through the trapped feelings).
I’d approach the fear of boredom in the same way – I have a post about boredom, on my featured posts page.
I think your “No need to go through painful death and reincarnation” nails it. I think the causes if death (e.g. aging, illness) are an unnecessary and painful burden we impose on ourselves, and there is nothing to be gained by going through the afterlife and reincarnation – we just recreate all the same old things when we start again. It’s during life we can make changes – and try on new dresses! If things are getting boring – dying won’t fix it! (I don’t believe we can escape from ourselves and the things we have created.)
I don’t reckon the Mugabes of this world will make it to eternal life, until they change – they have too much fear in them.
Thanks Cath, for letting me have a rave – I thought when I started my blog that it would attract lots of comments canning the idea – I’ve been very surprised that it hasn’t (there are 2 castrating ones altogether – I haven’t ever deleted a comment because it was critical of what I was saying). – R
Robin’s last blog post..Bloggers’ Recording Project Has Arrived!
Hi Wilhb – That sounds like a good idea. I guess the quality of our lives can be far more important than the quantity.
Hi Robin – I wondered where you got to. I need someone who is pro living forever in this discussion. You Australians must celebrate christmas for days.
I see what you’re saying re – feeling trapped. If someone is feeling trapped by the idea of living forever – there may be problems they need to fix in their lives already.
Now – I don’t think I’ve read your boredom post. I can’t imagine getting bored unless I lost my sight & use of my hands. But a lot of people do get bored easily – even though there’s so much to do.
As you say though – dying probably won’t fix that. If you can’t find a way not to be bored in this life, you’re probably going to come back in another one feeling exactly the same.
I’m still not sure where I’m at regarding all this Robin. If it does become possible to heal ourselves from virtually anything and slow down the aging process and live longer, I guess I would give it a shot.
My biggest concern is overcrowding – but so far, it sounds like the majority wouldn’t want to hang round – which gives the rest of us more space.
Hi Cath – we were up at Mum’s for a few days – and although I have a computer up there, I had to say “no” to blogging for a while. (it’s the summer holidays here – which maybe makes Christmas more of a break than it is for you guys.)
Just in case you are interested, the boredom post is at
http://letsliveforever.net/2008/05/but-id-get-so-bored/
With the overcrowding, the thinking is that humans will develop abilities we don’t have now – and that we could perhaps see planet Earth as our “mother”, but we may eventually leave the womb and explore the universe (maybe our existence here on Earth has only been the beginning). I don’t like to think about this sort of thing too much, because it is getting out of present time and we can’t know what we will be like when we have an expanded state of consciousness, anyway.
c u – R
Robin’s last blog post..Bloggers’ Recording Project Has Arrived!
Hi Cath – it’s me again!
In the confusion yesterday of my first day back blogging, I forgot to say thanks for highlighting my blog! Thankyou! – R
Robin’s last blog post..Bloggers’ Chorus Post-Christmas Post
If people choose to review examples of human beings who have chosen to live forever in human form, then people often come up with Faust and different human forms of the devil. The fate of those humans do not inspire everyone to follow in their footsteps. People often like the idea that something astrounding awaits them. Rather than dwell on where they are now, they prefer to dwell on what may be. Humans have free will. We can also choose to value every moment, every experience for what it is, for what we perceive it to be based on our curent level of awareness. Thanks for the thought-provoking post. Happy New Year!
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