Physical Immortality

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[Westleigh]

Years ago I joined a forum about immortality. Looking back on it now, I think my interest in the subject was based around my fear of death and/or of dying before I managed to do everything I wanted to do; I am keenly interested in just about everything and it seemed impossible to do all of the things and go all of the places I would want to in just one lifetime. I think that was something I had in common with others there - it was made up of a lot of smart, enquiring, scientifically minded people and I don't think any of them would have held any belief in an afterlife (not that there is anything wrong with that).

I've changed a lot since then and had spiritual experiences which have been very significant and moving to me. I no longer have any fear of death because I have felt a strong connection to the place from which I came and to which I will go, and more importantly, to those awaiting me there. It's unimaginably more wonderful than here - when it's my time to go I'll be saying, "well, that was hard work - thank goodness I get to relax and have fun now!".

I think it is very likely that we will learn to extend our lifespan, perhaps exponentially, but I don't find the idea of true immortality desirable any more - the physical world is not home but a trip away from home, and with every visit we become someone new and add powerful new facets to who we are. The cycle of life exists in all things for a reason... to stop that cycle would be like the record getting stuck, unable to move to a new track, and if it happened I can't imagine how we would spiritually progress.

Thanks Westleigh for your thoughts on it. I've thought about those things too and then some more. The one thing about spiritually progressing..from reading a lot of posts here at SF it seems we progress while we're here on Earth --we come here it seems to put into practice whatever we learned between lives.

When I think about death I think about all the people left behind here..children without parents, spouses, dear friends. A lot of hurt is done to those left behind and sometimes grief that never heals. If dying was no longer done by most people, that at least would be gone. I think that would be a wonderful thing.

If we can conceive of a world beyond this one where we're spirits and don't die there and that is ok..then why would not dying here not be ok? I guess thats the thing I don't understand. If people aren't happy enough here to do this forever..how are they gonna be happy there? As above so below.

But I go back and forth..between thoughts similar to yours and these ones.

[Dragonfly1]

Another facet to this is, if we get to be immortal in a physical body, then where would we all fit?......children would have to stop being born....there would simply be no space for more people, i cant imagine a world with no children how horrible.......everyone the same, nothing to look forward to because we'd have done it all.....no new places to go and see.....it would be an aweful existence..... we'll thats my take on it......

Physical immortality is a pipe dream.

There is no real distinction between life and death. That is something that we invented based on observing what happens to the physical body only. We change form. The ego of this life does not transfer, but our essence - or soul, if you want to call it that - does move on. We are already immortal.

Being human is just one step in our expansion. We are here to learn the lessons that we learn through being human. If we already knew those answers, we would not have been born as human; and it is the same reason why we do not know what comes next. Just as we did not understand what human adulthood meant when we were human children, so too can we not understand what happens after this human life. It is the next step, and we are still on this one.

Experiencing the death of our human bodies is part of the lesson of being human. It is, in a way, our graduation day. Wishing to be immortal is a form of attachment that seems great at first but your human experience will plateau eventually. You only want it because it seems like there is so much to learn but so little time; however, with enough life experience, you begin to see all experiences - those you had and those you didn't - through the same spectrum of understanding. At that point, having all experiences is no longer necessary, and you can move on.

Wishing to be physically immortal would be like wishing to be stuck in high school for all of eternity. No thank you.

First thats why this was titled physical immortality..wasn't talking about the soul which is already immortal. Am talking about the body.

Second, maybe we are here to learn lessons..maybe we are only here to create and to enjoy this life.

Wishing to be physically immortal is not like being stuck in high school any more than the soul being immortal is like being stuck in high school. Is there something you gain spiritually by changing your hair color or your height or something? Was is the need to be a different body?

I'm just saying... I'm like you, I think its a pipe dream too (half the time). The other half the time, science and everything is moving towards something like that..if not immortal GREATLY expanded lifetimes. People used to only live half what we live now--sanitation for one thing helped really extend peoples lives. And those of us lucky enough to live twice as long as they did... have found we can have more than one career if we like in a lifetime (an option they probably didn't have too often) and take up new passions (art or music or something that couldn't be done when children were being raised) and a lot turn to spirituality and really get in touch with it. With increased lifespan is also greatly increased opportunities to evolve/grow ourselves.

I just don't get the high school analogy.

Further... if we ascend or any of the religions golden age type times comes to pass...they will be in most likely the same body. They usually feature a time of no sickness or anything.

The world is over-populated now, agree with that. Every couple that gets married gets pestered to have kids. Its socially encouraged to have children and there is a stigma if you don't. But thats a societal problem which can be corrected. If we brought population back into balance, there wouldn't be a problem. You'd still have tragic accidents and the like where some people would die.

[Silver]

I'm just saying... I'm like you, I think its a pipe dream too (half the time). The other half the time, science and everything is moving towards something like that..if not immortal GREATLY expanded lifetimes. People used to only live half what we live now--sanitation for one thing helped really extend peoples lives. And those of us lucky enough to live twice as long as they did... have found we can have more than one career if we like in a lifetime (an option they probably didn't have too often) and take up new passions (art or music or something that couldn't be done when children were being raised) and a lot turn to spirituality and really get in touch with it. With increased lifespan is also greatly increased opportunities to evolve/grow ourselves.

This brings to mind the bit in the Bible (Revelations??) about '...men will find no relief when they discover they cannot die,' words to that effect, in other words, the tinkering with the dna and so on, may be bringing about a world in which man cannot die and that they will want to, for some reason (gee, I wonder...). So, it sounds like man (maybe not women?) will want to die because of their shame and guilt that they suffer psychologicall/spiritually? but there's nowhere to hide and that's why they 'chose'? to die all this time? Pardon my ramblings.

@Summerkat:

My high school analogy is operating under the assumption that being human is a step in a forward progression. It is a higher birth than whatever our last life was, and is a lower birth than whatever the next one is. I acknowledge that I have no way of knowing for sure if this is true or not. You may be right, and we just wear this life as one skin; it may not be part of a hierarchy at all.

I think it is far more likely that we will have digital immortality before we are able to greatly extend our physical lifespans. Neural scanning is not that far off. Artificial neural networks are already being created in neuroscience labs using super computers and mathematical formulas; granted, they are much smaller versions of what our brains look like. Computer processing speed will exceed the human brain's capacity within the next 20 years, 30 tops.

I wouldn't worry about the size of the human population. Any discovery to grant immortality will surely be expensive and only a select few would be able to afford it, unless it comes in the form of a technological revolution. Once humans are able to literally plug in their brains, it won't be a stretch to copy ourselves.

I'm sure it could be possible, but it would be an endless nightmare.

[psychoslice]

Physical Immortality sounds like greed to me, everything in the universe comes into being and fades away, why should we think we are any different ?.