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my question is as such. Is it really worth it for one to be "IMMORTAL"? I ask this because, how does one handle seeing death on a massive (endless) scale when "IMMORTAL"?

immortality would like most things have it's ups and downs on the one hand you wouldn't be able to die on the other you would have to watch all your friends and family die which would slowly kill you on the inside....

Simple, nobody is immoratal.

i would be great to live forever, but is not worth watch all of your loved one die around you know you could do nothing about it.

Immortality is a tough choice not to be taken lightly. Lose everyone around you and have nothing to show for it but your wealth and personal well being. Or Have many friends and family and fulfill the kind of life as expected, with a loving family to care for you when you are old and stuff of the like.

I feel that if you have no remorse for death and can care less about those around you then Immortailty is the way.

What i value is knowledge above all else. Eventually we will be able to prolong life enough so that it will feel like we are Immortal and if not then write a book or do something to get you noticed. Being Remembered is the essence if Immortality.

Like DeargDueFiachra said "Eventually we will be able to prolong life enough so that it will feel like we are Immortal" immortality is a feeling along with not being able to die also known as being a legend for all time but the main question is what is time but just a memory?

Hmmmm..... I'm not really sure I understand the question. Isn't a very basic contradiction to think of one as immortal and also dealing with death. Immortal death= oxymoron.

I've heard of some people thinking of immortality as a spiritual thing. ie: the soul is immortal and therefore is not subject to the mortal boundaries of death. There are even some that believe in the 21rule, that is, the fact that when people die they lose 21 grams of body weight and that those 21 grams are supposedly the soul leaving the body.

If you're taking that view of immortality then I guess that yes, you would be dealing with death but would be comforted by the fact that your soul would live on. Maybe even reside in another shell, ie: reincarnation. (Prince's article on this subject is excelent if you want to look into it.)

I personally have never met someone who thought they were immortal in the sense that they thought they would never face mortal death.

It's all about what you believe in, I guess.

life shall in the future be prolonged, yet no one thing will escape the clutches of death, all must persih, if immortality was forever even in the movies they die. soits you to ponder this. no immortality for no one.

I would imagine, in a hypothetical situation where true immortality was achieved, that the one who had attained it would quickly develop a different mindset in which things such as the death of others really meant very little overall. It would be either that, or they would very quickly succumb to crushing despair and off themselves, which would also be interesting to see if it would actually work, suicide in the face of immortality being a bit of a contradiction in terms.

The question is not how would somebody stand being immortal but why would they do it in the first place.

DeadlyViper

well said

i for sure would NOT want to live forever

in this real world we have...no one is immortal...

It would be the waiting to see if I was truly immortal, or simly lead to believe I was. If I gained immortality the first time I tested it I would be hesitant. The only way to know for sure is to damage the body sevrerly
yet the fact that you expect immortal preservation will not likely provide regeneration. So the Gamble would really get me along with the Wait...oh and being robbed of the mysterious her after..

I don't really see why one would want to become immortal. Yes, you'd never die, learn many things, see the world change around you (for better or worse), all that. But even so, it seems selfish. You'd basically be trading in all your loved ones for knowledge and wealth (because you'd have to watch all your loved ones die, which would make any normal person become quite reserved). Just doesn't seem like a very logical thing to do, if physical immortality really does exist (which I don't think it does).

my x truly beleived he was immortal but he wasd ill

and i use this word gently.....

maybe we/i/you would like to taste immortality but, if some one is really ill, c.oa.a.d

chronic obstruction of the airway disease

for en example...would they truly want to be around for immortality....!

I would take regeneration over immortality, for that very reason.

regeneration is a bit of a lottery. also, after a while you develop a scottish accent apparently.

if I was immortal one of the ups of it for me would be being able to look after my family and there families too.

one of the downs would be,seeing the people I loved growing old and dying.that would just be heart breaking.

yea and A tendency to be careless around dangerous implements.

It's only worth it if you can have those you love also be immortal...the flip side is - who wants to hang around here, when the earth is actually going to hell in a handbasket?

At the end you can be the only one to officially say..

"I Told You So!"

Immortality has great points, and bad points. You see things you may not want to, and do things you may not want to. Just like life.

only with no dramatic exit.

Like they say most vampire die of their own demise, I wuld think eventionally it would dive them insane seeing the years pass on, if they were to survive they would have to be numb to the world and heartless, and what type of an existance would that really be anyways.

I would have to go into stasis a lot for that reason, statis for a few fifty years at a time I imagine would bring some vital entertainment to an immortal.

Sometimes it would be nice to not have that whole "I am going to die" looming over my head but really...I prefer my humanity. You wonder if you'd be able to appreciate everything if you knew you'd always be around.

Perhaps inmortality should be though in a finite term as Faust did, 20 years of inmortality, 20 years in which he could do anything and not get hurt, nor maimed, nor die.

Now if I could spend a number of years totally immortal and unable to be hurt, I would make millions off of being a stunt person and have waaaaaay too much fun.

But it would be the most awesome if my dog could be immortal too.

Ok...sorry.

Anann...don't be sorry. If I was immortal, I'd want my cats to be too. LOL!

Immortality in and of itself would be bordom, I'm sure, after the first 100 years. If one possessed immeasurable wealth, eternal youth, and was able to heal any accidental traumatic injury, was immune to disease and possessed visual and accoustic acuity that never degenerated, and other super human attributes to go along with immortality, it would be less tedious an existance. But eventually I would long for oblivion.

Well i would not want to be immortal, which is good because imortality does not exist except in hollywood

it would be cool to be immortal and to see mass death ~regular day~

Fathoming true immortality is a concept that even gods and deities fight with.

There are no feasible aspects of corperal beings that are immortal and live forever. Even our esteemed immortal vampires are not true immortals, since they all seem to perish or be destroyed in some manner.

Even the gods will cease to exist once they no longer have worshipping converts to maintain their beliefs and existance.

So, I really believe that there is no one who could fathom true, everlasting, eternal, immortality.

no it isn't but the real problem is that things keep getting worse and will continue to do so

so as long as you live you get to watch that

Whether or not its worth it is a personal choice and giving up death is an easy answer for me, I would. What are you losing? Nothing you are only gaining. But yes, you would have to see the ones you love die but you are going to see some of that anyways. You might also go crazy in the end from seeing so much that may be overwhelming to you. I think one would have to have a hard shell.

Although the TV & movies talk alot about being immortal. I do not think anyone is. People just act like they are at times.

I would never want that I would not want to see everyone I loved die around me while I kept living not really something I would enjoy I would rather live forever in a persons heart or mind then live forever

It would depend. if you still aged (but didnt die) then you would look horrible(WAY to many wrinkles) and if you didnt, then you would have to constantly make excuses for who you are, why you still look young, etc. etc. i think, personally, that immortality is one thing humanity would not need, nor want.

Immortality: Even with everyone point of veiw I still believe that at one time everything has to die

Truly, I think Immortality isn't all its cracked up to be. A lot fo people have already said it... You'd live, but everyone else you love would die.

Some days.. I'm willing to take that risk. Today would be one of them.

All in all, though, I think it would turn out to be a drag. You can only do the same things so many times before it just gets so redundant, it isn't even worth doing anymore. I would shoot myself if I ever lost interest in intimacy and love.. and being immortal, shooting myself would probably just piss me off more. Not being able to die... to end suffering.

Yeesh. Someone remind me not to get indepth when not sleeping well. -.-

I must admit, I am afraid to die, I am afraid of losing my loved ones, though at the same time I would be afraid of being immortal and living forever. Especially the way the world is turing out. I honestly dot think I would want to know what the future is going to be like in aother 100 years.

Just a thought though. We hear stories that one day the world wont be here for us to live on.......what would happen to that immortal someone? ie: if the world did blow up?

Too many ifs/ whats and hows

Think about life as YOU live it and enjoy it :P

ah - the Face of Boe. homeless.

if you are immortal yes you would live threw the death and birth of many humans but don't we all. No one exists without dealing with death on a some what reagular basis no a days either on tv or in real life. Some people deal with in a more personal way like the death of loved ones so I don't think it would be any different. The only way you don't deal with death is not to live.

but wouldn't you still deal with death as you die?

Sure you would, but you're dying so you better come to terms quick.

To be immortal in this world would be very bad. To see friends , familyes etc etc die. It would kill your inside.

It wouldn't be so bad if you could fly or had an invisibility power or something just to make it more fun :p

Also to keep youthful looks!

You ask if it's "worth it" but I feel that depends on the person. If a person is happy by himself/herself alone, then yes it would be. Knowing the people you love will all eventually die before you would be tough, I would think. I do like cell regeneration though. To live to be 100 but not look it or feel it would be fine with me:)

on the other hand, if you were an american soldier who couldnt die.... then the soldier would just walk right into enemy territories and anihilate everything, and anyone who stands in his/her path.

Even if it was possible, I would not like to become immortal, it would be to much of a pain for me to see all my loved ones go, knowing that I would be left behind.

The stunt idea is so true, it is just as much of a pain knowing that this could very well be the last time you are ever going to see your partner :-(

Whether we like it or not we are immortal. Be it in heaven or hell... our soul will remain...

Yes, our soul will remain and we will live on in the hearts of our loved ones.

I think the thread was posted with immortality of the human body rather than just the soul, but exellent point.

I imagine for the first lifetime span it would be very intriging and full of interesting experiences, but all the death you would see, would it be worth it?

I believe in the immortality of the soul because I have within me immortal longings.

Why would you want "real immortality". Forever paying bills, working, love ones die, one war after another. Would be nice to live a little longer w/better health ect. But not forever.

I could never handle immortality i dont want to watch people die. But then death scares me to. Im not sure but immortality could be achieved.

The soul is immortal, the body is just a vehicle for it...

I agree with most of what has been said so far, hypothetically if someone were to gain imortality i am willing to say that their mindset and code of morality would change over time, i would probably guess that pain from one or two very close loved ones dying over the course of a lifetime or two would probably warp the mind to treat people more as disposable toys rather than form lasting bonds as they would know the end result of the bond... look at the majority of the writings about imortal beings be it Highlander, or any vampire story and look at what the hero/ heroine has turned out like. There will be exceptions there always are.

As for the moral codes that people live by (i know this wasnt part of the orignal discussion but i see it as related) i think these would probably change as well.

I for one would probably say yes to imortality, purely for the adventure.

i think even if it was possible to achieve immortality the mind would get so warped and tormented over life events that it would cause the person to find an end to it themselves ultimately causing them to commit suicide

I think I would take enduring death as a fair trade for an eternity worth of knowledge...

I dont think you would be able to commit suicide if you were immortal????

I don't think it's worth it I mean every time you met some1 and loved them you knew they would die and you would still be here and eventually you would go insane. Thats what I believe

To immortal would be great I have no problems watching loved ones grow up and pass on, this is life n death.
Most people live in denial of death and thus have a response that values life n loss to greater degrees.
I would like to walk the histories of the world till it turns to dust in the hope to find my loved one again.

having to know and watch your loved ones die around you would be quite horrible and you may even be driven to madness with the grief.

tbvh being immortal sounds a bit boring...

you could make an amazing record of how the human race developed, what you saw, and how you felt though...

personally, i dont think i could deal with it unless i had someone who i could share my eternity with. by that i dont just mean a bf/gf, i mean anyone - a friend, family member... it could very well be your "life" partner (it really would be life!)

i think that thats the only way i could mentally survive enternity.

I still question the concept of true immortality.

Living for eternity and never dying.

It is like the concept of infinity. No matter how big of a number you think of, there is always a bigger number.

The concept of forever is the same. Once you attempt to place yourself at a point in time in the future, you still are presented the eternity beyond that point in time.

The only immortal being I've ever heard of is God. God of the Bible God that is. And alot of people do not believe in that so wherever your immortal beliefs stem you must research.

I would like to be a immortal but not, I do not want my body to fall apart like that. And in a way it is worth it.

So you do not believe that even a soul can be immortal?

I could handle being immortal as long as I was in my 20s. The only difficult part would be to watch my father die before my eyes while I remained vigorous, but after that I would be able to have my cake and eat it too.

To answer your original question.
I would say it this way as kids grow in each era whether it be the 70's 90's or this millennium one thing is certain we become more desensitized to things.Just like blood and gore or action movies we eventually get bored or tired of seeing it to a point of uncaring.
I believe for someone who would be immortal would revolve around this a lot more then us until death because just a breath of air.and life is like waking up with dust on your hat.

I think immortality would be perfect for someone who is self centered and wealth oriented. If you only care for yourself and no one else then losing people to death would mean nothing to you.

I personally think immortality would be draining and tiring... a difficult life choice to be sure. Once you do all there is to do... seen all there is to see. I think you would look upon death as a gift, not a curse.

I'm with morgoth on this, I would not like to see my lovers die and my family in front of me my mind would be gone after a while. It would just be a empty shell.

Id have to agree immortality eventually becomes a curse, seeing all knowing all and well lets not forget just because you cant die doesn't mean you cant mess up and something happen to where you are paralyzed
this would result in you seeing everything pass you by and your unable to do a thing about it.

Oo that would suck, living for forever but not being able to move.

With the way the world is today, why would anyone even consider Immortality as being a wise choice?

While the romanticised concept is all good and well, in reality you'd face many problems, especially in todays world where Identification is pretty much needed for one to step outside of your front door.

Everything is created to eventually end both life and this world so you wouldn't have much of a chance to live out eternity as some undead charachter from a novel if the world suddenly ended would you

I personally wouldnt like it. I cannot imagine living life seeing my love ones die around me and having to live on through it...it has to have some effect on you.

The chances of cheating death, as it were, are extremely improbable, but not entirely out of the scope of possibility.

The easiest way is to do something that nobody will forget. Think of it as avoiding the inevitable through history.

There are other ways, but most people will simply choose not to listen.

yes it is -- and you learn to live with the pain .....

You eventually grow numb.

Losing my loved ones would be the only drawback to inmortality, seeing my children age, die, would be hard, yet seeing my great great granchildren, that would be something. To keep learning, 1000 lifetimes would not be enough to learn all there is.

i have often wondered, if i such a gift/curse would i seek the love of others after my current family moved on and would i remain in contact with those descendants. or move on always in transit never staying any place too long to form bonds??

well I feel we either will be or will not be Immortal.. LOL yet if I had a choice I would not want to be Immortal and watch everyone pass before me and watch our planet change as well not sure if that is a good deal...

I don't believe that there is anyone walking this planet right now who is immortal. I believe that God (of the Bible) is the only "known" immortal. {my own opinion here}

It is hard to even speculate what immortality is when we can only grasp the time concept of decades and if we are lucky a century.

Would I want to be immortal- not unless everyone I loved was immortal as well (including my dog).

don't believe anyone is immortal walking this planet. but everyone lives as they wish to be seen way i see it.. but believein you are or someone is.. dont make it true.

i agree with xXanarchyfangsXx, i think that immortality would be boring and that i would need someone to share it with. but then that person would have to be immortal too because if they were human they would die with the rest of humanity.

I think being immortal would give life less meaning and therefor become a burden.

i always found immortality was so appealing, you live so you, you don't die, you get ot see history change befor your eyes. but the down sides are you would lose your love ones and never see them again, 1000's of years later you would still be morning losses of so many and so much.

No it wouldn't be worth it. Sure, you'd never have to face death and you'd get to see the future; But you'd lose so many loved ones along the way it would be torture.

Immortal as in, you can't die... or you can't die of old age? Vampires claim to be immortal but they can die.

I believe he's talking about the not age-ing part. ;]

immortal... hmmm i would not want it with endless life comes endless pain and endless wandering

The non-aging part I think everyone would love to have. But after reading all of everyone's responses, I still don't see how it can be possible to be immortal in the skin we are in.

I don't think it is possible, LadyK. ;]

It's just too far out there to be true.

I wouldn't want to be immortal. I don't think its worth it to watch everyone around you die, having to constantly worry about keeping up with the times. And if immortality isn't a common thing, having to hide who and what I really am. I'd rather just live an average length human life.

to me being a mortal and thinking about being an imortal really depends on what one must do to acheive Imortality and was it really worth them giving what ever it was for this and ability and experince to watch the ones u love pass u by and ur left alone...

on that note I wrote previously if you are already Imortal u never knew death u'v never come close to it and U'll never wory about all u'll loose b/c it was ur destiny to live forever and watch all those pass leaving u wit ha different attitude on life and living forever but when u are mortal and u think of dieing u wish u could live forever and those4 who do live forever will wish for death but can never achieve it... it's interesting to me how we all want what we can't have once we learn we can't have it...

As a living being, I would state that I would rather have "super longevity" (like the story book vamp) rather than immortality.

That way I could experience long spanses of life, observe humanity's ebb and flow, and taking part in the experience.

With real immortality, you would eventually see the destruction of humanity and then live in a world of loniness.

When looking at all the knowledge available in this world. All the experiences that you will never be able to fit into the single life time then being immortal sounds like a wonderful alternative to your over the counter RIP experience.
I guess the only thing you need to ask yourself is are you willing to live a life of solitude, and if not, are you willing to see the ones you love over and over again die.

Immortality isn't something for people who aren't independent of the world around them.

I really don't see how anyone could ever see everything there is to see. You might be immortal, but you still only travel as fast as every other person around you. Also, people are always finding new things and destroying old to make room for the new.

To me everyday would be like college. Meeting new people, having a good time, no commitments. Get bored go to a new city, and start over. A big game of life. Hell, you never know, you might even run into another immortal.

Sure life would lose its meaning somewhere down the road, but we live for the moment, not for the future.

Personally I think immortality (in the physical sense of the word) seems more like a curse than a gift. Being immortal would be tantamount to committing your life to an endless, monotonous episode; there wouldn't be anything to look forward to anymore. It would also be a common spectacle to witness death and dying and change and I think the experience of going through these natural occurrences again and again would lead only to two possible ends: either the immortal ends up insane, unable to cope with all the endless loss or calloused and unattached to anything living around him. I think the beauty of life lies in the irony that eventually we will all perish.

lol ya know you could turn a good shrink into a vampire also. so ya have someone to talk to about living forever.

I wonder if being a shrink vampire wouldn't make that vampire want to commit suicide. Imagine treating the same people for years and years and years.. That would be enough to make anyone want to stake themselves.

me i would never want to be immortal....... watching everyone i loved die before me and if i fell in love again only to watch them die to while i lived on never could i do such a thing.........the hardest thing in life i think is to love...... if youve done such truely then you have really lived...... why would you ever want to go on with out them......

though being immortal would be cool to the adrenaline seeker (cliff diving and all of that stuff that puts your heart in your throat etc) I think that the downsides of it would be enough to make me stay a mortal. It would break my heart to watch those I love grow old and die before my eyes..

i'd love to be immortal but id hate to see my friends and family go as id be left alone.. id always have to make new friends but as family would be hard to replace..

After giving it a bit of thought and in the spirit of this thread as I believe it to be , I had realized that the truth is , immortal or not, all of us at one time or another have to deal with death . There just is no way out of it. Loved ones , family, friends dying...aging before our eyes ,or for whatever reason they pass on. Some of us more often than others.
Fact is , death is a part of life , and eventually it will come full circle on all of us. For some sooner or later than others.
So yes, if it were possible to be, "immortal" in the physical sense, I would not have a problem. Like with anything , you would be amazed by what you can get used to.
To me , being immortal means you cannot die ........so if you are able to be killed or die of a disease , I do not believe you would truley be immortal ? Speaking of course in the "physical being."

well, if you're immortal, then i don't think you deal with death. to be immortal is to be without death as a worry.

No, it wouldn't be worth it. You'd experience the deaths of loved ones so many times it would completely ruin your heart.

well, one doesnt' have to get close to others...but...i think immortality would be worth it, because, yeah, you have to see loved ones die, but you also get to see them live...but, i think it would behard to make and keep connections, because never aging would freak people out...even family members, as would aging forever...because that would be gross and maybe ruin immortality...i think it would be a major draw back to watch others grow old with out you, but it would be neat to know all members of your family and to be there for each new generation...but that's just me...

elvis is immortal and so are most of the movie stars and muscians of the past. Immortality means to be remembered after you have passed. thats what it means to me anyway.

I think after seeing it so much... After a while it would become an everyday thing, & the person seeing it would get used to it

I think it would be worth it but it all depends on how you look at things. Everyone has a different way to look at things

I think it would be worth it. I have seen death many times and I was very young the first few times I saw it so now I'm not really bothered by it. So for me I don't think that seeing death all the time would be a problem.

I additionally think that the idea of immortality might sound delicious right up until you've spent your first century watching all those you love perish. That's probably when it would start to take its toll on you.

What type of immortal are we talking about because there is spiritual immortal as pointed out by darknessbreached and there is all so physical immortal which entrails regenration.

I am just wondering which one so as to post a good message.

I would not want to be immortal. I believe that the vampiric soul lives forever, but that it does so in different lives. That is my personal opinion at least.

Naturally, I'd have to agree with Singularity.

Sure, you'd get to live forever.

But look at what all you'd leave behind.

What you leave behind might be more precious than all the knowledge in the world.

Because we have a "soul", we are all immortal whether we like it or not...

Thread closed for length.