The Immortal Thread

[Guard Dog]

You don't want to liver forever... you'll get bored.

[ShadySands]

Yeah, I figure if I'm not immune to lightning then being immune to death is the next best thing

 

I'm already bored

[Bartimaeus]

You don't want to liver forever... you'll get bored.

 

There seems to be a few adages advising against living forever...which just seems silly to me, because I would take immortality in a heartbeat. These adages probably only exist because nobody actually CAN live forever...so there's little point in trying to or thinking you can/will. Ye' olde philosophers would probably feel a bit differently if actually presented with the option, however.

 

Boredom? That's the worst you can come up with? Pshaw. Some people seem to be bored their entire lives - not me, I am one that is personally never bored, no matter the circumstances - ...but that doesn't mean they want to die. I can't see how that would change with immortality.

Edited August 14, 2016 by Bartimaeus

[Gromnir]

You don't want to liver forever... you'll get bored.

well, we suspect that pc rpgs is only gonna get better, and there will always be another star wars movie to look forward to.  we do a great deal o' volunteer work with a local soup kitchen/school for homeless/shelter for mental ill mothers. am also suspecting that dogs, or something like 'em, will always exist. due to unexpected circumstances we got two border collies and two mutts, and we also help out two o' our disabled neighbors with their dogs, so is tough for us to be bored for very long.  annoyed? yes, very much so. bored? no. 

 

our concerns is not so much with boredom, but rather the fine print.  eternal life w/o eternal youth would be problematic.  immortality but without immunity to life ending diseases and injuries could lead to a kinda perpetual and unending torture.  

 

HA! Good Fun!

[ShadySands]

My boredom was more of the long drive between Ochos Rios and Montego Bay variety but I agree about a stipulation for eternal youth and health

 

Maybe also a get out of being trapped somewhere for all eternity button too

[Guard Dog]

Well sooner or later there will be an extinction level event and even if that doesn't happen eventually the sun will go supernova. You WILL get bored then! Assuming of course faster than light travel really is impossible. If it's not then the whole immortality thing might not be so bad. 

 

But once the sun does go nova you could always move to Titan. It's got all the building blocks of a nice planet, it just needs to be closer to the sun. That problem will solve itself one day.

[Rosbjerg]

Well sooner or later there will be an extinction level event and even if that doesn't happen eventually the sun will go supernova. You WILL get bored then! Assuming of course faster than light travel really is impossible. If it's not then the whole immortality thing might not be so bad. 

 

But once the sun does go nova you could always move to Titan. It's got all the building blocks of a nice planet, it just needs to be closer to the sun. That problem will solve itself one day.

 

Of course the worrying thing about immortality is the old Murphey's Law problem - in that you will eventually get stuck somwhere you cannot escape from.. for the rest of eternity.

[Oerwinde]

 

 

Well sooner or later there will be an extinction level event and even if that doesn't happen eventually the sun will go supernova. You WILL get bored then! Assuming of course faster than light travel really is impossible. If it's not then the whole immortality thing might not be so bad.

 

But once the sun does go nova you could always move to Titan. It's got all the building blocks of a nice planet, it just needs to be closer to the sun. That problem will solve itself one day.

Of course the worrying thing about immortality is the old Murphey's Law problem - in that you will eventually get stuck somwhere you cannot escape from.. for the rest of eternity.

In Planetary (warren ellis comic) there was a super team made up of homages to Tarzan, the Shadow/Green Hornet, Fu Manchu, Doc Savage and others that accidentally tore a hole into another universe and they collapsed their headquarters to seal the breach. The Doc Savage homage was immortal and his legs were trapped under rubble. When he was found like 60 years later his legs had completely atrophied and he was wheelchair bound. Edited August 14, 2016 by Oerwinde

[ShadySands]

Maybe also a get out of being trapped somewhere for all eternity button too

[Gorth]

Well sooner or later there will be an extinction level event and even if that doesn't happen eventually the sun will go supernova. You WILL get bored then! Assuming of course faster than light travel really is impossible. If it's not then the whole immortality thing might not be so bad. 

 

But once the sun does go nova you could always move to Titan. It's got all the building blocks of a nice planet, it just needs to be closer to the sun. That problem will solve itself one day.

You know, once the sun starts getting hotter, real estate prices on Mars are going to boom. Might be worth considering a portfolio there.

[Lexx]

Out of curiosity... It says you can't die, but nowhere in the contract it says you can't feel the same someone feels when he dies. What I mean is... Imagine you are immortal and the sun goes supernova, earth gets destroyed and now what... You burn and kinda explode on earth and then hang out in a vacuum, unable to breath... But you don't die. Isn't that kind of... You now... ****ty?

 

Someone should make a movie about that. Unconscious body floating in space until it accidentally falls down on another earth like planet, billions of years in the future, where the body gets air again and "wakes up".

Edited August 15, 2016 by Lexx

[Nonek]

I've always thought immortality would come with a massive amount of responsibility if one were unique in possessing it, all that we lose, all that we forget, and all the unfinished works of humanity: It would require me as a constant to try and combat the remorseless toll of mortality.

 

A sort of Astinus of Palanthas character though probably more proactive.

[Gfted1]

Immortality does not equal invulnerability. Immortals would still be able to be killed. That said, I would take it in a heartbeat.

[Guard Dog]

You'd have to define the parameters of your immortality. I mean suppose you could "die" but then wake up a few hours later with no memory of your previous life? Suppose every time that happened someone you never met has to die for real to pay for it? Seems to me there would be a comeuppance for that kind of thing at some point. It would suck for you but it probably would make a pretty compelling story.

[Chilloutman]

Out of curiosity... It says you can't die, but nowhere in the contract it says you can't feel the same someone feels when he dies. What I mean is... Imagine you are immortal and the sun goes supernova, earth gets destroyed and now what... You burn and kinda explode on earth and then hang out in a vacuum, unable to breath... But you don't die. Isn't that kind of... You now... ****ty?

 

Someone should make a movie about that. Unconscious body floating in space until it accidentally falls down on another earth like planet, billions of years in the future, where the body gets air again and "wakes up".

Kinda reminds me Ignus for some reason

[Guard Dog]

To tell the truth, count me out.

 

If you are a religious or spiritual person in any way then you probably believe you will one day see your loved ones who have passed away again. You can forget that if you're immortal. As Anne Rice ( who copied Charles Maturin, who copied the medieval legend of the Wandering Jew) pointed out you will go on never changing while everyone you love ages and passes on. Oh sure they will be replaced by new people who will do the same, and on it goes until you can no longer remember all the people you once knew or you don't even bother making new friends anymore.

 

I remember talking to one of the old guys at the VFW a few years ago. He has 88 years old and still pretty spry. But he told me he wanted to die. His wife was long gone, his son died young. Everyone he ever knew had already passed. Sure he had friends, but it's not the same. It's like watching a really good movie, reading a good book, or good computer game. You can only do it for the first time once. After that you know how it all turns out. And every time after you enjoy it less.

 

Last night I sat on my front porch, sipped high quality whiskey and listened to the sounds of the night and rain on the trees. I've done it many times and I still love it but I think you savor it more knowing there is only finite number of times I will get to do it.

 

To take a quote from the Bible (since I started this from a religious viewpoint) "What has been is what will be, and what has been done will be done again. There is nothing new under the sun." And that is how it would be for you. And it it sucks... well, its only for eternity.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

I'd be immortal if I could decapitate other immortals and absorb their power through lighting.

[Raithe]

There's the side of relationships though.

 

You're immortal, the question is, how satisfied will you be on your own? Will you get close to other people only to watch them age and die? How many partners can you meet, fall in love with (potentially have kids with) watch them grow old and die, watch the kids grow old and die, watch the grandkids grow old and die...  Will you have to step back from humanity in general?

 

Then there's how adaptable would you be? The new fangled technology , the cultural changes, the politics?  Keeping track of your money. Faking new identities or will you just let the government realise you're immortal?

The question of the practicalities behind living in the modern age with immortality....  Sure the fun of compound interest, but ...  How would you like to be immortal if that ends up with decades being dissected by un-ethical scientists trying to figure out why?

[Hurlshort]

Life seems pretty short, I'd be happy with a few more decades of being in my prime.  I also love the idea that you get to see long term events unfold and really get a sense for historical scale.  

[Namutree]

If by immortality you mean eternal youth, then you better believe I'd take immortality.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Honesty the more I think about it I'm convinced I'd end up being like Cassidy.

 

[Namutree]

Honesty the more I think about it I'm convinced I'd end up being like Cassidy.

 

I'd stay the same. Maybe with an even shorter attention span.

[Darkpriest]

To be honest, you cannot get bored in the ever changing world. there is always something new to discover, places changing, new people, new techs, etc. I doubt I would get bored if I would have the option to be immortal... now... the only time when it would become a burden, when the whole human race would extinct and there would be no aliens to interact with and i would get stranded on Earth forever

[Nonek]

You'd have to define the parameters of your immortality. I mean suppose you could "die" but then wake up a few hours later with no memory of your previous life? Suppose every time that happened someone you never met has to die for real to pay for it? Seems to me there would be a comeuppance for that kind of thing at some point. It would suck for you but it probably would make a pretty compelling story.

 

Nice Torment reference.

 

To tell the truth, count me out.

 

If you are a religious or spiritual person in any way then you probably believe you will one day see your loved ones who have passed away again. You can forget that if you're immortal. As Anne Rice ( who copied Charles Maturin, who copied the medieval legend of the Wandering Jew) pointed out you will go on never changing while everyone you love ages and passes on. Oh sure they will be replaced by new people who will do the same, and on it goes until you can no longer remember all the people you once knew or you don't even bother making new friends anymore.

 

I remember talking to one of the old guys at the VFW a few years ago. He has 88 years old and still pretty spry. But he told me he wanted to die. His wife was long gone, his son died young. Everyone he ever knew had already passed. Sure he had friends, but it's not the same. It's like watching a really good movie, reading a good book, or good computer game. You can only do it for the first time once. After that you know how it all turns out. And every time after you enjoy it less.

 

Last night I sat on my front porch, sipped high quality whiskey and listened to the sounds of the night and rain on the trees. I've done it many times and I still love it but I think you savor it more knowing there is only finite number of times I will get to do it.

 

To take a quote from the Bible (since I started this from a religious viewpoint) "What has been is what will be, and what has been done will be done again. There is nothing new under the sun." And that is how it would be for you. And it it sucks... well, its only for eternity.

 

The thing is that the world, the galaxy and the universe are very big places, how many lives and experiences can one live through just on Earth alone? Not to mention when mankind expands beyond our Solar System and spreads to the stars. If I were the classical interpretation of an immortal then this would be what I would do, roam this world and others, experiencing all that the infinite varieties of life offer, meeting great minds and personalities, and learn all that I could to pass on, store and maintain as much knowledge that would be lost otherwise.

 

No doubt one of the most important questions would be why exactly I was granted immortality, and what/who granted it.

 

Of course maintaining my avatar I really should state that there is a time to die, and possibly play that Queen song from Highlander.

[Raithe]

That makes me think of how Alias ended.

 

 

 

The main bad guy achieved immortality.

Then promptly was buried alive under a mountain with no way to dig himself free.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-XJyk6qIos

 

 

Edited August 15, 2016 by Raithe