You are walking along the crossroads when you are approached by the devil. He informs you that your time is up. However, the devil is bored and decides to mess with you. He gives you the choice of dying tomorrow or having to live 1,000,000 years. What would be your choice given this option?
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The mortality scenario
- Thread starter Bleach
- Start date
Live a million years. I mean, you can always just commit suicide when you are done with all the fun stuff.
Assuming I would have perfect health (other than being sick every once in a while, but not like "fuck you have cancer but you're going to live on in your cancer ridden body for a million years") with no injuries (aka losing a limb and bodily functions) and didn't age, I wouldn't mind living a million years, assuming of course mankind doesn't destroy itself in the meanwhile! It would honestly suck for you to be alone for a million years.
It's more than enough time to find everything beautiful in life and learn how to enjoy it. Maybe some of these would be dulled out and hackneyed, but the idea of having enough time to learn everything is seriously enough for me to consider living on for a million years. For some reason the idea of living for a long long time on Earth and to grasp everything and enjoy everything is an idea I find very romantic.
The idea is very relaxing - especially considering how everything in the world nowadays is so fast paced now, and how "everything must be done in a set time". It'd be an amazing change in pace and something I could definitely enjoy for a long time.
It's more than enough time to find everything beautiful in life and learn how to enjoy it. Maybe some of these would be dulled out and hackneyed, but the idea of having enough time to learn everything is seriously enough for me to consider living on for a million years. For some reason the idea of living for a long long time on Earth and to grasp everything and enjoy everything is an idea I find very romantic.
The idea is very relaxing - especially considering how everything in the world nowadays is so fast paced now, and how "everything must be done in a set time". It'd be an amazing change in pace and something I could definitely enjoy for a long time.
It can't possibly mean being immortal, since the time is designated as 1,000,000 years. That means at the end of those million years (like I'm spamming the 0 button that many times again) you will die. What I think you're after is invulnerability, meaning the subject in question could still technically die, but not be harmed in any way directly that would cause death.
Though I think your body clogging itself up and eventually giving up sounds pretty harmful to me anyway but w/e.
All these things matter, yeah. If I were practically decomposed at year 500,000 but just carried on living I can't imagine that being any fun at all, but by this point you're getting into the sort of stuff that makes answering this question with any degree of realism impossible; I can't imagine choosing to die tomorrow would be terribly easy, nor living for 1,000,000 years any fun, but then I can't imagine bumping into the devil.
Also I thought this thread was headed this way.
- Not subject to death: immortal deities; the immortal soul.
In all honesty I'd much rather just live another 50 years then die; but the beauty of life is that it has a beginning, middle, and end, and to live on and on whilst those who make life wonderful age and die would be hell.
maybe tomorrow because from the perspective of like everyone else, it's kind of unsettling to see some dude living for hundreds (and then thousands) of years without aging, and by "unsettling" I mean "extremely fucked up"
I would be pretty worried about what sort of ridiculous random consequences could come into play
I would be pretty worried about what sort of ridiculous random consequences could come into play
By that logic we're all "immortal" until we die.
It makes far more sense to consider immortality the exact opposite of mortality;
1. the state or condition of being subject to death; mortal character, nature, or existence.
ie without death ever an issue.
I dunno. I think I'd go insane if I lived for too long. I cannot imagine containing more than one million years worth of memories, I can't honestly say I wouldn't snap. Then again, the prospect of being immortal kinda grants you all kinds of fucking possibilities... if you are alive for a million years and are immortal, you could probably change the course of history all by yourself (what a fucking scary thing to say too).
But, being the cowardly person I am, I'd choose instant death. There's no way to guarantee the following years wouldn't be spent in a lonely Earth or some shit.
But, being the cowardly person I am, I'd choose instant death. There's no way to guarantee the following years wouldn't be spent in a lonely Earth or some shit.
I can't really say that seems cowardly to me. I mean I know where you're coming from, but the truth of the matter is that I don't think a single person posed with this question could possible weigh the options up accurately enough to choose the 1,000,000 years of invulnerability having thought about it sufficiently.
Being atheist, my expected utility of:
1) death is zero
2) living x years has at least a probability of being non zero
Since I enjoy being alive in and of itself, it is fair to assume that the expectation of living cannot be negative. This remains true in light of any trickery by the devil.
Therefore, I would choose to live 1,000,000 years because it is a one way bet.
1) death is zero
2) living x years has at least a probability of being non zero
Since I enjoy being alive in and of itself, it is fair to assume that the expectation of living cannot be negative. This remains true in light of any trickery by the devil.
Therefore, I would choose to live 1,000,000 years because it is a one way bet.
the only thing stopping me from choosing 1 million years would be the possibility of the world ending or something like that. it would not be fun at all to just be floating there alone that shit would suck.
but other then that i would choose 1 million years to live. itd be awesome to see how things progress and you would have all that time to enjoy life and get things done.
but other then that i would choose 1 million years to live. itd be awesome to see how things progress and you would have all that time to enjoy life and get things done.
If we assumed that the devil wasn't going to give us any sort of unnatural "powers" except not aging, well, hmm, we'd have to be like confined in some sort of cell for a million years, a place where disease nor violence could harm, you'd have to have people watching over you making sure you wouldn't commit suicide, it sounds really bleak >_>. Kind of a vague question though
Well it says you "have" to live 1 million years, so I'm pretty sure that's out of the picture.
Definitely die the next day. I'd rather not live that long and see every single person I ever get to know die eventually.
It would be too much of a hassle for me. Sure you could accomplish a lot of crap in a million years, but nowhere in the OP does it mention immunity from injury or disease.
So basically you can get some horrible and painful disease that will confine you to a hospital bed. While normally you would die shortly after contracting such a horrible disease you will now have to bear with it for 1 million years.
Remember that this is a deal with the devil. There is always some catch.
Also it depends on what age I am when this deal is given. If it was given to me today than I would choose death tomorrow. Since I would never age I would not be able to get my drivers license as I am still 15. That already limits what I could possibly do in my million years of life. If I explained that I am immortal and will never age for a million years I will only get thrown into an asylum, or some shit like that.
So basically you can get some horrible and painful disease that will confine you to a hospital bed. While normally you would die shortly after contracting such a horrible disease you will now have to bear with it for 1 million years.
Remember that this is a deal with the devil. There is always some catch.
Also it depends on what age I am when this deal is given. If it was given to me today than I would choose death tomorrow. Since I would never age I would not be able to get my drivers license as I am still 15. That already limits what I could possibly do in my million years of life. If I explained that I am immortal and will never age for a million years I will only get thrown into an asylum, or some shit like that.
id take the million years.
to me, what makes life so hectic and rushed is knowing that we only have a limited (as in short) time on this earth, we feel the need to rush whatever we do so we have more of our limited time to enjoy for ourselves.
with a million years, we as humans would not feel the need to rush anything at all, but could take our time and enjoy what we do. it would be enough time to go out and do everything i would ever want to do in the world, and still have leftover time.
to me, what makes life so hectic and rushed is knowing that we only have a limited (as in short) time on this earth, we feel the need to rush whatever we do so we have more of our limited time to enjoy for ourselves.
with a million years, we as humans would not feel the need to rush anything at all, but could take our time and enjoy what we do. it would be enough time to go out and do everything i would ever want to do in the world, and still have leftover time.
That's not what I'm disputing, though. I agree with you on what the op states, it's just that the term "immortal" doesn't apply to this.
That you cannot die for 1 million years means you cannot possibly be immortal, because that's when the inability to die ends; in a million years. You still have a limit on your life, will eventually die, and therefore are mortal.
Sorry, though. I think I turned this into a quibbling thing waaaay up there ^
I see the pull of the accomplishing all your goals thing, but it only brings me back to the inability to appreciate the scope of what we're talking about. That's fine for a few centuries, but one million years is beyond my ability, at least, to comprehend fully on the spot. I'd need a great deal of those years to think about it.
Also, you don't get the do-overs and romantic ending that he got in Groundhog Day.
I could become a god in a million years, but I forecast that the human race only has a couple hundred thousand years before the genepool degenerates so much that homosapia rots from the inside out.
I'd die tomorrow. No fun to be a god without sentient life to rule over.
I'd die tomorrow. No fun to be a god without sentient life to rule over.