# If you could live forever would you want to?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-live-forever-would-you-want-to/206018>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [October 7, 2003, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-live-forever-would-you-want-to/206018 "2003-10-07T07:09:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 4

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\
**Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-live-forever-would-you-want-to/206018/61 "2003-10-12T22:27:10Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by green\_bladder \*  
> \*\*  
> I’m thinking I’d probably “terminate” myself after a few hundred years, depending on how the progression and development of technology goes. I’d hate to live in a world where everything is done and operated by robots or machines because I feel that takes away what it means to be human. \*\*

they’ll have pills and gene therapy to make you enjoy that stuff by then though. Think outside the box man.

i would love to live forever myself. Mainly to see where humanity takes itself. We are the only ‘thing’ that can control its destiny and manipulate its environment with any real effectiveness it would be really interesting to see where we take it.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Angel\_Heart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Angel\_Heart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_Heart)\
**Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-live-forever-would-you-want-to/206018/62 "2003-10-17T20:19:41Z")

</div>

Absolutely not. What’s the fun of living for thousands of years if all your friends and family are dead?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![electric\_sheep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@electric\_sheep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/electric_sheep)\
**Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-live-forever-would-you-want-to/206018/63 "2003-10-17T21:00:01Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Mr. Excellent \*  
> **Just the sheer knowledge of human nature you’d gain over that time…**

Human memory is limited. Honestly, the more you know, the less zest you have for life and interaction with other people–you even begin to ask, why bother with knowledge? All the follies which make us do what we do become microscopic in scope, and even great movements seem petty when their downfall is immediately visible. An immortal human being would eventually become more and more like history itself; unblinking and all-encompassing.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-live-forever-would-you-want-to/206018.md?page=3)