4 ms·

I'm indeed a strong believer that if we could live forever, the suicide rate would be high, very high. There is only so much a human mind can get through. Thin

by keyle 5y ago

I'm indeed a strong believer that if we could live forever, the suicide rate would be high, very high. There is only so much a human mind can get through. Think of all the bad things that can happen to someone in their lives, mental scaring is real. At some point, something is going to snap. Only vein people would actually keep going forever. Most normal people would give in at some point having had enough. That said, extending life to 200-300 years would be good. I just think that forever would make everyone bat shit crazy and murdering each other or having suicide parties.

zoul 5y ago
This is the topic of The Makropulos Affair by Karel Čapek and the related opera by Leoš Janáček: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Makropulos_Affair http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Makropulos_Affair
rl3 5y ago
>That said, extending life to 200-300 years would be good. I just think that forever would make everyone bat shit crazy and murdering each other or having suicide parties. The invitations for those would be sick: "A party to die for." RSVP by the year 2600.
taneq 5y ago
If we could eliminate death by senescence, accident and deliberate external violence, suicide is just about the only thing left and so on a long enough time scale would automatically be 100%.
probably_wrong 5y ago
> Think of all the bad things that can happen to someone in their lives, mental scaring is real. At some point, something is going to snap. I think it would be the other way around - at some point you would kill yourself out of boredom. As someone put it: when you are a child, you regularly live the worst day of your life. The first time you drop your ice-cream it is quite likely your worst day so far. The 30th time? Not so much. By the time you lose your 5000th friend, you are probably not as shocked as the first time.
- keyle 5y ago
  Good point, that's the other way to see it. But think of people that have been through war, rape and famine? You are right a vast majority of people would become completely apathetic to anything happening around them, similar to how we feel about things happening on other continent sometimes. I'll make a note you and I discuss this in 800 years and see who's right?
  - mensetmanusman 5y ago
    Our bodies regenerate every cell about every 7 years, so those memories would likely seem like other people’s problems at some point.
xorfish 5y ago
I don't think living forever would make everyone bat shit crazy. You will still live your life day by day, year by year and decade by decade. Your daily life won't be that different and humans usually don't contemplate and derive meaning from their own mortality that much. I think it would make humans happier. Happiness and life satisfaction increases with age. Add better health to that and I don't see how this could be that bad. Currently mortality per year for 20-25 year olds is around 1 in 2'650 for men and 1 in 4'000 for women. I would expect that the risk of death is lower for someone with the health of a 20-25 year old and the experience of a 100 year old. I'm not sure this would happen, but I can imagine that the focus on accident and suicide prevention would be higher, so Ten of Thousands of years of average life expectancy don't seem unreasonable.
verinus 5y ago
I don't think that vein people could go on forever, quite on the contrary. I think those that keep a young spirit i.e. keep curious and engaged could endure longest. but I think we as a species are not designed to go on forever and I doubt any sentient being would be or rather the perspective would be so different it would be difficult for us to grasp. In fiction this is a recurring topic- just see the Elb or Eldar in "Lord of the Rings"... the die and fade from the world as they have seen everything and do not continue to have children (how many children can you see dying before going insane?)

by keyle 5y ago

zoul 5y ago

This is the topic of The Makropulos Affair by Karel Čapek and the related opera by Leoš Janáček: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Makropulos_Affair http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Makropulos_Affair

rl3 5y ago

>That said, extending life to 200-300 years would be good. I just think that forever would make everyone bat shit crazy and murdering each other or having suicide parties. The invitations for those would be sick: "A party to die for." RSVP by the year 2600.

taneq 5y ago

If we could eliminate death by senescence, accident and deliberate external violence, suicide is just about the only thing left and so on a long enough time scale would automatically be 100%.

probably_wrong 5y ago

> Think of all the bad things that can happen to someone in their lives, mental scaring is real. At some point, something is going to snap. I think it would be the other way around - at some point you would kill yourself out of boredom. As someone put it: when you are a child, you regularly live the worst day of your life. The first time you drop your ice-cream it is quite likely your worst day so far. The 30th time? Not so much. By the time you lose your 5000th friend, you are probably not as shocked as the first time.

keyle 5y ago
Good point, that's the other way to see it. But think of people that have been through war, rape and famine? You are right a vast majority of people would become completely apathetic to anything happening around them, similar to how we feel about things happening on other continent sometimes. I'll make a note you and I discuss this in 800 years and see who's right?
- mensetmanusman 5y ago
  Our bodies regenerate every cell about every 7 years, so those memories would likely seem like other people’s problems at some point.

xorfish 5y ago

I don't think living forever would make everyone bat shit crazy. You will still live your life day by day, year by year and decade by decade. Your daily life won't be that different and humans usually don't contemplate and derive meaning from their own mortality that much. I think it would make humans happier. Happiness and life satisfaction increases with age. Add better health to that and I don't see how this could be that bad. Currently mortality per year for 20-25 year olds is around 1 in 2'650 for men and 1 in 4'000 for women. I would expect that the risk of death is lower for someone with the health of a 20-25 year old and the experience of a 100 year old. I'm not sure this would happen, but I can imagine that the focus on accident and suicide prevention would be higher, so Ten of Thousands of years of average life expectancy don't seem unreasonable.

verinus 5y ago

I don't think that vein people could go on forever, quite on the contrary. I think those that keep a young spirit i.e. keep curious and engaged could endure longest. but I think we as a species are not designed to go on forever and I doubt any sentient being would be or rather the perspective would be so different it would be difficult for us to grasp. In fiction this is a recurring topic- just see the Elb or Eldar in "Lord of the Rings"... the die and fade from the world as they have seen everything and do not continue to have children (how many children can you see dying before going insane?)