# Pros and cons of "Living forever". **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 5, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pros-and-cons-of-living-forever/570294 "2011-02-05T17:54:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pros-and-cons-of-living-forever/570294/1 "2011-02-05T17:54:03Z")
Inspired by the “Pick a superpower” thread. I’d like to hash out the pros and cons of living forever. For the sake of this thread, we’ll say the “live forever” means you are impervious to sickness, physical harm like bullets and what ever else. You stop aging around 25 or so. I think one problem that would drive me nuts is that eventually, every one on the planet will seem like children to you. You would have no mental equivalent. At least not in wisdom. Seriously, wouldn’t even a 90yo person seem young to you if you were 5,000yo? Also, seeing loved ones come and go might get old as well. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pros-and-cons-of-living-forever/570294/2 "2011-02-05T17:57:28Z")
I only see one downside: being trapped in a situation where you won’t die but are powerless to get out of. And it would happen eventually: either buried underground or at sea, or when the Earth dies, or when the Universe undergoes heat death. You look forward to an infinite amount of time completely alone. Have a nice millennium. ---
**Author:** ![iamnotbatman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/858c86/32.png) [@iamnotbatman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamnotbatman)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pros-and-cons-of-living-forever/570294/3 "2011-02-05T18:42:51Z")
Life is funny: my first greatest fear is death. My second greatest fear is living forever. It’s quite the pickle! I worry about floating in outer space after all life in the universe has ended, all the stars have run out of fuel, all the galaxies have expanded away from each other, and I’m just floating for millions of years in the void. Bored out of my mind, I’d know that it would _never end_. Nothing would ever change. I would be floating in a lifeless void forever. A transcendentally terrifying notion. And HAVE A GREAT DAY! ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pros-and-cons-of-living-forever/570294/4 "2011-02-05T20:22:15Z")
Yeah, I would never want to be immortal unless I retained the abiltiy to commit suicide. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pros-and-cons-of-living-forever/570294/5 "2011-02-05T20:52:00Z")
So many people seem to equate never dying with never losing consciousness. I wonder why. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pros-and-cons-of-living-forever/570294/6 "2011-02-05T20:53:51Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > So many people seem to equate never dying with never losing consciousness. I wonder why. So, you’re posting this from a deep sleep? 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![iamnotbatman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/858c86/32.png) [@iamnotbatman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamnotbatman)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pros-and-cons-of-living-forever/570294/7 "2011-02-05T21:05:16Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > So many people seem to equate never dying with never losing consciousness. I wonder why. Because otherwise the magic make-believe scenario needs more explanation. Just saying that you are magically immortal seems to imply that you are immune to pretty much anything that has an affect on health, and hence also on consciousness. Otherwise logical inconsistencies crop up pretty quickly, requiring the magic that makes you immortal to be more contrived than is necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pros-and-cons-of-living-forever/570294/8 "2011-02-05T22:52:53Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > So many people seem to equate never dying with never losing consciousness. I wonder why. Appreciates the fact that \*\* Max the Immortal\*\* commented on this thread. How appropriate. 😃 > [@iamnotbatman](#): > > Because otherwise the magic make-believe scenario needs more explanation. Just saying that you are magically immortal seems to imply that you are immune to pretty much anything that has an affect on health, and hence also on consciousness. Otherwise logical inconsistencies crop up pretty quickly, requiring the magic that makes you immortal to be more contrived than is necessary. Well said. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pros-and-cons-of-living-forever/570294/9 "2011-02-05T23:11:44Z")
Pretty much every episode of Highlander the TV series addressed some aspect of this. #1 is boredom. The same theme was in the Interview with a Vampire books. One immortal addressed this through learning. Over something like 500 years or so, he got numerous Ph.D’s, learned a bunch of languages, etc. But eventually, this will end as well. In the Vampire books, the immortals would take hundred year naps. When they awoke, it was like a new world for them, which they would explore and enjoy before napping again. Regarding being trapped: if you could regenerate lost limbs, not feel pain, etc., how could you possibly be trapped? What sort of cage could possibly hold an immortal that doesn’t care about their own health? Let’s say I’m trapped by molten lava under the sea in the deepest part of the ocean in a shell of rock. I’d start digging, maybe I’d pull some teeth out to make a crude tool. If the shell was completely fitted to my body so there was no room to move, I could eviscerate myself to give myself enough room to move my hands. Maybe the weight of the rock crushed every bone in my body. My muscles can still move. Even the slightest bit of motion would allow me to escape, although it may take thousands of years. Let’s say the weight crushed me into goo. Enough goo should ooze out to reform even a single muscle. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pros-and-cons-of-living-forever/570294/10 "2011-02-05T23:23:57Z")
Pros: You will be able to experience more than any mortal could ever dream. You get to see the results of humanity’s actions as they reverberate across history, while people speculate wildly you actually get to see the answers to all the questions. You would not feel nearly as rushed as mortal man, you could lose yourself for 30-40 years just living a life you wanted to live, studying in some obscure monastery somewhere or even meditating on a mountain by yourself for enlightenment. The biggest opportunity cost of virtually any action you take is time, as an immortal you have more time than anyone else. Cons: After a long enough time having any real connection with humans would be impossible. (On this note I strongly suggest watching the movie **The Man From Earth** , it’s about this very topic, warning it isn’t a traditional action-packed sci fi movie at all.) People would come and go, their lives starting and ending so quickly it would be very difficult to feel any attachment to them. They would come and go like the seasons and nothing you could do could ever let you keep the ones you really care about around. Any children you had would grow old and die, with no hope of them outliving you. After enough time the fact that you’d never run out of new things to do and experience (because of course the world would change faster than you could experience all it has to offer) would in itself become mundane and feel pointless. At that point I think you enter a slowly building depression, because everything would feel pointless. I really think that life is so precious because it ends, and that even if humans could physiologically live forever most would choose to end themselves at some point. I can easily see myself going 300-400 years just to experience it, to see what the future brings. I could maybe even see going a 1,000 years, but 10,000? I don’t think I’d want to live that long. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pros-and-cons-of-living-forever/570294/11 "2011-02-05T23:24:43Z")
so… my take on this is that i’m basically wolverine… possibly even the apocryphal BONERine. overall, i’d like it. if i got bored i would probably just freeze myself. if something truly catastrophic was happening - like the sun swelling up to engulf the planet, i’d stick a spike in the back of my head, Heroes-style and let my body float on into space. in the “short term” i’d probably just run amok, dicking around… being a combination of the incredible hulk and forrest gump, living life to the fullest. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pros-and-cons-of-living-forever/570294/12 "2011-02-06T00:52:50Z")
> [@iamnotbatman](#): > > Because otherwise the magic make-believe scenario needs more explanation. Just saying that you are magically immortal seems to imply that you are immune to pretty much anything that has an affect on health, and hence also on consciousness. Otherwise logical inconsistencies crop up pretty quickly, requiring the magic that makes you immortal to be more contrived than is necessary. Magic is _always_ more complicated than people initially think it is. For instance, invisibility magic usually needs to be supplemented with vision magic. Otherwise you’ll be blind when your eyes stop refracting and absorbing light. If you can float in deep space without losing consciousness from freezing, then presumably your body temperature is magically regulated. If you can’t freeze, can heat be radiated or conducted from your body at all? Are you unable to melt an ice cube just by holding it in your hand? Do you even have an animal-like metabolism? If so, how does your magically insulated body shed the heat it generates? If you lack an animal-like metabolism, can you eat and digest food? Where do you get the energy to move? You’re going to need some sort of magic to deal with this particular issue. Is new energy magically created or destroyed to fuel your muscles and/or regulate your body temperature? Does the magic simply “teleport” energy into or out of your body as needed? Where does this energy come from? Where does it go? In short, floating in the void you will either freeze into an unconscious quasi-death, or remain conscious through a violation of the laws of thermodynamics as we know them. And if it’s possible to violate the laws of thermodynamics, then why are you moping in the void over the heat death of the universe when you could be solving it? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pros-and-cons-of-living-forever/570294/13 "2011-02-06T01:10:50Z")
The ‘Con’ of living forever is that those whom you would but Love could not. Was I never yet of your love grieved, Nor never shall while that my life doth last; But of hating myself, that date is past, And tears continual sore have me wearied. I will not yet in my grave be buried ; Nor on my tomb, your name fixed fast, As cruel cause that did the spirit soon haste From th’unhappy bones, by great sighs stirred. Then if an heart of amorous faith and will May content you, without doing grief, Please it you so to this to do relief If, otherwise, ye seek for to fulfil Your disdain: ye err, and shall not as ye ween, And you yourself the cause thereof hath been. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pros-and-cons-of-living-forever/570294/14 "2011-02-06T02:34:56Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > Magic is _always_ more complicated than people initially think it is. For instance, invisibility magic usually needs to be supplemented with vision magic. Otherwise you’ll be blind when your eyes stop refracting and absorbing light. > > If you can float in deep space without losing consciousness from freezing, then presumably your body temperature is magically regulated. If you can’t freeze, can heat be radiated or conducted from your body at all? Are you unable to melt an ice cube just by holding it in your hand? Do you even have an animal-like metabolism? If so, how does your magically insulated body shed the heat it generates? If you lack an animal-like metabolism, can you eat and digest food? Where do you get the energy to move? You’re going to need some sort of magic to deal with this particular issue. Is new energy magically created or destroyed to fuel your muscles and/or regulate your body temperature? Does the magic simply “teleport” energy into or out of your body as needed? Where does this energy come from? Where does it go? > > In short, floating in the void you will either freeze into an unconscious quasi-death, or remain conscious through a violation of the laws of thermodynamics as we know them. And if it’s possible to violate the laws of thermodynamics, then why are you moping in the void over the heat death of the universe when you could be solving it? Dude seriously, over-analyze much? Just answer the question already. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pros-and-cons-of-living-forever/570294/15 "2011-02-06T02:48:37Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Dude seriously, over-analyze much? Just answer the question already. Would you believe I have a lot of time on my hands? _Ducks and runs_ ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pros-and-cons-of-living-forever/570294/16 "2011-02-06T04:58:38Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I only see one downside: being trapped in a situation where you won’t die but are powerless to get out of. There was a story in one of the old Vulgar Unicorn collections about an immortal who fell into the hands of a vivisectionist. Pretty good story. I don’t think I would care for it for many of the reasons given. I’m already too tired of attending funerals for people I can for. Going forever without attachments to avoid it doesn’t seem worth it.