I once had a discusson with a friend who isn't suicidal. I had the position immortal life would be a complete nightmare. Assuming human life in the way we are experiencing it on a daily basis. His opinion was it probably depends on the life quality. For example, if aging wasn't a problem. My take was even without aging, even with limitless money and resources. It still would be a nightmare. One argument you are immortal. You witness everyone dying. Your family, friends, pets. Okay so let's assume they are also immortal and not affected by aging. One argument was as long as there is enough variety in your life, immortality would be pretty nice. I think though that's wrong. Okay you can learn all foreign languages you want. Do everything you want. How long will it take to become bored? Humans might last 100 years. At least some. How do people imagine immortality? Maybe 500 years. Maybe 1000 years? Maybe 10.000 years? I grant for people who like life this sounds managable. And for someone who says I love life it is literally the best thing that ever happened to me. Like my sister who asked me when I opened up about my suiciidality: Why do you want to get of rid of the most precious thing you have? Okay I admit some of them might manage to live 10.000 years without getting "bored to death". But imagine 10 million years of living? That sounds like a nightmare. Let's assume earth won't change fundamentally. You adapt to most changres on earth perfectly.
I think 10 million years of living as a human being, with a memory would mean a lot of suffering. This is a thought I never had about this topic. What if you could get rid of your memory? Would immortality be as bad as with memory? Maybe I am immortal. And for me this would be pretty horrible. I don't like the notion of immortality. But admittedly if I was immortal I would life far better without this knowledge. There is still hope that I cease to exist. Or hope for more luck in the lottery. Maybe the perception of time and space would change if one was immortal. But how can we imagine it then? How can we stop aging? How can everyone we love be immortal too? What would happen if someone stabs you in your heart? Will you feel pain? Will you just respawn? Are you still the same person after you respawn? Would such a person still be a human? Would immortality also negate death? Some people are immortal, some can die? What is the metaphysics of this? Is this like a simulation? Are you actually existing or are you simply experiening immortality in like a simulation. Because the concept of the universe like it is today had to be changed so that other variables like the earth, sun, planets stayed the same. In order to live an immortal life in the sense of experiecing life as a human. Would you still be human then? I've gone off track.
One key point. Maybe you manage to live 10.000 good years. Even if you had everthing you dreamed of. But would this still be life? If you can have literally everything you have, you might long for the exact one thing you can't have. And in this scenario this would be death. Actually, I think this was a smart thought. lol.
Some might claim they would never want death. I think most people would suffer a lot after 10.000 years of living in case they are conscious about it, and they have a memory of it. I think human life would eventually become boring. Boredom can also mean a lot of suffering. My favorite author David Foster Wallace killed himself while writing a book about boredom. Admittedly, he was clinically depressed. I don't buy that people could live 20.000 years while being conscious about it and with a functioning memory without suffering about the sheer fact they are still iving and have to find new other things to do. People still won't agree with that. But immortality doesn't mean 20.000 years. It doesn't mean 500.000 years. It doesn't mean 50 trillion years. It would be fucking forever. I think the pain would be extreme. But there is the possiblity I am immortal and as long as I am not sure about that I still have hope to cease to exist. Or to improve my life quality, and hope for more luck more luck in the next 10.000 years.
Would the conceptualizing of time still be the same if there was proof for immortality? Maybe there is no coherent logic in this unvierse anyway. And maybe the perspectives are just skewed.
I think most people underestimate what it means to live forever. This is why uploading one's consciousness to the internet sounds scary as fuck to me. Even though, I think this won't happen any time soon.
If memories shape a human being. And you need to get rid of your memories to enjoy immortality. Would immortality actually be immorttality or just a series of dfferent shorter lives with different identities?
I think 10 million years of living as a human being, with a memory would mean a lot of suffering. This is a thought I never had about this topic. What if you could get rid of your memory? Would immortality be as bad as with memory? Maybe I am immortal. And for me this would be pretty horrible. I don't like the notion of immortality. But admittedly if I was immortal I would life far better without this knowledge. There is still hope that I cease to exist. Or hope for more luck in the lottery. Maybe the perception of time and space would change if one was immortal. But how can we imagine it then? How can we stop aging? How can everyone we love be immortal too? What would happen if someone stabs you in your heart? Will you feel pain? Will you just respawn? Are you still the same person after you respawn? Would such a person still be a human? Would immortality also negate death? Some people are immortal, some can die? What is the metaphysics of this? Is this like a simulation? Are you actually existing or are you simply experiening immortality in like a simulation. Because the concept of the universe like it is today had to be changed so that other variables like the earth, sun, planets stayed the same. In order to live an immortal life in the sense of experiecing life as a human. Would you still be human then? I've gone off track.
One key point. Maybe you manage to live 10.000 good years. Even if you had everthing you dreamed of. But would this still be life? If you can have literally everything you have, you might long for the exact one thing you can't have. And in this scenario this would be death. Actually, I think this was a smart thought. lol.
Some might claim they would never want death. I think most people would suffer a lot after 10.000 years of living in case they are conscious about it, and they have a memory of it. I think human life would eventually become boring. Boredom can also mean a lot of suffering. My favorite author David Foster Wallace killed himself while writing a book about boredom. Admittedly, he was clinically depressed. I don't buy that people could live 20.000 years while being conscious about it and with a functioning memory without suffering about the sheer fact they are still iving and have to find new other things to do. People still won't agree with that. But immortality doesn't mean 20.000 years. It doesn't mean 500.000 years. It doesn't mean 50 trillion years. It would be fucking forever. I think the pain would be extreme. But there is the possiblity I am immortal and as long as I am not sure about that I still have hope to cease to exist. Or to improve my life quality, and hope for more luck more luck in the next 10.000 years.
Would the conceptualizing of time still be the same if there was proof for immortality? Maybe there is no coherent logic in this unvierse anyway. And maybe the perspectives are just skewed.
I think most people underestimate what it means to live forever. This is why uploading one's consciousness to the internet sounds scary as fuck to me. Even though, I think this won't happen any time soon.
If memories shape a human being. And you need to get rid of your memories to enjoy immortality. Would immortality actually be immorttality or just a series of dfferent shorter lives with different identities?
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