This is a little thought experiment I like to revisit every once in a while to see how I've changed. I'm sure you've imagined it before. When you were young you must have imagined what it must be like to have decades under your belt.
If you've ever read sci-fi (Dune, anyone?), considered the possibility of anti-aging technology, or just like to imagine things, this idea is probably not new to you.
So assuming you had your current level of health or could return to your mid 20's, how long would be enough on this earth?
Many of my friends in Asia seem to think life is already too long. The people I've asked don't see much purpose in living all that long, and some even seem unafraid of the concept of death. Many even hope that after death is just an infinite black space.
My friends and family in the west seem to be at the opposite end of the spectrum. People seem intent on extending their lives no matter what, even if it means being unhealthy and miserable. I find people, in general, are terrified of death, even many who say they are not.
Like many things, I find myself smack dab in the middle. If entropy occurs at the rate that it does for most people...I think the average life span is just enough. If I could have a healthy body though, I think I could go a few hundred years before I got bored.
Obviously it would depend on what was going on on earth, but assuming we aren't talking about war or total devestation, there is relative freedom of movement and ability to pursue things I'm interested in, I can imagine enjoying at least 250 years.
I would love to live multiple lives in one body, try out different lifestyles, surround myself with different kinds of people. I am not all that into travel because it feels like just a quick fix. I am more than happy to spend a good 3 months or 3 years somewhere to connect with the people and learn the lessons of the culture. I still need to live in different parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, South America.....it'd be cool to connect with native communities in Australia and North America too.
I'd learn to code, cause why not, got the time. I'd learn a bunch more languages, read a lot more than I do now, and spend more time talking to each person I met. I would want to explore all different forms of art. I make psychedelic folky stuff now, but I'd love to make electronic, hip hop or even classical at some point. I write stories, but I'd love to paint, or DJ or learn martial arts and yoga.
I'm not lazy, but I like to take my time with things. I think 250 years would be just right, at least right now...but I can imagine wanting to extend that.
Sure it would be sad to see people go, but everyone who I have a strong connection with remains in my heart at all times, and I do not feel that any separation is absolute. I can imagine some losses to be much bigger blows than others though and perhaps it would tire me out eventually.
At some point I'd want to be famous, I'd also like to be a hermit. I'd want to try and see how I could shape the world with so much time on my hands.
I try to think about this so that I can make sure I'm making the most of my time alive. Did I take it all in? Did I do everything I could have done? Do I feel satisfied with my choices every day?
The funny thing is, even though I feel like 250 years would be nice...I am not really all that terrified of death, not compared to most of the people I meet. I don't like pain and suffering, and I still feel I have so much I want to do, and so my self-preservation instinct is still intact, but it's not such an urgent thing. I used to be terrified of planes, but now every time I feel that fear rising up, I imagine the worst case scenario and it's kind of alright, I can say "Well, it was a good one, I guess I did my best! At least the best given all circumstances."
I wonder what everyone else has to say about this? I haven't really discussed this with anyone other than my partner for years now, so I'm curious. How long would you want to live if aging wasn't a thing anymore, assuming life on earth didn't look that bad?
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I think I kind of indirectly answered this one before XD
I'd live as long as it took to get all my stories out and become super proficient at martial arts. After that I'd have to see where life takes us and will either pull the plug when we get bored.
It's a difficult question. Imagine the things you would have seen in just the last 150 years.
My only desire would be to live long enough to travel the universe. See all of those things we have imagined are out there and beyond. I'd say 1,000 years into the future will bring us to the edges of space, if there are any.
One of the problems with long life Highlander addressed, love. I wonder if after living, loving and losing someone once or twice if you could or would ever love again. No matter what I would not want to outlive my wife or our children.
I guess it really depends on what you come across over the years, what kind of pain and what kinds of joy. I can’t imagine getting tired of it in a couple years or wanting it to keep going for a real long time
Well, we get through about a good 80 years of everything were talking about and about half of the people I've know who have passed didn't want to and half did. So who knows, maybe we would just enjoy or deal with everything over a longer period of time.
I don't know how long I will live but I hope to always stand on my own two feet, I am of the theory that the time of life we have is the right one, as long as we live it in harmony and leaving traces.
That is a good way to be. It's not really about how long but what we do with the time we have
One of my favourite books - Altered Carbon - gets into this - personally if I could have my 20's health I'd go for a good long run - only catch is I already look back at the 90's as being a much better era than now in many ways, and it would only be great to be an old timer if you liked the newer times you found yourself in.
I saw the series by that name not long back. A fascinating concept.
Yes, I really liked series one, but series two they started twisting it completely.
The book is better, and underneath all the scifi its an allegory for the globalist eletes
I didn't enjoy the second series as much and I think a lot of people have said the same. It didn't even seem to have that underlying message any more.
It was being rewritten to no longer expose the globalist agenda
They are doing the same thing now with another of my favourite books, American gods
Sounds about right. It was feeling very politically correct too.
What's the message of American Gods and what's being lost? I only watched the first season and wasn't impressed but I loved the book because I've always wondered if our belief in a deity could actually give it power in a metaphysical sense. That was my main take away, can’t remember the ending
I knew I knew that name from somewhere...I'm guessing the book is better than the show? Haven't read or watched but was thinking about it.
I have felt that way before, but the more I get out of my own fears (usually around big brother and people being divided, plus addiction to consumption) the more I feel this period is just a big bump in the road. It's easy to glorify the past, especially when there are things we miss, but in learning to appreciate this ridiculous time in history....somehow!
I used to wonder about this myself, especially when I was reading Anne Rice's vampire chronicles. I think that knowing your life has a certain span can actually change how you feel. When I was younger and full of energy with life's end being way too far off to worry about, I'd have happily considered the idea of living for hundreds of years, especially if it meant keeping my young health and physique. Living past 100 while aging and losing your ability to do much, does not appeal one bit. So many of those past 100 are just wanting to die.
At one time I'd have lived the extra years to try and experience everything there is to experience. These days I've experienced enough to know that after a while most things are no longer anything special and as we're more and more restricted we don't really have the freedom or money to be able to do some of the things of like to anyway.
Out living those I care about doesn't appeal either. I keep telling my hubby that I need to die before him, so I don't have to live without him. He says I can't, because he doesn't know how to look after himself...
My dad pointed out recently that if we all had the opportunity to live 100 more years while keeping our health, we'd likely just end up having to work even longer with little sign of retirement. The reason we can plan for retirement is because we deteriorate and our society has pretty much formed around that.
I'm certainly much more at peace with the idea of dying as I get older. I may still be afraid of facing death, though. Fear of the unknown.
I'm quite certain that most people could retain most of their health for most of a century if they understood their body better and listened to its needs. Tight muscles, stress, posture, habits. So I live life assuming that if I get my shit together, I don't have to age other than wrinkles and maybe some decreased stamina, and little issues here and there. Getting it together is hard when we are so used not to living that way.
I am also coming to be at peace with it all ending, but it doesn't stop me from wanting a long healthy run
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I like your take on this question. I guess much like you I could go either way. I'm okay with leaving this place on my predestined timeline, but if could live forever, I could stay very interested, but not in poverty. Without poverty holding me back, I'd love to live however long it takes to become fluent in every language and have lived among every culture.
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So much to explore right? Now just imagine new frontiers, like space, virtual reality or even just psychedelics which are already available 😃 how could I ever want it to end, so long as I had a chance to explore
What's interesting is that this is not really just an intellectual exercise; it's a question that needs to be explored. I just finished reading "Sapiens" and "Homo Deus" by Yuval Noah Harari, and he writes that biologists and scientists are coming to view death as merely a technical problem that can be solved. Serious people are thinking that we can achieve immortality, or something very close to it. ... I think the insatiable curiosity you show in this post is key to, not only living 250 years, but living with the 'normal' time we have now. Life can keep opening to more and more interesting things, even if our bodies are aging, if we have that sense of continual exploration. It's how we keep from getting old, even if our age is a big number. ... I'm 45, so I've thought some about this. Great post!
I really feel a healthy 150 years could become the norm wih nothing but a deeper understanding and sensitivity to muscles tightness, blood flow and a deep tissue massage,stretching plus perhaps hot showers and a more personalized diet.
So I'm with you. The main problem is just how to reorganize society so that longer lifespans don't make huge problems.
I've read two very different novels in which some of the characters live forever. They have to keep making new friends because their old friends age and die. They have to keep moving to different locations because people begin to wonder why they don't age. It seemed quite awkward in the books. My own father lived to be 99 years old and had to keep making new, younger friends because all his age-mates had died. If I had the option of starting over at a younger age, I wouldn't want to do that unless I knew all the things I know now, at age 64, about life and people and relationships and love.
I'm happy to keep making new, younger friends. It becomes harder when the old friends start to disappear. I wouldn't sacrifice the chance to explore, because in the end, I’d have to leave as well but I imagine losing everyone important to me would leave me very detached at some point.
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Beautiful, isn't it? How the connections arise, how the narratives work!
Even when life looks a bit bad depending on the happenings in the world today
I still remember when I was a little child, I always told my mom I would live 200years or at most 150+ she would laugh at my crazy wishes hahaha, though it was fun.
And whenever I see any funeral posters or flyers with the age 100+ I Al always awed because it's rare here to have people live that long and those who do are celebrated like a major achievement.
I would like to explore the world at large and that is if God blesses me with sound health.
250years isn't so bad but wow! That's a lot hahaha, I just imagine what you would look like in your 250 years 🤭
That's cute! I wonder if you have changed your mind?
From what I've seen, aging is accelerated by tight muscles and neglect of the body, plus external strain. I think hot showers are probably the most beneficial part of a modern lifestyle and office posture is probably the worst thing about it. I really think if people stretched, got good massage and exercised, plus had hot showers, the average lifespan would shoot up everywhere AT LEAST 5 years
You think so?
But I enjoy cold baths a lot even during winter, I still find myself taking a cold bath. I just love how the cold water descends my body and I really love chilly and cold temperatures that's why winter is my best season.
Yeah, I guess massage is good too.
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250 years?! You really must love life.
I wanna do 100
I think to live long enough to build something strong, to know other cultures, to learn many languages, to have experiences until you get bored. Although this last point could vary since we always evolve and therefore there will always be new things to experience. In my case I am not afraid of death, I do not cling to life, I just live. I would only change the fact that it would be in good health, I think it is not nice to age to the point of being sick in a bed or wheelchair depending on your family who is with you to do your things or keep you alive in that state you are in. I think at some point in my life I will get so bored that I will want to rest or explore the unknown of death and that point of old age in those circumstances would surely be my point of boredom. For now I would say about 150 more years and in good health would be fine for me to do so many things before I start getting bored and start wanting my body and mind to shut down completely.