Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
Id jump at the chance for a longer if not infinite lifespan.
All this crap in parables about the benefit of dying, the burden and boredom of living forever, and the great chance to sleep and rest brought by your
ultimate demise is bull.
There's no way in hell you could ever be bored or tired of live living to 500, 5000 or even on infinitely.
It's like there's a concerted effort in all manners of fiction to convince us that long life is not desirable.
There is too much to see, do and learn around every corner and I can honestly say I havent been bored a single day of my life. If I could live so long
I'd quit my job, sell my house and go live. I'll worry about retirement and long-term care when I'm 4,000 years old. With lifespans as short as
they are now you basically live to die. From your first taxable income you're saving to retire. You have two choices now, 1)live sensibly and healthy
hoping to retire early and healthy enough to live or 2)live recklessly until it's too late and find yourself eating catfood and living on the dole in
some crappy assisted living home.
With such a short lifespan we're born looking down the barrel of deaths gun. God forbid you lose 5 or 10 years of it locked in a cage for violating
some victimless prohibitionary law of man.
edit on 11-1-2012 by thisguyrighthere because: (no reason given)
I couldn't agree more. A creative, adventurous person climbs the mountain and sees far away peaks upon peaks toward infinity. I usually become so
depressed and disillusioned after reading the replies to such threads as these on the issue of longevity, that I cannot bring myself to comment. The
replies are always so predictable - the overpopulation response or the "one lifetime is too much already" response from guys that are in the flush
of their youth and vitality. To these guys I would suggest - refrain from compulsive masturbating to online porn - you are throwing away your life
essence that if saved and had interest applied to it could transform your perception in unknown ways. Accumulating energy is either a burden, or as
William Blake has said: "Energy is delight". No energy = no delight.
The question is: is it a good thing to prolong the human lifespan? So, how does one contemplate their answer? We look at our lives and assess them and
then ask: Would it be a good thing to extend that reality? But what is the reality we are assessing? It is a reality that is defined by its particular
state of longevity. The 3 score years and ten or whatever. Then, that 70 years becomes subject to an economic hierarchy of needs.
What actual percentage of this present lifespan represents an autonomous active youthful period where we are in possession of full faculties? 35
years? Perhaps even that is too generous a statement.
This lifespan does not represent what life is, it is rather only one possibility or expression, as was the time when living to 40 years old was
considered the norm.
We see what we assume is reality but what we see is actually a reality which is the outcome of living life through the economy of a particular
lifespan.
This narrow visor affects our attitude to every circumstance we encounter. Women especially are in a hurry to find a permanent mate and security
before they turn 30 as they know the economy of physical attraction - when it is in its prime and when it begins to wane. There is a kind of urgency
where one is forced to make the best choice of what is available before it is too late.
Orthodox religion also attracts the interest of those who feel time is running out swiftly as does atheism for the same reason.
If the longevity of the human body was extended to 300, 500 or 1000 years would we still hear that classic internet remark: "You have just wasted 5
minutes of my time, 5 minutes I will never get back!"?
Lack of an extended longevity is also responsible for overpopulation, rather than it would be the cause of it. People rush into reproductive
relationships because they know instinctively that their body clock is running out of time and they need to replace it with their children. One could
argue that people in developing countries have children due to the fact that there is no worthwhile form of social security. But in my mind I see
poverty itself existing because of the psychology of the rich and powerful. They know they are fading fast no matter how much wealth and power they
possess and that makes them mean and spiteful.
What we see around us today in the world is rapid acceleration - people have never been as death conscious as they are today - they think fast, drive
fast and are in a hurry to earn money and spend it as quick as they can too. People are in a hurry to have as many experiences of pleasure too (before
its too late) Hence the promiscuity and drug use.
This collective psychology creates a particular atmosphere around us which we interpret as being life.