Infinite Life and Government

[Master_of_the_Faster]

This might be a kind of strange question, but do you guys think that our world's governments would be much more different than they are now if everyone lived for ever?

[dore]

Re: Infinite Life and Government

Yes. You do realize how many people there'd be? It would be pretty tough for a government to keep "order," especially with a lack of an ultimate consequence to threaten with. Who would care about the consequences of their actions? as there would be an infinite number of years to rectify their mistakes.

[LLaMaSaUceYup]

Re: Infinite Life and Government

We wouldn't die?
Oh man, that would suckkkkkkkkkkkkkkk.
I would never have a child.
I can't even imagine.....
hahaha

[Kilroy_x]

Re: Infinite Life and Government

Yes. They would almost certainly then be completely useless instead of just mostly useless. If everyone is capable of living forever, the world is almost certainly both post-scarcity and post-development. Wealth redistribution is unnecessary, and the classical stated goals of government are basically accomplished. Of course, it seems impossible for government to even exist under these circumstances. The potential for getting around regulation is pretty much infinite at this point. Taxation is unnecessary (and effectively impossible).

Purely hypothetically, there might exist some world in which immortality is not tied to technology. In this world, the labor supply is effectively infinite. The nature of such a world is harder to predict, but also less important to predict.

[Master_of_the_Faster]

Re: Infinite Life and Government

Also, let's say we were to all live for ever right now at this very moment and that over population wouldn't be a problem too soon (sorry for all the hypothetical stuff, but I'm sure we can draw reasonable conclusions based on our world today). Do you think infinite life would resolve or make conflicts worse when dealing with situations like Iraq, North Korea, or any other conflicts?

[Relambrien]

Re: Infinite Life and Government

Actually, here's a thought. Imagine that dying by natural causes became impossible, but being -killed- still works.

Of course, there's difficulty in this because things like smoking will eventually kill you by natural causes, being poisoned weakens your organs, etc. In that case, assume something like this: people can only die by violent methods, or by poison and lethal injection, or something like that. So getting hit by a car can still kill you, but if you don't get shot, run over, or poisoned, you'll live forever.

What would happen then?

[Grandiagod]

Re: Infinite Life and Government

I actually imagine this could happen when stem cell research advances more. People will be able to refresh their degrading cellular structure.

I don't want to sound like a sci fi nerd, but if this were the case I'd imagine the govt. would make a large push for space explorations and terraforming.

[jewpinthethird]

Re: Infinite Life and Government

I don't want to sound like a sci fi nerd, but if this were the case I'd imagine the govt. would make a large push for space explorations and terraforming.

The government doesn't have that kind of money. Space exploration is going to be a private, multinational corporate institution.

Infinite Life? Ha. Tell that to the sun when it's hydrogen core is depleted and the Earth is engulfed in massive flams.

ps. I am being serious. Massive FLAMS!

pps. Death is a part of life. What is life if there is no end?

[Grandiagod]

Re: Infinite Life and Government

The government doesn't have that kind of money. Space exploration is going to be a private, multinational corporate institution.

You make a very good point. Though I do believe that NASA would at least be working on the fundamental physics to make it possible.

Infinite Life? Ha. Tell that to the sun when it's hydrogen core is depleted and the Earth is engulfed in massive flams.

Technically if we were to somehow survive the next 4 billion years without blowing ourselves into oblivion I don't think the sun going nova will be much of a problem. We'll be at least a type 3 civilization by that time.

pps. Death is a part of life. What is life if there is no end?

Death isn't a part of life it is the absence or end of life. If life were to continue forever we would simply live.

[Maid]

Re: Infinite Life and Government

Specify living forever. Do you mean that our body can't age but is still mortal or not.

[Kilroy_x]

Re: Infinite Life and Government

Infinite Life? Ha. Tell that to the sun when it's hydrogen core is depleted and the Earth is engulfed in massive flams.

Hypothetically, technology which would allow us to control stars could come to fruition.

What is life if there is no end?

Longer.

[rzr]

Re: Infinite Life and Government

Life would become less meaningful and more harmful. With the surplus of bodies (animal and human) around the planet would become inevtably over populated. We would need to find a way out, possibly another planet? But, who's to say that that planet's inhabitants don't have the rules of death applying to them? Either way, regardless of time, the univers would reach a maximum of matter (excluding the lwas of matter). That would be detrimental to the government if the entire world needed incresing omney to support the population. Most likely we would resort to promitive forms of survival after mass inflation.

[MalReynolds]

Re: Infinite Life and Government

I would assume the government would stop being a governing body and instead turn to science to find a way to destroy life - not because they're evil, but because people will demand it. No one wants to live forever. People WILL want to die, and this will neccessitate the creation of a means to that end.

Oh, hey, I wrote a story about this.

[Zythus]

Re: Infinite Life and Government

If there was any accordance with the goverment, I would think that corruption is just a old chip off the block. Lets say someone like Hitler for example. If he possessed such a infinity, what kind of destruction would that cause. Having leaders that cannot be passed with the sands of time, thats something I assume no one would like to see, in hitler's case, especially being a dictator.

To humanity generally, it would seem like a pandemonium if life is without end.

Religion:
Is there a need? Now that we are paralell with divinity in terms of longitivity, rather than discoursing over which God is the right one like we do now, we might as well be arguing over something materialistic seeing how there is no more afterlife.

Science:
Some pretty advanced technology, but from all the business seen these days like NKoera or Iraq, more evil will conclude from this than any kind of wishful peace. It is human nature to conquer, to gain power, to succeed, to victor. Guess what, you live eternally now, why not put infinity to good use? We'd be just digging our own graves.

Natural Factors:
It would, futhermore, seem that exhausting our planet's resources would be the blink of an eye. Even if we do not deplete such at an alarming rate, global warming would most likely annihilate all or most life forms residing on this forsakened planet. Like the moon, the earth will become a barren desert. We might have potential with our enhanced technology to live underground with artificial food sources and such.

Space Exploration:
It may have potential if at that time, the spacecrafts accelerate at light speed or over, a fantasia for now, but who knows. Even so, to grant civilians with the results of it, I wouldn't think the goverment then will allow. Like Jewpint said, it would be a highly classified project that stretches beyond the land of politics and power.

[MalReynolds]

Re: Infinite Life and Government

That's a highly pessimistic look at humanity you have there. So everyone wants to be an evil dictator?

You're taking nothing but extreme negatives away from all of this. Humanity, you know, does have its redeeming aspects.