Would you live forever?: Philosophy Forums

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Would you live forever?
If technological advances ment that you could live forever - would you?

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Would you live forever?

kkiiji
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Posted 08/17/09 - 09:14 PM:	#51
But if you just program something that is acting like it's experiencing phenomenon, that's not actual phenomenon..I can program my computer to act like it's experiencing phenomenon when it's clearly not, there IS a difference isn't there? In fact I can get a text to speech program right now and type in "I am a computer and I experience phenomenon", that doesn't really mean much does it?
Heard joke once: Man goes to doctor. Says he's depressed. Says life seems harsh and cruel. Says he feels all alone in a threatening world where what lies ahead is vague and uncertain. Doctor says "Treatment is simple. Great clown Pagliacci is in town tonight. Go and see him. That should pick you up." Man bursts into tears. Says "But Doctor... I am Pagliacci." Good joke, everybody laugh. Roll on snare drum... Curtains.

Cafe Rob
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Posted 08/17/09 - 09:58 PM:	#52
"Cassie" wrote: Our consciousness determines our existence But surely that cannot be! Consciousness as we know it is a relatively late development in the theory of evolution. Life has been around a lot longer than consciousness. Consciousness differentiates us, i.e. mankind from the world of animals we know we exist they don't. We have a choice and can decide what we do, we can make plans etc. But once, we were the animals living contentedy in the mythological 'Garden of Eden.' I agree that life in general seems to spring from some unknown metaphysical force, Schopenhauer refers to it as the metaphysical will. But it would seem to be outside the realm of human comprehension. As Kant said,"What can we know?" Where we come from and where we go, remains a mystery.

mway
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Posted 08/17/09 - 10:48 PM:	#53
kkiiji wrote: But if you just program something that is acting like it's experiencing phenomenon, that's not actual phenomenon..I can program my computer to act like it's experiencing phenomenon when it's clearly not, there IS a difference isn't there? In fact I can get a text to speech program right now and type in "I am a computer and I experience phenomenon", that doesn't really mean much does it? Yes but that is where I think people tend to forget that 'we' are the software, so our entire subjective world can be represented as any interpretation. I am saying that the phenomenon, self, etc. does not exist at all, that is the illusion. Our sequential based software is just the interaction between an arrangement of 0's and 1's. I don't see the brain as being much different, just the interactions between the arrangement of neurons (which act more or less as four dimensional state stores, as opposed to our conventional memory).
Lame is to Wav, as the Brain is to Reality.

kkiiji
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Posted 08/17/09 - 10:52 PM:	#54
What? Phenomenon is an illusion? I don't understand what you're trying to say. Are you telling me you don't experience it? I certainly experience it, it's the only thing that's most certainly real, undeniably real, it is as real as it gets, nothing else is this real.
Heard joke once: Man goes to doctor. Says he's depressed. Says life seems harsh and cruel. Says he feels all alone in a threatening world where what lies ahead is vague and uncertain. Doctor says "Treatment is simple. Great clown Pagliacci is in town tonight. Go and see him. That should pick you up." Man bursts into tears. Says "But Doctor... I am Pagliacci." Good joke, everybody laugh. Roll on snare drum... Curtains.

Ratheius Netheros
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Posted 08/17/09 - 10:53 PM:	#55
I wouldn't want to live forever if I could never die. An interesting spin on this question would be the following: would you rather be immortal or die tomorrow? As much as I'd hate the prospect of dieing tomorrow, I could see immortality being terrible.

kkiiji
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Posted 08/17/09 - 10:55 PM:	#56
Ratheius Netheros wrote: I wouldn't want to live forever if I could never die. An interesting spin on this question would be the following: would you rather be immortal or die tomorrow? As much as I'd hate the prospect of dieing tomorrow, I could see immortality being terrible. Have you guys watched too many movies about vampires whining about the emptiness of immortality or something? How could living forever possibly be bad for the individual?
Heard joke once: Man goes to doctor. Says he's depressed. Says life seems harsh and cruel. Says he feels all alone in a threatening world where what lies ahead is vague and uncertain. Doctor says "Treatment is simple. Great clown Pagliacci is in town tonight. Go and see him. That should pick you up." Man bursts into tears. Says "But Doctor... I am Pagliacci." Good joke, everybody laugh. Roll on snare drum... Curtains.

Aceedwin
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Posted 08/18/09 - 12:00 AM:	#57
kkiiji wrote: Have you guys watched too many movies about vampires whining about the emptiness of immortality or something? How could living forever possibly be bad for the individual? Imagine a rollercoaster. A roller coaster built in with insanely heart-stopping thrills, lofty peaks, vertical drops, etc. Now most people only go on the rollercoaster once, but one kid manages to buy a share large enough to take one seat for himself. So every time the roller coaster takes it journey, he's there. But eventually, the rollercoaster becomes predictable as he grows. He begins to see it as boring, and every ride gives him no pleasure. Eventually, he spends his time trying to sell his VIP seat.
Some people enjoy finding answers, but I dislike losing questions.

kkiiji
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Posted 08/18/09 - 09:22 AM:	#58
Are you old enough to be making this analogy? I don't think life is something that we ride like a rollercoaster, not necessarily at least. The rollercoaster has no driver's seat.
Heard joke once: Man goes to doctor. Says he's depressed. Says life seems harsh and cruel. Says he feels all alone in a threatening world where what lies ahead is vague and uncertain. Doctor says "Treatment is simple. Great clown Pagliacci is in town tonight. Go and see him. That should pick you up." Man bursts into tears. Says "But Doctor... I am Pagliacci." Good joke, everybody laugh. Roll on snare drum... Curtains.

Jubal Harshaw
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Posted 08/18/09 - 09:39 AM:	#59
Pabzilla wrote: A hyperthetical question (for now) - but, assuming the technology existed would you want to live forever? What would the implications be if you live forever? I like to think that dying actually completes us as humans, but I would love to hear some arguments FOR living forever - there must be some..? From my current perspective, yes. I would choose longevity. Implications of me living forever? I personally believe "thou art God" would be implied. I disagree with death being "completeness." In fact, I would say its the opposite. Only in the breaking of our completeness can we attain death. Longevity isn't far off. With stem-cell research making leaps and bounds, and genomics leading it, the day when the average american can afford a decoded genome is fast approaching. Once its affordable, humans will be able to go in every seven years to repair damaged dna with intelligently engineered viruses. Having damaged dna repaired will make it possible for humans to replace cells with near perfect functionality. The fantastic thing about stem-cells is the application isn't very technical. One could literally spread the right sort of stem cells on a missing limb and regrow it.

Aceedwin
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Posted 08/19/09 - 12:28 AM:	#60
kkiiji wrote: Are you old enough to be making this analogy? I don't think life is something that we ride like a rollercoaster, not necessarily at least. The rollercoaster has no driver's seat. Hmmm, still got my determinism cap on. Alright, how about a few valleys of road instead? He eventually takes every path a thousand times, and gets bored etc. (I love my rollercoaster metaphors too much...).
Some people enjoy finding answers, but I dislike losing questions.

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