Want to live forever ?

NA8

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LowBat

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Interesting articles. I wonder why such an ability would develop in nature. Sounds more like an evolutionary fluke. Then again, such an ability would probably eventually change the entire species until only those creatures who have it survive.

If humans became immortal for repeatedly having sex we would quickly exceed the planet's ability to support us, and we're already reaching that limit with just being mere mortals. I'm content with the lifespan I have. I would however prefer a biological death clock that would keep me healthy until the day I died rather than a process of slow deterioration.
 

65535

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That begs the question, does the organism carry a brain and "soul" that allow it to really live. I would imagine that the organism lacks a processing system that allows complex memories and though process's like larger organisms normally considered animals and humans.
 

jtr1962

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If humans became immortal for repeatedly having sex we would quickly exceed the planet's ability to support us, and we're already reaching that limit with just being mere mortals.
It's really hard to make any predictions about how immortality would affect the planet's ecosystem. For starters, with more advanced technology the planet can probably support a trillion people. We would have to generate power via fusion and use it to grow our food in huge vertical farms. And we would have to live vertically as well since there is only so much land we can appropriate for our uses. Consider that one trillion people at the average population density of Manhattan (~70,000 per square mile) would occupy perhaps 15 million square miles. This still leaves 42 million square miles of land for nature. So it is at least possible to support many times the number of people we have.

But let us consider how immortality might affect us. What is the usual reason people give for having offspring? Generally it's so that a part of them survives after they're gone. In a world where lifespans are indeterminant that reason suddenly vanishes. My guess is many or most would choose to not reproduce should they have the option of immortality. Or you could legislate this if need be (i.e. perhaps render the person sterile should they choose immortality). Regardless, I'd say even without coercive methods the population wouldn't explode if immortality became a reality. Most of the reasons for having children vanish in a world where lifespans are not biologically determined.

Finally, it must be noted that immortality in the strictest sense can never happen. At best we'll have indeterminant lifespans where you won't age or die of natural causes, but can still die by external means. I think I remember reading that based on current statistics on causes of death, perhaps 50% of the population would die before their 1000th birthday. Few would live to 10,000. We would probably become more risk averse and make things much safer in such a world. Even so, I highly doubt you could get average lifespans much over 100,000 years. Sooner or later the odds of something beyond man's control, like a natural disaster or asteroid, will catch up with you. Maybe you'll get a few eccentrics living to 10 million years by never venturing outside their bunker, but is that really living?
 

LowBat

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You can keep the immortality. I'm exiting this highway before the traffic becomes gridlock.
 

bshanahan14rulz

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You can keep the immortality. I'm exiting this highway before the traffic becomes gridlock.

psh, yeah, I don't wanna live forever if everyone else is still going to be alive too...place be getting crowded, all those darn kids with their loud musics and their souped up cars and floppy pants and -- Hey kid! get offa my lawn!
 

RA40

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Why? By the time I've reached 80, I'll have had a fair sampling of events that encountering more will be redundant. One lifetime worth of this is sufficient for me.
 

Diesel_Bomber

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Sign me up! I can always jump off a cliff if I decide I don't like life anymore.

JTR-

Most people I have encountered, when you get right down to it, didn't plan to have kids. It just kinda "happened" (ahem). I think the population would explode.

:buddies:
 

Badbeams3

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Yes. I think...if we really could do something to live forever...a magic drink perhaps...well I would bet everyone here would take a swallow. One could always chose death later if they wanted.

Now, if I would have to be reborn as a jelly fish...doesn`t sound all that great.
 
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Hitthespot

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"While most members of the jellyfish family usually die after propagating, Turritopsis nutricula is able to switch back to a juvenile form once it mates through a process called transdifferentiation.

My wife says I'm just the opposite. I'm a Juvenile before and during propagating, and usually just sleep after. :laughing: :grin2: :D Althoug I do feel younger!

Bill
 

Ken_McE

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Anybody can do this, the part they don't mention in the article is that you inevitably end up boneless, tentacled, and sort of square. The square part can be a real buzzkill.:thumbsdow
 

seaside

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Sometimes, thinking about the idea of being completely non-existence bothers me. I would not be bothered by that if I know anything about after life or seeing my people in the heaven. But no one can be sure about it. If that's the way it is, then that's what I should take.

And, I don't want to reborn as a jelly fish with no flashlight at hand. LOL.
 
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