If you had a chance to live forever, would you?

[Nikos]

Lets say that Medicine finally is able to halt aging through a drug or some other device. Would you take this drug and live forever, or would you live a natural life? You wouldn't live forever as an old person, you would stop aging as soon as you took it. I for one would lead a natural life and expire, living forever would feel unnatural and too stressful for me.

[Helm]

Yeah sure I don't see why not.

[Bucket of Lithium]

Yes within a limit I fear, for a number of reasons.

1. Life is far too short a span in nature to accomplish everything one can accomplish to it's fullest extent in most cases, wasting the potential everyone has in them to further the World and race in some branch or pursuit. An extended life however would prevent this limitations upon the people who take it, and create possibilties for advances in almost every aspect and field of the world.

2. It would also give people more time to actually enjoy the life they live, no longer having to fear the oncoming presence of death in their future. Happiness, in the short term at least, would sky rocket while people finally relinquish any rush for time they have in their short spans and lay back to relish the pleasant experience life can be.

3. A LOT of other reasons for taking it.

On the other hand, extended life would have the one HUGE drawback that would practically prevent me from ever taking the oppurtunity.

How long until this never ending life becomes monotonous and dull? There is surely a limit onto how much one can experience and still find interesting, new and fresh. If a person's life stagnates even in our current reality, with natural life spans, they can be plum into depression and unhappiness. Increasing our life spans to eternity would inevitably make this eventuality unavoidable, a reality I would not wish to condone. After that, general friendships and "love",however you wish to define it, would be near impossible to maintain, as an immense amount of time will no doubt put uncounterable strain upon any relationship.

My two cents there.

[Helm]

Providing you can still be killed you'll still die of something or other long before you get to the bored of life stage.

[♔Jean-Luc Picard♔]

I think I would live forever, even though it would get quite lonely.

[Dayman]

I would in an instant.

I want to see what becomes of humanity.

[Problem Sleuth]

Of course.

How long until this never ending life becomes monotonous and dull? There is surely a limit onto how much one can experience and still find interesting, new and fresh. If a person's life stagnates even in our current reality, with natural life spans, they can be plum into depression and unhappiness. Increasing our life spans to eternity would inevitably make this eventuality unavoidable, a reality I would not wish to condone. After that, general friendships and "love",however you wish to define it, would be near impossible to maintain, as an immense amount of time will no doubt put uncounterable strain upon any relationship.

Since it only stops aging, wouldn't it be possible to just kill yourself once you've experienced everything there is to experience and are miserable?

[Orko]

I would, but only if there is somethinge against it, in case it all becomes too boring or I am too depressed.

[Bucket of Lithium]

Since it only stops aging, wouldn't it be possible to just kill yourself once you've experienced everything there is to experience and are miserable?

That's why I stated to an extent at the start of the post, the OP never made it clear whether or not it prevented suicide or murder etc. so I assumed it did in the points I made.

[Nikos]

That's why I stated to an extent at the start of the post, the OP never made it clear whether or not it prevented suicide or murder etc. so I assumed it did in the points I made.

It doesn't prevent murder or suicide, just aging. I wanted to see if people thought it ethical to extend their life unnaturally and just kill themselves when they've had enough.

[SonOfOdin]

Yeah sure, I'd take it
Imagining living past your wife, kids, grand children, grand grand children...all the history you remember and live through...all the Total War games you manage to play....yup...that would be a nice long life(like the elves in LOTR)

[Watchman]

I'd hit that. (No, wait...) Pretty much for the same reason as everyone else - it's not like you had no exits left should it turn out to eventually become unbearable.

[Thanatos]

No, life would be incredibly lonely.

[Cúchulainn]

A race is boring on you own.

I prefer a relay race.

Ask the next runner to do better.

[boofhead]

No.

I think you'd get dementia after a while.

Death is what makes life precious and valuable.

Besides - who says eternal life has to involve a physical body?

[Hippolord]

I would as long as i can lay myself down to die when i fell like it!

[nopasties]

Yes, it seems that most of the questions in life do not get answered until you are too old to appreciate it. I'd like to travel for a few decades. Too many things in life need to be sacrificed for responsibility. I would't mind working my a$$ off if I knew I could enjoy the benefits more. Family and close friends are the only reason to live a normal life.

[VALIS]

Yes.
Hell yes.

[gambit]

I would go in seconds, and I'd try to get as many people as I know to come. I dont care about whatever people say like "as long as you loved your life, it doesnt matter if it ends early", I do love it and I'm going to preserve it for as long as possible, with as many others as possible. For all anyone of us know, this is it. Theres no reason to say no.

[D.B. Cooper]

It would get boring and lonely. I mean sure watching humanity move along would be interesting, for a 1000 years maybe but what about after a million years?