If you suddenly discovered you were going to live forever, how would your attitude change?

I’m as troubled as anyone here over the state of the world today, and especially the state of my country, which I believe has lost its way completely. I expect a further economic meltdown and more trouble ahead. That doesn’t make me feel secure. But my perspective is decidedly short-term, measured in decades at best. I don’t expect to be here more than another 15 years, 25 tops. Otherwise is statistically unlikely.

For this Thought Project please imagine, if you will, that you discovered you were going to live forever, or at least until an accident of Providence got you. Until the magic meteor takes you down for good you would be free of disease, aging, and deterioration. The question is: How would your perspective change? How would you deal with the issues of the day?

Essentially you would be in a position to witness empires rise and fall, continents shift, languages change, and people engage in the same follies of today over and over again. You would view the coming economic collapse, predicted by all third-graders, as merely a trough because in 100 years it won’t matter. In a thousand years, as the world fight to stave off a coming Ice Age, you and your fellow citizens will be baffled that 21st century “visionaries” could not see their own folly of global warming. And in 10,000 years the world will be a vastly different place.

Would you worry as much? You would still survive. Either the government would give you handouts or you’d actually have to work for a living. Sometimes you’d be rich; sometimes you’d be poor, but at one time or another you will have owned castles. Hopefully you will have learned enough to avoid common pitfalls and learned a few useful trades to get you by.

The idea of an immortal person walking the earth is not new. In fact, there are several references in the Bible to a ‘wandering Jew’ named Cartaphilus. The story is in many forms, but the basic plot is that Cartaphilus offended Jesus when he was carrying the cross. Jesus became angry and said, “Thou shalt tarry until I return.” One of the manifestations of this is in My First Two Thousand Years; the autobiography of a wandering Jew by George Sylvester Viereck, published originally in 1928 and still available. A similar story is the Twilight Zone Season One episode, Long Live Walter Jamison, though it is forced to fit into a half-hour. And, of course, we have The Highlander. Jerome Bixby himself wrote the Star Trek episode, Requiem for Methuselah which deals with a man who claims to have been everyone from Alexander the Great to Leonardo da Vinci on earth. The book, Foreve r, by Pete Hamill, which is actually a history of New York City seen through the lives of an immortal resident. New Amsterdam was a television series that dealt with an immortal New York City cop. Robert A. Heinlein’s Time enough for love is about Lazarus Long, born in 1916 and still going strong in 4200.

My favorite of these is “The Man from Earth” where John Oldman plays the part of a Cro Magnon who has survived into modern times. I’ve written an extensive review about it here: www.scribd.com...

The movie web site is here: www.manfromearth.com... The IMDb site is here: www.imdb.com... You can buy it here and a script is available here" www.veryabc.cn...

So would you be bored or bemused?

haha id hate it. it wouldnt change a damn thing in my life. id still wander along lol..id probably keep having kids to witness their lives.

I can say without a doubt that my consumption of Marlboro Lights, bacon double cheeseburgers and single malt Scotch would dramatically increase.

I would never be bored, I have hobbies.

Impossible.

I think you should have asked the question.....
"If you suddenly discovered you were going to die tomorrow, how would your attitude change....?"

If I found out I was going to live forever, I'd pretty much immediately try to figure out a way to kill myself. This life is really a horror, and I don't see how prolonging it forever would make it better in any way.

Originally posted by Carreau
I would never be bored, I have hobbies.

Yeah. Ten thousand years of building model railroads would be such fun.

Cartaphilus also was in movie seventh sign.

Life would be weird, lets see if we dont get diseases we will propably still hurt ourself in accidents and therefor we would be quite handicapped eventually.

But think about all the people you would get to know... tooooooo many

reply to post by resoe26


My answer would be the same.

Haha, this thread is hilarious.

Well I wouldn't bother eating anymore and would save all my $$$.

Oh and I'd be jumping out of airplanes with no parachute.
Wait....this living forever thing...does it include no more pain?

Because hitting the ground and hurting for 200years as a result would suck.

Let's clear up this pain issue first.

Originally posted by resoe26
Impossible.

I think you should have asked the question.....
"If you suddenly discovered you were going to die tomorrow, how would your attitude change....?"

My attitude wouldn't change really.

I already acclimated myself to this reality and adjusted my mentality accordingly.

Originally posted by muzzleflash
Let's clear up this pain issue first.

You also might want to determine whether or not all your friends and family will also be immortal, or if you're going to forever and continually watch them all eventually die. That might not be very pleasant.

Originally posted by resoe26
Impossible.

I think you should have asked the question.....
"If you suddenly discovered you were going to die tomorrow, how would your attitude change....?"

DId you even read the OP.. and why he is proposing this subject to talk about? Good God.. go make your own thread if you want a different OP that suits you. There is NO rule that compels you to post in threads you do not like or want to participate in.

Sorry OP, getting seriously tired of this on here... and it happens constantly now.

I think a lot would change if we knew we would reap what we sow. As it is now, we spend and live like there is no tomorrow and adversely effect th planet in the same way.. becuase in fact, there is no "tomorrow". Like children we leave the mess for someone else to clean up when we are gone. If I were to live forever, it would offer an opportunity to learn so much more, to study and to eventually find a way to live in a way that would not effect the planet or even those around me. Most of my study and actions would be for those who were not going to live forever. I will live 5 or 6 times longer than pets.. and knowing that, I do things for and with them with that in mind. I think for some immortals that would be seen similarly.
Then again, me personally, I would run the risk of being a wrathful immortal or go bury myself in a cave somewhere.

Originally posted by Advantage

Originally posted by resoe26
Impossible.

I think you should have asked the question.....
"If you suddenly discovered you were going to die tomorrow, how would your attitude change....?"

DId you even read the OP.. and why he is proposing this subject to talk about? Good God.. go make your own thread if you want a different OP that suits you. There is NO rule that compels you to post in threads you do not like or want to participate in.

Sorry OP, getting seriously tired of this on here... and it happens constantly now.

I think a lot would change if we knew we would reap what we sow. As it is now, we spend and live like there is no tomorrow and adversely effect th planet in the same way.. becuase in fact, there is no "tomorrow". Like children we leave the mess for someone else to clean up when we are gone. If I were to live forever, it would offer an opportunity to learn so much more, to study and to eventually find a way to live in a way that would not effect the planet or even those around me. Most of my study and actions would be for those who were not going to live forever. I will live 5 or 6 times longer than pets.. and knowing that, I do things for and with them with that in mind. I think for some immortals that would be seen similarly.
Then again, me personally, I would run the risk of being a wrathful immortal or go bury myself in a cave somewhere.

"There is NO rule that compels you to post in threads you do not like or want to participate in. "

There is also no rule that says I can't...
I was simply putting a different spin on it. Sorry OP if I offended you!
but damn Advantage, calm down!!!

reply to post by schuyler


Do you keep on aging, or does it just stop?

I think that I would have a good time overall and just live a simple life with lots of travel.

But the one to keep in mind is to never get imprisoned for life. Eventually the authorities would catch on and you would end up a lab rat, wishing you could die, but never able to.

Originally posted by muzzleflash

and would save all my $$$.
:

Hmm yes, being immortal homeless doesnt sound too peasant. LOL!!

You said you wouldnt bother eating anymore.. in that same vein.. being immortally too obese to leave your bed ( yeah I watched that show on the health channel... ugh) woudnt be a great way to spend eternity.

Click here for more information.

Originally posted by TDawgRex


But the one to keep in mind is to never get imprisoned for life. Eventually the authorities would catch on and you would end up a lab rat, wishing you could die, but never able to.

Ahhh but he didnt say you couldnt kill yourself or jump in front of a bus.. or a shank.




“Immortality - a fate worse than death.” Edgar A. Shoaff b]

Originally posted by Blue Shift

Originally posted by Carreau
I would never be bored, I have hobbies.

Yeah. Ten thousand years of building model railroads would be such fun.

LOL I'd try to live life like Stuart. He enjoys the simple things in life, like when he says, "look what I can do!"