Why is it that people die?

[FreezinIce]

Re: Why is it that people die?

I see. Well I wasnt trying to imply that existing is any lower on the scale than living, but I see your point. Life is the state of you living and breathing, and ends only when those functions cease. And I agree with you, finding the cutoff point to where you life ends and your state of existing begins in my senario would be impossible. I guess existance is limited to innanimate objects and extremely depressed people

[slipstrike0159]

Re: Why is it that people die?

Im pretty sure the psycological point of view hasnt been discussed yet.
While its been fairly well established that the physical body can only endure so much without constant rejuvenation or repair on almost every cell needed to live, we havent taken into consideration the psycological drama associated with living so long.
Even though it may at some point be possible to keep cells alive longer, i find it fairly impossible to keep yourself from going insane (for lack of better phrasing). To put it vary simply, we will eventually not care to live anymore after a certain length of time. Either the will to live will be gone and you would have to forcibly be kept alive through every physical problem or suicide would come into play. Think about the constant pounding of information, dramatic events, etc. that take quite a toll on your mental endurance. The point is that you cant make someone want to live through science or medication (leaving out brainwashing of course).

[devonin]

Re: Why is it that people die?

That's a valid enough point Slipstrike, but bear in mind that when we say immortality, we don't include invulnerability. Think of it more like eternal youth. You can still be killed, you can still kill yourself. You just can't die of "natural causes"

Along with the increased emphasis on birth control/abortion etc to control the population that can functionally live forever barring accidents and crime, there would obviously also be a great deal of emphasis placed on developing methods of euthanisia for those as no longer want to go on living.

I don't necessarily see this as a fundamental problem with living forever, so much as a shift from "Things to make you look/feel young" to "Things to make you able to want to go on living."

[slipstrike0159]

Re: Why is it that people die?

That's a valid enough point Slipstrike, but bear in mind that when we say immortality, we don't include invulnerability. Think of it more like eternal youth. You can still be killed, you can still kill yourself. You just can't die of "natural causes"

Hmmm... i now realise i wasnt very clear in my thought process.
What i meant it to say was that if we had such the technology to keep a persons cells and organs alive after the trama of just going through life, then surely we would be able to keep someone alive after a massive devestating act against the body such as getting shot. However it would still be possible to die, medical procedures would surely be advanced enough to keep someone alive under the most strenuous procedures. In such a case you would be so sick of living after living a set number of years, suicide would become something serious to think about. So in a sense, you would go insane from living too long.

[devonin]

Re: Why is it that people die?

I don't know that you'd necessarily go insane. The entire strength of the survival instinct in humanity comes from the fact that our lives are finite, and easily ended. If we didn't have such a drive to accomplish as many things as possible in as quick a time as possible, due to the knowledge of our imminent death from age if nothing else, I rather suspect we would take more care and time with our pursuits, and not run out of things to want to do quite so quickly.

[Tyren]

Re: Why is it that people die?

I agree devonin, but i dont believe due to the lack of a finite timeline the human being will fail to become desensitized to stimuli. In such an instance we effectively become numb to the things which an individual who does have a finite lifespan hold in such high regard. The pursuits that we do follow through with will likely be exceedingly more drastic. I assume murder and suicide will be placed upon a certain pedal, far higher then it is now. Which also leads me to believe that morality will be escalated and securities will be increased, effectively asphyxiating certain freedoms that we as finite beings hold so strongly to. Essentially an individual will become overly sensitive to death knowing that his life can not be ended unless by the will of another. It is without a doubt in my mind that existence will lose its sweet appeal as of such.

[sexyinpink]

Re: Why is it that people die?

This is really, really stupid. The body gets tired of living, your heart muscles get enough of pumping blood, everything gets old and eventually gives up and dies. We all die, face it

[Go_Oilers_Go]

Re: Why is it that people die?

Blame it on the Grim Reaper.

[devonin]

Re: Why is it that people die?

This is really, really stupid.

This is not a phrase that should ever appear in Critical Thinking. Please refrain from using it.

The body gets tired of living, your heart muscles get enough of pumping blood, everything gets old and eventually gives up and dies. We all die, face it

Yes, actually reading the thread before posting would have indicated that we'd already discussed the biological issues with the concept of immortality. The discussion naturally assumes that the -way- we're extending lives in this question, is through the development of techniques to stop these problems from arising.

Blame it on the Grim Reaper.

I'm pretty sure that anthropomorphic personifications don't have much to do with the discussion at hand *grin*