Immortality

[KimmyKae]

There is no denying that. But its fun to dream ;)

I actually think it would make a really interesting series or even better a book, if written correctly of course. Tracing someone's life over thousands of years. Kind of how "Interview with a Vampire" was done. Except it would be someone who is human, has to suffer through the same feelings a human would, and have a human impact on the world. Imagine if that person was on the sidelines, being associated in some way with most of the greatest events in history.

You might find "The Picture of Dorian Gray" interesting reading.

[MonGooS]

You might find "The Picture of Dorian Gray" interesting reading.

I did some research and it sounds extremely interesting, I will make an effort to read it. Thanks.

[Drakus]

Well I think it would be great living an eternity. There would be several ways of going about it....transferring of thoughts/memories/conscience into a clone....Gene therapy eliminating the part that causes aging, I'm sure there are more options.

A big issue would be world population. With deaths being brought to 0 or something close to it, the world population would explode. Perhaps, the option to go through with the procedure to become immortal would require sterilization or temporary sterilization. That is until the need for population to pick up comes in, or you decide that you want offspring and is willing to go through the aging process to have them.

[Chainsaw]

I'd love to live forever. Purely because of the fact that I find death and how one would perceive it to be a cripplingly terrifying concept. Which is odd, considering my profession.

So, religious views aside, how do you folks think we'd perceive death?

[KimmyKae]

^ I believe in oblivion. No hereafter, no god, just worm food.

I've never truly understood why people are afraid of death. To me it's merely a state of non-existance. When I'm dead, I won't be around to care whether I'm around or not.

[maxdamage]

I'd love to live forever. Purely because of the fact that I find death and how one would perceive it to be a cripplingly terrifying concept.

Same here.Just that I would love my parents also to be able to live forever but my brother and his second wife can grow old and die for all I care...I have lost a lot in life and my health has gone down the crapper mostly thanks to my dad and brother.I would love to have a "second" chance in life.I don't mind getting "older" but aging is out of the question....

[wisp]

So, religious views aside, how do you folks think we'd perceive death?

Death is necessary for the transition to our next life .

[Kharrak]

Death is necessary for the transition to our next life .

I believe he said Religious views aside :P

But yes, you're dead. You wouldn't perceive anything, much like a computer without power doesn't perceive anything. There's no thought, just a sudden end. The coalescence of stuff in the brain that creates the "id" that is you would simply dissipate. One would just be a sack of organic fleshy bits. Compare it to a toy car, when you remove the battery.

It's actually a difficult idea for the vast majority to grasp, let alone accept, since the idea of simply not "being" is nigh impossible to imagine. The very idea that we would continue to perceive after we die is an example. Any fantastic alterations one makes are generally as a result of this difficulty as well, not to mention the desire for the comfort such a perception represents.

We fear death, because biologically it's one of, if not the highest of priorities that must be avoided - and as such we are biologically conditioned to avoid it, in the same way pain serves the purpose to remove oneself from damage, and to avoid future exposure to such damage.

[Chainsaw]

But yes, you're dead. You wouldn't perceive anything, much like a computer without power doesn't perceive anything. There's no thought, just a sudden end. The coalescence of stuff in the brain that creates the "id" that is you would simply dissipate. One would just be a sack of organic fleshy bits. Compare it to a toy car, when you remove the battery.

I completely understand what death is. I know how everything works and I know quite a deal about what your body/brain goes through while you die. The question I'm asking is more directed at what each person believes it will 'be like'. You know, how will it feel leading up to and during your brain's shut-down?

It's actually a difficult idea for the vast majority to grasp, let alone accept, since the idea of simply not "being" is nigh impossible to imagine. The very idea that we would continue to perceive after we die is an example. Any fantastic alterations one makes are generally as a result of this difficulty as well, not to mention the desire for the comfort such a perception represents.

My point exactly :P. That's the thing I find so terrifying. The loss of conscious thought and perception. I did read a theory somewhere (I can't be arsed to find it now, sorry :P) of how your brain would perceive death. When you die, your brain slowly shuts down and a helluva lot of hormones get released (why some people feel 'at peace' during near-death experiences). I think somebody on the forum used the nice metaphor of pouring a bucket of LSD directly on your brain.

What this theory explored was the possibility that the brain's perception of time would be one of the first things to go out the window as it shuts down (similarly to what happens during sensory deprivation or dreaming, but on a larger scale). It could be theoretically possible for you to perceive the last 0.00000001 seconds that your brain is functioning as an eternity. You'd live in a world created by your own subconscious, similar to an ever-lasting dream.

[wisp]

The question I'm asking is more directed at what each person believes it will 'be like'. You know, how will it feel leading up to and during your brain's shut-down?
.

you will hear some weird "about to die "music like in pacman and a big GAME OVER sign will flash before your eyes , then darkness -then a respawn in 10,9,8....sign will hopefully appear :D

[Toxxyc]

you will hear some weird "about to die "music like in pacman and a big GAME OVER sign will flash before your eyes , then darkness -then a respawn in 10,9,8....sign will hopefully appear :D

Dude. "Press fire to respawn". Everyone knows that. So you can quickly take a **** and not mess on the doctor when you come back into the new life.

This is where those 48-hour-in-labour happenings come from.

True story.

[PerVert NexT Door]

you will hear some weird "about to die "music like in pacman and a big GAME OVER sign will flash before your eyes , then darkness -then a respawn in 10,9,8....sign will hopefully appear :D

Snake? Snake!? Snaaaaake!?

[Legion]

you will hear some weird "about to die "music like in pacman and a big GAME OVER sign will flash before your eyes , then darkness -then a respawn in 10,9,8....sign will hopefully appear :D

you forgot (insert coin)

[Kharrak]

So you're referring to that process of shutting down?

Beyond what you've stated, the brain kinda goes ape****. The brain flashes through memories, finding itself in various situations, having it's body say things related to this memories/hallucinations.

How comfortable it is, generally depend on what the brain brings up.

[Deaththekidd]

I think you would only see hallucinations because of injury/blood loss. If i remember correctly, i read somewhere that your life flashes before your eyes because the brain go's into overdrive in a last attempt to keep you alive.

[Legion]

I think you would only see hallucinations because of injury/blood loss. If i remember correctly, i read somewhere that your life flashes before your eyes because the brain go's into overdrive in a last attempt to keep you alive.

The brain remains active for some time still.
You see "sprites" hallucinations brought on from the loss of oxygen and blood to the brain.
you brain produces chemicals to try counter death leading to a drug induced trip.

[Deaththekidd]

The brain remains active for some time still.
You see "sprites" hallucinations brought on from the loss of oxygen and blood to the brain.
you brain produces chemicals to try counter death leading to a drug induced trip.

Thanks for clarifying. Having a nice trip as a parting gift doesn't sound that bad.

[wisp]

I have a question for "the prof" (and i call him that with the utmost respect) AKA Kharrak , :D
If we all became immortal should immortality not go hand in hand with infertility , cause if we cannot die it would make no sense to reproduce ?

[Kharrak]

Well, let's consider a few things.

I'm assuming you're referring to immortality in the sense of being impervious to all forms of biological harm (ageing included).

One first has to consider how this would be introduced. Considering the potential repercussions, it would very likely be heavily moderated, or intentionally flawed to allow for mortality. The mere danger it could exhibit would likely catalyse aggressive perceptions towards the nation that has access towards it: a classic case of biological threatening.

In other words, there would be a lot of fear, a lot of violence, and a lot of killing as a result of the mere potentiality of this being released.

Now, assuming this is introduced to a certain number of individuals: one would still need energy sources to fuel their bodies, they would need food. As such, failing everything else, incarceration or simply denial of resources would allow such people to die. Expanded by the high potential for a body to require much more energy to sustain such an "immortal" being, it would likely be more severe as it is now.

Assuming it was introduced to everyone (or everyone who didn't have access was killed off), you've got a few options:

Massive encouragement for large scale expansion, likely at the expense of everything else considering the speed at which it may be required.

Simple denial of medication after a certain age.

Everyone goes into the matrix :P

The issue is that sex is so hard coded into us, we're one of the few species that have an actual enjoyment stimulus to really keep us at it. Combine that with strong parental urges, and you have quite a few problems.

The solutions to such a situation is what often gives rise to dystopian fiction - being allowed to have children, but having them killed off at a certain age, etc.

Personally, I'm much more comfortable with the idea of "curing" ageing, compared to immortality - purely because the premise of immortality needs an astronomical amount of understanding in how it would affect us.

One would have to consider the factors: We would start to lose senses we have no need for - pain, fear, hunger. We'd get into such a comfort zone, we would potentially face a similar fate as the Dodo (which had no fear impulse, thus was hunted into oblivion as "easy meat").

[Grimnebulin]

Now, assuming this is introduced to a certain number of individuals: one would still need energy sources to fuel their bodies, they would need food. As such, failing everything else, incarceration or simply denial of resources would allow such people to die. Expanded by the high potential for a body to require much more energy to sustain such an "immortal" being, it would likely be more severe as it is now.

Photosynthetic hair.