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Yeseul Choi

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How can we prepare ourselves for immortality?

So many people worry that immortality would bring so many problems, such as overpopulation, stagnation, dictators living forever, and boredom. As biotechnology advances, immortality is just on the horizon to greet us. How can we prepare our society for such a profound change?

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  • Paul Albarracin

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    Sep 18 2012: Forget immortality and start thinking about being productive in your years. Engage in positive activities or strive to make the world a better place. It's not the number of years that count but the quality of those years one lives by. As long as there is life, just around the corner is death. A fact of life, live happily free yet responsible.
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    Gerald O'brian 50+

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    Sep 17 2012: Watch Avatar til the end, or Kevin Costner's Postman... Read Tolkien.
    Don't worry if you feel crummy, that's just your cardiovascular system getting used to eternity.
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    Kevin Jacobson

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    Sep 15 2012: I'm going to ask a simple question. Who would even want to live that long anyways? Eventually, you brain capacity would run out and you would require some sort of computer attachment and then that would eventually run out of capacity. Biological life was never made for immortality and it should stay that way. Personally, I would just settle for an extended life span. Eventually, we will all serve our purpose in this world and will have little left to do. At that point, we should probably just return ourselves to the earth.

    • jasreet singh

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      Sep 17 2012: I loved your comment.
      the life itself is a large span that sometimes we want to end up the sufferings.
      But with increasing comfort and technology IF we have a wish that we want to stay with our mother always (Just An Example) something can be done... Would you like? (As Simple)

      Immortal is something I don't really prefer at this phase of surroundings. But may be future has a better vision.

      Biologically it can be done or not (Up to Dr.) as we gt old or ill due to deficiency or increment of some cells may be hormones or like fat. But that can be controlled and in near future with brilliant ideas this can be solved out.

      Now mentally its up to individuals!

  • george lockwood 20+

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    Sep 15 2012: living to 300 years of age is not being immortal. However, that doesn't seem really likely to me. There is always someone who finds problems in great fortune.

  • John Smith 30+

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    Sep 15 2012: I think that, ironically, we need to become less fearful of death first because otherwise we would constantly worry about accidents and violence. When your biological lifespan is increased to 10.000 years you have a high risk of dying an "early" death caused by an accident or violence, you have to be able to live with that knowledge.
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    pat gilbert 50+

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    Sep 14 2012: Over population can be a problem. Other than that I don't see why it would be a problem.

    • John Smith 30+

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      Sep 15 2012: Overpopulation can be solved with a low birth rate, the part about dictatorships living forever and people's thinking stagnating would be worse (what if we all become cynical, rigid conservatives?)
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        pat gilbert 50+

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        Sep 15 2012: Dictatorships living forever, examples please.

        Thinking stagnates, examples please.

        In my experience conservatives are not cynical or rigid, more often than not they are the ones taking the pulse of what people want and supplying it and imo some of the nicest people you will meet, like me for instance.

        • John Smith 30+

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          Sep 15 2012: I wasn't talking about conservative politics, but conservative thinking (though conservative politics is based on conservative thinking). I mean, if people had achieved immortality in the year 1800 you can bet your ass slavery would still be around, only white male landowners could vote and gay people would be forcefully "re-educated". Thinking the way young people do is necessary for change and we might lose that if we become immortal.
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        pat gilbert 50+

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        Sep 15 2012: Once again

        Dictatorships living forever, examples please.

        Thinking stagnates, examples please.

        • John Smith 30+

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          Sep 15 2012: I already gave you abolition, voting rights for women, gay rights, all things that only exist because young people were willing to take a chance and change things while older people were too afraid to loose what they had.
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    Ken brown 30+

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    Sep 14 2012: Actually when you think about it,we might have to create laws where you may between the ages of 40 to 60 have children but after that.you will be charged and incarcerated and de-immortalized or we just pass a law that states immortality but total sterilization.
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    Mark Kurtz 20+

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    Sep 14 2012: Are you thoroughly convinced biotechnology will in fact result in immortality? Are we humans able to achieve immortality via science and technology alone?

    Your question is logical that we will have big problems; on this logic I would agree. However, I am not convinced man's knowledge will ever achieve levels capable of either creating life or finding the key to extend life to forever----immortality.

    Population control based on wise assessment of balance in all aspects of life does seem right. The problems you cite include boredom. Interesting, what would be boring if one continued forever here on earth? Would there be no purpose for continued living? There in lies a clue of why we have not had immortality. Perhaps some superior knowledge personalities have much greater plans for us mortals than we mortals are capable of imagining!!!! Immortality here on this material earth likely is not included in the plan.
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      Krisztián Pintér 200+

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      TED Translator
      Sep 14 2012: let me guess. you haven't watched the related talk.
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      Ken brown 30+

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      Sep 14 2012: It wouldn't matter mark

      Time has no meaning,if we were immortal then life would become one big moment,you could read a book but take a hundred years to finish it but to you it could feel like a few hours.
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        edward long 100+

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        Sep 14 2012: Good point Mr. Brown. In two brief sentences you used three time-related words (moment, years, hours). Such words would not exist in a timeless, immortal scenario. Verbs would have no tenses: is; was ; were; will be; would have been; etc. would all be meaningless. Time measures change. Change is the mechanism making it necessary to have an "is" condition and a "was" condition. In an immortal system no such distinction is necessary because nothing changes. If immortality is in man's future, it had better be perfect, because improvement (change) is not possible.
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          Ken brown 30+

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          Sep 14 2012: That's a better explanation Ed.

          If the sun keeps rising day in,day out,immortality would drive me crazy,i would have to invent a "frying shaucer" to get off the planet to get some peace or i help change the planet into a ship.If i go by the bible atleast the sun will stop and the stress of being stuck will be gone.
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    Gail . 50+

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    Sep 14 2012: Unless I am born with the body of a 21 year old, and it never ages, the idea of immortality sounds rather revolting. And I do wonder who gets to choose who will be sterilized and who not - who gets to choose who must die or not - in order to keep the population stable and within the limits of this earth to provide for those who are allowed to live.
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