Would you take a pill that promised immortality?
Too much of a good thing...
A common theme of the times today is to lament the fact that there are "never enough hours in the day". We tend to gravitate towards these colloquialisms due to our subconscious reminding us that our hours are limited, therefore meaning we must get as much done as possible with the time we have been given. The pursuit of productivity is a constant subject of the blogosphere, and with every tip and trick that we try, we hope we are one step closer to making the most of this almighty finite resource that governs our lives and decisions.
But, what if we didn't feel pressured to squeeze everything we can into most of our waking hours?
With the mystique of life extension originating in recorded human discourse around 500 B.C. (and being an increasingly-researched idea in our present world), the idea of extending our time on this planet has been an infatuating premise since we have been aware of our own mortality. In some regards, we have already achieved a certain level of extension, as the worldwide life expectancy has nearly doubled within the past two centuries due to advancements in health and technology. However, in the coming two centuries, it is not complete science fiction to suggest that there may someday be a method of extreme life extension (or perhaps even true immortality). With this hypothetical antidote to mortality looming in the future, would you be interested in undergoing the necessary procedures or treatment in order to escape death?
The law of diminishing returns states that increasing a certain factor in a system while holding the others constant will eventually lead to decreased returns in the system. In our utopian (or not) example, we can think of time as being the increased factor in a person's life, while considering other quantitative/qualitative factors such as happiness, productivity or even health (a prolonged life may not necessarily mean a healthier one, with an example being a person frequently stuffing themselves with all the food they can, due to their immunity to death). Would an increase of time in one's life lead to even more productivity and happiness, or would it simply lead to a subsequent rise in procrastination?
These questions are purely speculative and obviously not reality-based for the time being. But, there may come a day when a doctor asks a patient to sign on the dotted line in order to proceed with their life extension procedure. And when that day comes, what would you choose? A prolonged life that may stretch on long beyond what you may have wished, or the "normal" life which guarantees an end, but also encourages you to live more while you can? As someone once said, too much of a good thing isn't always a good thing.
YOLO
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Seriously, lemme know what you would do! All responses and feedback encouraged and appreciated.
Image credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_pill_and_blue_pill
A very good philosophical question. Life definitely feels short, but much more challenging is that youth is short. After a relatively short period of time during which we keep wishing to be old enough to do various things, we spend many more years declining and trying to put the brakes on. I am not sure I would want to live a very very long time, especially if it was without vitality. But I would definitely take a youth pill that made me young and strong, and smart enough to appreciate how precious those things are.
Totally agree. Maybe a drink from the fountain of youth would be sufficient, as opposed to a complete remedy to mortality. I wonder if there are many people who wouldn't want that same drink though, if they were forced to return to the person they used to be or the environment from their past. Hopefully there's different fountains for different wishes.
Yes! Oh I hope we have some choice in the matter. And maybe when they get time machine technology figured out, they can pair that up with the special pills for the ultimate choice for navigating away from who/what you are now to your preferred age and time in history.
Or I suppose there’s always the possibility that we should love ourselves as we are, and appreciate that we are as well and strong as we are at this moment. But that’s boring. Where’s my pill to fix it all?? 😊
Great question! The answer for me is a hell yes! Concerning the quality of life, in our speculative scenario I would assume that quality of life would remain at least 'good', but even if it was sub par I would have to be in significant pain, discomfort of debilitation before I voluntarily pulled the plug. For me personally, I don't think I would run out of things to do and enjoy in life even if I lived a thousand years, and the chance to see what humanity is capable of would be reward enough (or punishment, if things didn't go so well, I suppose). This question becomes very interesting if it was extended to the entire human race, meaning that it was available to everyone (as opposed to the super rich, say). What would that mean for humanity as a whole? How would we govern ourselves? Would we change the way we treated each other? Would we treat our planet differently? So many questions! Great post, thank you!
This is a great answer, and the possibilities you stated are things I hadn't considered but would be issues that we would need to realize and hopefully control. I like how one of your reasons for wanting to take the pill would be to see what humanity is capable of. I think a large number of people would (and rightly so) maybe view this question as mainly a way to extend their own pleasures, possibly simply taking a hedonistic point of view without contemplating what could be witnessed throughout the course of hundreds or thousands of years. Thanks for the thought-provoking response!
I already took the pill. Now I wander the world challenging other immortals to duels. I take the heads of all those that fall before me and I increase my power. After living for hundreds of years and indulging in all the pleasures of the world, killing is the one thing that fuels me and gives me purpose... THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!
I used to encounter the fire and brimstone Christians on the pier in Huntington Beach, California. "Repent for your sins and live forever!" so their signs would say. They call me to their booth and ask me if I want to live forever in heaven. I couldn't say that I would want that. I think at some point, I'd want to give it a rest and be done.
As to the quality of life the the law of diminishing returns I have this little gem to offer for your review:
Pretty much, no matter how you slice it dice it, or use it, there is not really any winning at life. There is only finding contentment in what we have right now.
A wish for immortality implies anticipation of all that is coming in that "forever life". Even then, there is serious doubt as to whether or not that is any good at all.
I also have been watching Altered Carbon on Netflix and it ponders these very questions. It's pretty grim and violent, but there is something else I see with immortality. A sense of impunity when dealing with others, and with that comes a lack of compassion.
It follows then, that what makes us human is our mortality. The thought experiment of the "Q" character in Star Trek: The Next Generation proves the point about compassion rather well. For if we never have to worry about dying, we never have to worry about our brothers and sisters. They'll live.
Great response, and your first point brings up an issue I've discussed recently with friends regarding religion. When someone like myself who is not religious thinks of time, it's generally in the context of "I only have so much". However, for the people who believe in eternal life, I wonder whether time really means as much to them as it does to atheists/agnostics, since if there was a promise of eternal life, it may seem to be silly to worry about the years left in your life on Earth (completely speculating here, as I'm not very familiar with these beliefs).
I like that nugget you included, no matter how depressing some may find it. It really is on us to make the most of this game. And you're right, the promise of immortality would only sound appealing if you still have hope or reasons to get up in the morning.
The idea of reduced compassion is compelling and slightly terrifying. I would hope we would not evolve into beings who cared little about the short or long-term effects of our behaviors due to the simple fact of guaranteed survival for the other party. Alas, here will always be some who would use this power to their advantage, the human instinct will always have a primal thirst for power or conquer to some extent.
I was with you until your last point, but it's minor qubnle. I believe that human aggression is a habit, not instinct. The reason being is that humans thrive on learning akilla and making them work. Cooperation is baked into our genes - I've seen living proof of that. The success of humanity is built on cooperation and every act of aggression hinders that success.
Therefore, there is no "primal thirst" for power or advantage. The desire for advantage is learned behavior and habit, nothing more.
I would say it depends on the type of immortality, would I want it in my 80 year old body? probably not. if preservation of the mind could be done I would consider, but only if there was a way to physically interface with the world. Lots of Syfy out there surrounding this topic like "Altered Carbon" or "San Junipero" (Black Mirror) and I think someday things like this might be possible.
but I guess we have no way of really knowing that it isn't already happening today with matter and energy principals / theories we could all continue to exist infinitely ...
Great points, I think the timing of the procedure would be extremely important. Plus, who knows if you undergo the procedure too early? Why not wait one more year until you're a little more fitter, because that will for sure be next year, right? Or a little more wealthier or wiser? I could see people playing the waiting game but end up waiting too long and ending up with an immortal body/mind that is less than ideal.
I can't speak for anyone else, nor should I but…
What kind of idiot opts to die because they just can't get enough motivation to get up and do something in the morning lest they can look down the long tunnel of their mortality and see death coming like an onrushing train with the lights out on the front?
Seriously. This is a no-brainer question.
Given the option, always pick "be alive." Subject to the caveats of "relatively good health," "regeneration is preferable," "change is possible."
Being alive and in constant pain or with significant physical disability? Take the death.
Lose a limb? Does it regrow or can we replace it? If not, take the death. (This goes back to significant physical disability above.)
Form of eternal life which requires that you not learn or not change significantly across that? Take the death. You'd be missing out on the whole point of continuing to exist.
Everything else? Negotiable. Immortality has a lot of options. You can spend a decade just wallowing in the schadenfreude of other people! (I've spent most of a lifetime doing just that upfront.) Given enough time, you will learn just about anything. Given enough time, you can go just about anywhere. Given enough time, you will find. You just don't feel very motivated – and whole centuries that you work in a manic fever.
Given enough time.
Step one: get enough time.