6 ms·
Maybe I'm a bit jaded...but I don't like this. Or any of the 'anti-aging' initiatives. Natural death is a beautiful thing; it's a part of life. I'll be honore
by axaxs 9y ago
Maybe I'm a bit jaded...but I don't like this. Or any of the 'anti-aging' initiatives. Natural death is a beautiful thing; it's a part of life. I'll be honored to die a natural death at a normal age. I don't want to live forever - even at my age I feel the world is changing out from underneath me. Friends and family tick off one by one each year. I'm not too old yet, but already appreciative of the time I've been given. Not sure why anyone who values human relationship would want to 'live forever', even if it's just in digital form.
- rorykoehler 9y agoWhat constitutes a natural death? We used to die at 40 now we die at 80. Is that natural? At what point does natural become unnatural?
- axaxs 9y agoNatural in the context of not being murdered or otherwise unlucky. I really feel especially for say, kids who get terminal diseases before they reach their teens, so I'll throw that in. I'm not old yet, but I've gotten to experience a lot of life to the point where I'd accept my fate. Sorry for the nonanswer, but it requires a bit of thinking and opinion.
- rorykoehler 9y agoIf medicine advanced to the point of repairing your body to be able to live a healthy life indefinitely would you try stay healthy using the best science has to offer or would you not?
- axaxs 9y agoIt would depend on a lot of factors. Can everyone afford it, even my poorer friends and family? Is the population booming? Off the cuff - no. If we all lived forever there'd be no world change, the birth rate would have to drop by a ton to near zero, etc. The older I become, the more set in my ways I become. That's just natural, even if you consciously fight it. Imagine where we'd be as a society if they'd discovered how to live forever in the caveman days...
- rorykoehler 9y agoI understand your point of view however it leaves more questions than answers. For example at what point do you stop trying to stay healthy? Modern medicine and sanitation got us this far. Is it already too much?
- michaelhoney 9y agoIt's not so much "forever" as "longer". I may want to die eventually, just not.. yet.
- axaxs 9y agowhen does 'longer' end? 80? 120? 150? It's a hard question.
- Mononokay 9y agoPreferably, whenever a person feels ready.
- axaxs 9y agoWhat if nobody ever felt 'ready'? This is becoming more suicide prevention at this point no?
- Mononokay 9y agoIf no one is ever ready to die, then why do it? By the time this happens we'll more than likely be multiplanetary, and there'd be no incentive to really ever die. It's less a moral issue than a logical issue - "Let a person contribute to the world until they feel they have nothing else they can do" isn't a terribly unreasonable idea.
- vagab0nd 9y ago>> Natural death is a beautiful thing; it's a part of life. I'll be honored to die a natural death at a normal age. I completely disagree. Natural death is not a beautiful thing, and is sometimes painful. Even if I don't want to live forever, I'd like to be given the choice of when to die, basically when I'm tired of living. Maybe you still don't agree, but would you have thought differently if all your friends and family also have that choice?
- axaxs 9y agoChildbirth is also, by all accounts, painful. But it's seen as a beautiful thing, no? I don't mean to be contrary, these are all opinionated questions and I like the discussion. And it's really hard. A few of my favorite people(non famous or famous) died 'too young' and have very fond places in my heart and others. Yet some who lived to 80-something...grew old enough to disown their own family and die a lonely life in dementia.
- barry-cotter 9y agoGreat. You die, I’ll live forever. I have no objection to you dying if you feel like it.