Of course, most of the current accident deaths are probably vehicle related, which I doubt will be a factor in 1,000 years. But I don’t know how you avoid lethal accidents, disasters or foul play for much longer than a few thousand years in bodies as fragile as ours.
Depressing postscript: I guess that would mean you’d also be GUARANTEED a violent/traumatic death, unless you chose a quick and peaceful suicide. (Sorry for being morbid.)
If I could be there for the heat death of the universe, I’d do it. Just imagine the amazing things that will happen between now and then! I want a front-row seat!
Just look at all the amazing things that are happening now during our lifetimes… spouses, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great great grandchildren, rapamycin…
PLUS
TV, movies, computers, internet, social media, AI, video games, the next blockbuster book, song, movie, rapamycin…
PLUS
Exotic places to explore (Puerto Rico? Thailand? The moon? Mars?) Exotic food to taste (Sushi, dim sum, balut, etc…) Exotic people to meet. New friends. New loves. New adventures.
There’s a lot to live for! I want that last joule of heat from the universe to be my dying breath.
I think at a certain point, the psychological program of a human completes. The internal story that drives us forward, eventually I don’t think people are done in 75 years. They have so much more to do, to give, to learn. That’s far too short. But in 700 years? I don’t know, but I imagine many more people would feel like they had completed their journey.
We’re a long way off from that being a concern, but I don’t think people really truly want to live forever ever. But I can say with certainty the current limit is not enough.
I disagree, as I feel I am such a different person than I was a generation ago, and I speculate that I will again feel I am a different person in 30 more years. I have different interests, abilities, relationships, and more. In the absence of chronic pain and disability, I don’t think I will ever feel I have had enough of life. Why do I need to “find myself” and “be enough” when I can change over time?
Agreed. However if criticizing one’s government, which is taken for granted in the West, is considered doing something stupid, perhaps it’d be best to live somewhere else? To each his own though, and HK is a wonderful, beautiful world-class city.
@SouthHill I completely understand where you are coming from. However, I’ve been living here for over 14 years, and it’s changed a lot. I’ve set down roots here and honestly, I do enjoy living here. There are a lot of benefits. If I were to uproot myself and move back to the USA, it would be detrimental on many many levels. I’ve watched some of my compatriots do it, and it’s not pretty. If you choose to stay, you do have to take the current culture into consideration and as they say…
Yes. I totally get what you’re saying. FWIW, I’ll just add that as a U.S. citizen, I am beyond worried as to the current state of affairs here. So we all have our challenges wherever we live.
Getting back to the OP, it does stretch one’s mind to think of the changes a person would witness if they could avoid death for such a period of time. There was a Twilight Zone episode about a guy who couldn’t die, so he witnessed and participated in a lot of historical moments. But he was the only one, so he outlived several wives and children, etc. If everyone had that capacity, human culture would change radically indeed.
This reminds me of something else I read that really stuck with me: after a few thousand years, you’d probably be SO changed that you’d effectively be a different person. And can anyone here really remember their first few years of life very well? Now imagine being 10,000 years old and trying to remember your first fifty years.
And if 10,000 birthdays transform you into an entirely different different person who doesn’t really remember previous millennia . . . well, isn’t that what already happens, when we die and new people are born?
(Sorry for getting so philisophical, I just like reading what you guys all think about these kind of questions!)
Unless your a Billionaire you won’t have the money to live much longer then maybe even a few hundred years. Besides according to AOC the world will end in ten years. LOL
If you are frugal, you can live forever being just a millionaire and maintain a high quality of life.
For the rest, remember what it was like to live when you were in university? Yeah, you’ll have to live that kind of lifestyle. Fortunately, that was one of the happiest times in my life. You just have to be more creative.
One aspect of living to a very advanced age that we seldom discuss is the mental rigidity that occurs as we get older. It is much easier to learn a new language, a new musical instrument, or a new viewpoint as a teenager than as a seventy year old. Even if we could restore the physical and mental capabilities of the young in an older person, would that person still be mentally rigid? I would love to have all of my accumulated wisdom with the mental energy and flexibility of youth. Even if I lived to 2000 years, I doubt that I could master more than 3 or 4 musical instruments.
Mental rigidity may not be related to the aging process itself but that doesn’t mean a drug couldn’t stimulate regions in the brain responsible for curiosity and learning.
The key issue will be the success we have in mitigating aging in the brain. This is the fundamental issue for maintaining well-paying employment or a competitive entrepreneurial venture… The Problem of Brain Aging, Peter Fedichev
And much sooner than in 1,000 years.