"In your definition of the word, I don't think anyone wouldn't want to do that. I mean, it's immortality* that you can choose to just off yourself at any time. Who wouldn't go for that?"

As Kodie points out, that is the type that is remotely feasible.

But even so, if I were offered what you are talking about, true immortality where I was absolutely indestructible, I'd still take it. Who knows what will happen in the far distant future, where humanity might go, what it might become. I'd risk an eternity in darkness to see that.

If we lived in a world where humans had the capacity to live a long time, as long as they wanted, death would still be available. I think immortality in the dictionary definition is impossible, that's magic. Overlooking the "immortality pill" remark, I'd infer what Ty meant as more like we had an ability to engineer indefinite longevity.

If there were a cure for every disease, if you were mangled in an accident, you could be rebuilt, you would stay youthful perhaps or slow down aging extremely. Maybe brain transplant into robotic bodies, or upload brain signals to implant in another body. All manner of death has been circumvented by science and medicine but life could still cease if you wanted to or you were left somewhere with no one to fix you. Supposing you were found a few days later, maybe they could revive you, but supposing you had decomposed, they might have to give up on it. Or else recompose all your dead relatives. Or else save everyone's brain impulses on file and revive them at will.

I mean, there's no reason to suppose anyone expects to be unkillably immortal, just fixably immortal. I think it would be catastrophic to be immortal the way you (and I concede, the dictionary) mean it.

Personally I am already sometimes tired and resistent to modern changes. I will choose death. I see my grandmother, born in 1917, has seen so much happen and develop over her life. Skype is amazing to her. I told her about google street view, I told her they got new front steps on her apartment building. One of my habits is to fight sleep, I don't want to miss anything -- it's stupid. I can imagine I would not want to die and miss anything in the future, there are a lot of things that won't happen in my lifetime that I'd like to see. But I also see younger people around me adapting to new technology easier, having a different world than I grew up in that is still my world, but apart from it, plus the music and the new movie stars and stuff that's just "current," and I'm not "current." How old can one ever get and still take care of themselves? In a practical way, if you can live indefinitely, how is that getting paid for? Rent, cars, outliving another dog and another, or paying to keep the same dog. Wonder if he likes it. When we're immortal, can dogs learn to walk themselves? Food, overpopulation, worrying about the news, arranging your living room. Look at some old person's house and if they've lived somewhere a long time, their living room looks exactly the same as it did 40+ years ago. I don't know.

There is no such thing as true immortality.

It seems rather arbitrary to say "Immortality..." and then "...but mortal when it comes to plane crashes." Well that's just not immortality, now is it? I'm sorry, I took "immortality" to mean "can in no way die," and, given how this is just a hypothetical, I didn't realize there were limits to what we would call immortality.

In your definition of the word, I don't think anyone wouldn't want to do that. I mean, it's immortality* that you can choose to just off yourself at any time. Who wouldn't go for that?

are you honestly saying that the fact that the universe will eventually die is a solid reason to not try and live as long as possible? It's all or nothing? 70 years or eternity in blackness?

In a situation where you literally live forever, yes, those are the two choices.

Please. That is the most ridiculous strawman of all time. There is no such thing as true immortality. Even if we had a pill that made our cells regenerate with perfect precision, and utterly stopped the aging process, you could still be killed in a plane crash or a house fire. The idea that someone could exist past the heat death of the universe is truly silly.

However, I wouldn't mind living longer than our sun or our planet. If humans make it that long, who knows what sort of interesting things we might be up to by that point.

are you honestly saying that the fact that the universe will eventually die is a solid reason to not try and live as long as possible? It's all or nothing? 70 years or eternity in blackness?

But unless I was undergoing constant and unbearable torture, I will pick existence over non-existence every time.

So enjoy your vast space of nothingness for all eternity.

When it comes to my time; ask me again.

"It is different if you get to take it when you are young and vital but getting lumbered for eternity with all the diseases of old age, does not present such a pleasing prospect. There is a lot to commend our short times."

Even most old people would rather be alive then dead.

I think we romanticize the necessity of death as a means of making it tolerable. But unless I was undergoing constant and unbearable torture, I will pick existence over non-existence every time.

I guess I sorta am one of those who are "angry" at (the Christianconcept of) God. The God in the Bible, and the history of His Church, are so appalling I find Christianity repellant. Along with the whole difficult to believe thing. :)

@ DDM, I know, but it'd be funny anyway. Especially their surprised faces at being confronted with karma...
... but alas.

"When the immortality pill comes out, you are welcome to not take it."

It is different if you get to take it when you are young and vital but getting lumbered for eternity with all the diseases of old age, does not present such a pleasing prospect. There is a lot to commend our short times.

@DDM, your idea of an afterlife for all sort of reminds me of Christmas, then I'm reminded not everyone celebrates Christmas, then it would go the same probably for their respective gift-giving holidays.

Anyway, I remember being told that Santa doesn't bring toys to naughty kids, he keeps lists, he sees you all the time, and how hollow that threat was. Nobody got a chunk of coal, everyone got presents. Even if you don't believe in Santa anymore, and you're kind of rotten, you get presents.

It's not a perfect analogy; I'm sure so many kids had to do without, but it seems sort of like that to me. My fantasy afterlife is reincarnation or be a ghost. I think ghost abilities go along with the superhero question: what powers would you have?

Who said anything about being reborn? Dead is dead, y0.

It'd be awesome if we met all the 'heaven'-religious folks in some sort of ethereal waiting room, waiting to be reborn. :D

Has it also occurred to believers that we might all obtain immortality after we die? I mean, what if every religion is wrong and where we all go when we die we live forever anyway, no worship or sacrifice in this life needed? Like maybe it doesn't matter what you do in this life and it's something everyone gets by default?

Given the evidence I've seen for religions, this possibility seems equally, if not more so, plausible. Plus you don't need to waste your Sunday mornings for a chance at it.

All I learned about immortality I learned from Lost Odyssey.

Apparently being immortal sucks.

When the immortality pill comes out, you are welcome to not take it. But I can imagine very few situations in which existence is not preferable to nonexistence.

Is immortality so desirable? I am not sure it would be such a wonderful thing.

Exactly. There is, to me, literally a better chance of winning the lottery without ever having bought a ticket, then there is of heaven.

I mean, the lottery can be proven to exist.

If I thought I would get immortality out of it, there is almost nothing I wouldn't do.

Yup. It's not like we're unaware of the offered prize. We just think there's a zero percent chance of winning.

My own parents still hold this belief. That I just want to goof off and enjoy the world without having to do any of the stuff god wants me to do.

I find this incomprehensible. If I thought I would get immortality out of it, there is almost nothing I wouldn't do. I'd give Tom Arnold a dirty sanchez for even a 1% shot at immortality. Going to some bible classes and talking about the Jesus is small potatoes compared to that.

Meh. I never did show up in photographs because I lack a soul.

Someone give Calvin Klein a guitar! ;)

:)

Quick, get that awkward high-school couple to kiss!

I am beginning to become transparent and fading from photographs. Help!

Like I know I'm damning myself to an eternity of hell, but it's worth it to sleep in on Sundays...

This actually is what they think; they just think that the utter pettiness this would represent if it were actually true is simply a result of being under the thrall of evil.

The one I hear the most is 'they really do believe in god, but they don't want to have to live by his rules so they pretend they don't believe.'

How insane is that?!!? Like I know I'm damning myself to an eternity of hell, but it's worth it to sleep in on Sundays... f-ing retards, the lot of 'em!

Yeah, this isn't new. You hear fundies a lot saying things like "atheists are all angry at God / afraid of God". Their brainwashing is so thorough that they can't even conceive the simple concept that we don't all believe what they believe. They actually think we're pretending.

It's not surprising, really. Our imaginations are limited by our own experiences, after all.

Yeah, a lot of people seem to think atheists don't really exist. Just a couple of weeks ago an acquaintance of mine on facebook posted something like "I don't understand how people can not believe in god. How can they look at the world and not see a creator?" OK, lots of people don't understand what they aren't really exposed to (we do live in the Bible Belt after all). But someone responded, "They do. They just say they don't to get people riled up." What?! I wanted to let her know how offensive that was, but figured she wouldn't really care. Most fundie types don't.

I hope I am not breaking any rules by posting this link from another website but this is just classic. There is a lot of foaming at the mouth and jumping up and down nonsense to get through but if you can make it to the 5 minute mark, he claims that athiests do not exist.
So there you have it. Time to shut down Unreasonable Faith and I'll see everyone in church on Sunday ;-)

http://www.stufffundieslike.com/2010/07/turning-psalms-into-commands/