32 replies to this topic

[brokenportal]

What do we say to people that say that life would get boring with indefinite life extension?

Even if you really liked to do a variety of things, those things would wear on you in no time, they say.

How do we respond to that?

 Boredom Longecity Indefinite Life Extension.jpg   87.82KB   5 downloads

[Droplet]

First of all, that picture is quite cute. Secondly I'd ask them how many times they said "I got so much to do and so little time" and ask them why the heck they don't want to add time on. I mean, logically if you don't have enough of what you need you want more of it, right? So why not time? Also, if you ever recall a time when they start saying about if they were only younger they'd have done x, y and z I'd be sure to remind them of it if we were discussing life extension.

[enfield]

You could say that life extension is supposed to allow you to live as long as you want, not shorter or longer than that. And If you become bored you can just stop submitting to the life extension therapies (assuming life extension works that way).

the boredom objection seems like one of the things that comes up when people try to rationally validate their feelings of apprehension towards life extension. I'm not sure the people who bring it up are even convinced by it.

[hivemind]

People lose their drive to do things when they get older. The whole economic system is based on the exploitation of the drive that young people have. World would be more boring place and very much poorer economically without young people.

[Droplet]

People lose their drive to do things when they get older. The whole economic system is based on the exploitation of the drive that young people have. World would be more boring place and very much poorer economically without young people.

People are individuals and I've met some old people who have mopre drive than young people. When I was in Psychology class years ago, there was a seventy odd woman with more drive than all us young people combined. I'd question how much of this "loss of drive" is simply because people are convinced that their time is running out and think that they should give up. Then there are pushes from society "you should be this/that at x age."

[Mind]

"Boring people get bored"

"If you get bored, you can just check out, the rest of us exciting people will keep going"

[Droplet]

"Boring people get bored"

"If you get bored, you can just check out, the rest of us exciting people will keep going"

I don't know who originally said it but there is a wonderful quote that goes something like "no truly educated person can ever be bored." I kind of agree with it. Most people go through periods of boredom and tedium but they're never constant, just takes a little bit of imagination to find something new to do.

[brokenportal]

That reminds me of the notion that ignorance is bliss and that the more you know the more you know you don't know and can sometimes come to regret knowing. That however seems to tie in well with the notion that "no truly educated person can ever be bored" because though it might pain one to have to contemplate certain scenarios that they become knowledgeable about, that in itself seems to be a part of the recipe for removing boredom. The giant kettle of challenges that life is, is the antithesis of boring. The people that might get bored it seems haven't looked in the kettle yet. Some people are so busy filling out and living by societies various cultural and economic and tradition and trend forms that they actually, it seems, never look around.

It reminds me of this. Im glad I remembered this video because I think it might make this point brilliantly:

[Droplet]

I saw the gorilla first time. I then lost count of the passes. You are right about what you are saying though. On ignorance being bliss, one of my relatives often wishes they were less knowledgable about the world because if you were completely stupid and oblivious, you can find satisfaction and wonder in the simplest things. I disagree. I'm not completely stupid even if I'm not a genius or in a really smart job but I CAN take joy in simple things. I delight in the sparkle of frost, the sound of leaves under my boots and the chaos of a city.

Honestly though, take a look at the next time you're bored. Is it REALLY severe enough to want to permanently delete yourself from existence? If no, then why would it be the same a hundred years down the line when there may in fact be more possibilities in life?

Edited by Droplet, 17 January 2012 - 06:57 AM.

[brokenportal]

On ignorance being bliss,

Ya if ignorance is a bliss but it causes a boredom to the point where you can't figure out how to derive join from the seemingly infinite (infinite is a lot) number of things to know and experience, then that's not bliss. The combinations work out to just, astronomical possibilities. Why just the shape of snow flakes or the sound of leaves like your saying, even just those alone take on different lives of their own to experience depending on the situation you're in.

A few out of a million examples, for example, are that one time there was no snow all November or December and then on Christmas day I stepped out on to the families back porch and I saw the very first snowflake that I saw that year, a giant snowflake slowly wafting down in front of my face, I could see its structure pretty clearly in the bright days light. I thought that was awesome. One time I took a corner too sharply on a snowmobile on snow with a hard layer on the top, and the ski bit in and sent me skidding through the hard icy snow, my extended hand was like a scissors cutting through it, the hard chunks of snow hitting my face. The snow took on a different life there. There is a snow flake on the cryonics fundraiser article. With the fundraiser context in the periphery of my mind, I was contemplating the symmetry of that snowflake, wondering how the nature of chemistry is such that frozen hydrogen and oxygen clumps routinely and instantaneously pop out like pop corn kernels into those intricate patterns every time at a certain temperature. It made me have another direct view of the question of what in the hell is the reason this universe is here doing things like this. Those are just a few worlds in a snow flake. Trying to become bored of life would be like trying to count all of the kernels of sand on the beaches of the Atlantic.

[platypus]

What do we say to people that say that life would get boring with indefinite life extension?

You really think that living forever and trying to conquer the galaxy is "boring"???

[brokenportal]

What do we say to people that say that life would get boring with indefinite life extension?

You really think that living forever and trying to conquer the galaxy is "boring"???

That is the basic answer. It would be nice if that alone worked, but I find that many people can't conceptualize what the galaxy might have to offer. Often times they dont even try to think of even a few examples and they say those galaxy orientated things to do would get boring. They just say things like, "well I could play basketball and listen to music out in the universe too but that isn't going to make 100 years of that get any less boring over time."

I put together an unofficial index of sorts, with the help of a lot of discussions over the years, of what I call "Existences Big Picture, Big 8, Categories and Standalone Opportunities." This lists every major category, and some things are so big that they stand as things to do on their own. Its broader than the notion of exploring the big picture, to help them wrap their brain around it a little better, but doesnt go into so much detail that it would be too hard to explain to people.

[Droplet]

They just say things like, "well I could play basketball and listen to music out in the universe too but that isn't going to make 100 years of that get any less boring over time."

Do they not realise that you would also do so many other things as well as basketball and music out there in the galaxy? What about physically exploring new worlds? How the heck could you ever be bored? Reminds me of a quote I once heard "no truly educated person can ever be bored." I think there's a lot of truth in that, as if you've got the smarts to learn and discover, posibilites are infinite....and that's just on earth.

[Arcanyn]

The library at my university apparently has something on the order of 2 million books. If you were to read one book per week, that would take around about 40,000 years to read them all. That's just one library. You'll never be short of new stuff to read/learn about. Plus, even if you live forever, there's no way that you could ever read every book ever written, or watch every movie ever made - people will always be writing new books and making new films far faster than you could ever hope to read/watch them. It's similar with science; in any given field it's not possible to learn more than a tiny fraction of what's known in a normal lifespan, and new stuff is being discovered far too quickly for any one person to possibly catch up, meaning they'll never know the entirety of what's been discovered no matter how long they live.

So, even if we spend eternity stuck on Earth, there'll always be plenty of new things to do and learn.

[Droplet]

Shit...I realise I used the same quote twice in one thread. Sorry!

[Matthias2009]

if you get bored you can request euthanasia:)But hey being bored is just a state of mind u can alter that if you love life if not well it's not worth living longer an nobody sais u have to

[Sergej Shegurin]

I'm sure we must not spend any minute of our time on those boring people.
There're several percents of people who want live forever and are ready to make something for it and they are our primary target.
We have to ignore everybody else. Our goal now is to make groups of dozens of convinced and hard-working people.
I say usually that if you are bored with life it's your psychological problems and we are not psychologists but immortalists.
Immortalists are the people who are excited with life and get real pleasure of most days we live.

Edited by Sergej Shegurin, 24 February 2014 - 06:12 PM.

[Chef Russ]

Time is the currency of our lives. Just like money, there are those who spend it wisely, and those that spend foolishly. For me, boredom never lasts long. There are too many "shiny objects" out there to focus my ADD on If I had a thousand years, it still wouldn't be enough!

[Danail Bulgaria]

Erasing memories - naturally (forgetting) and unnaturally (erasing memories in the future) will allow the people never to be bored

[ceridwen]

Doing something is a he'll of a lot more interesting than eternal nothingness. Think of the alternative.
Stupid keyboard
Oops

[celilo]

I don't care what anyone else thinks about longer life being boring. They are probably already bored and the thought of more time only extends their lack of curiousity about life. Why do you feel the need to have an answer that satisfies them?

 

With regard to:

People lose their drive to do things when they get older. The whole economic system is based on the exploitation of the drive that young people have. World would be more boring place and very much poorer economically without young people.

 

There is certainly truth in that. For some people it is a mental state, but for many it is simply the result of physical change due to aging. I think that most who want to live longer hope to do that while retaining some vigor of youth. Old and incapacitated seems like not something for which not many would strive. My 60's and 70 yr old friends are still windsurfing on the Columbia River.

[Rib Jig]

> How do we respond to that?

 

Responding is optional.  Its not about "loving" life, its about have a passion, IMO.

a. I feel hopeful for those searching for a passion.

b. I feel sorry for those searching endlessly for a passion.

c. I feel sorriest for those not even bothering to search for a passion.

I believe there are currently medications that help some shift from "c" to (b or a).

At some point in future, maybe 40+ years, there will be medications shifting all those (c & b) to (a)...

 

Edited by Rib Jig, 20 September 2015 - 06:31 PM.

[Ark]

What do we say to people that say that life would get boring with indefinite life extension?

Even if you really liked to do a variety of things, those things would wear on you in no time, they say.

How do we respond to that?

Boredom Longecity Indefinite Life Extension.jpg

First response....
"How would a mortal know?"

And then,

You just respond by saying, "Two Guns" ... :-) "peace".

[Ark]

What do we say to people that say that life would get boring with indefinite life extension?

Even if you really liked to do a variety of things, those things would wear on you in no time, they say.

How do we respond to that?

Boredom Longecity Indefinite Life Extension.jpg

First response....
"How would a mortal know?"

And then,

You just respond by saying, "Two Guns" ... :-) "peace".

"Two Guns" =

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[chenoa]

Tell them that you can always find to passions, go back to school for another degree/change professions, climb a mountain, win a Nobel prize, start a charity, or teraform a planet and live there for a while. A creative mind will never get "bored" of living, exploring, or innovating.

[ceridwen]

Being bored is closely aligned to depression! There are treatments for that

[Open Mind]

My answer would be based on my beliefs and may not be of value to anyone but me.  So I'd start by asking someone, "Why do you think you'd get bored?" and go from there to get their feelings on the matter.  If that goes nowhere fast, I'd likely ask something like this: "If you learned you will die in 1 month, would you still find an extended life boring or do you think you'd prefer to stick around?"

[Danail Bulgaria]

My answer to this question turned out to be the most superior to all. At least until now.

 

Recently I understood, that the universe has a finite number of possible configurations or states, and that governs a limited number of nice things to do.

 

But the ability of the human brain to forget ! alows you to feel one and the same pleasure over and over through long enough periods of time. Watch a movie from your childhood, and you will see, that the effect is as you watch it for the very first time. That is the key for not getting bored - you will go over and over the same nice excursions, read the same nice books, watch the same nice movies, etc.

 

Forgetting + enough number of pleasures + long enough periods = never ending cycle of joy.

[Chef Russ]

Living forever is one problem I think I can deal with!  Life is too short.  Think of how narrow we are because of our limited time.  Most people can only go to school to get one or two degrees.  Think how fulfilling it would be to have 20 degrees and experience a broad understanding of fine arts, mathematics, literature, science, chemistry, law, architecture, politics, and cooking!  We only just start to get good at things when we run out of time.  Think if all the great minds were still healthy, engaged, and contributing to pushing back on ignorance.  Immortality (or living as long as you choose to) would mean you could live to see man leave the solar system, develop things that are unimaginable today.  Getting old and feeling your body crumble around you sucks.  Seeing all your friends and family pass away sucks.  Mortality sucks.  I know there are problems that would need to be figured out (population control, food supplies, ability of young people to compete with entrenched oldsters), but they can be overcome.  With mortality mankind will have a dark future.  I believe immortality will usher new a new era of understanding and cooperation between people.  Mortality cheapens life.  If you know you are going to die, why not go to war?  Immortality makes life more valuable.  Right now, I think this is a time of lost potential.  People are out of work, work is more menial then cerebral.  Harnessing human potential for science, art, and worthwhile pursuits is being overlooked as a means for increasing the value of humanity's existence.  This loss of opportunity and productivity is almost criminal.  Pure capitalism and pure communism are bad.  Somewhere in the middle is the sweet spot for driving economics and productivity.  With immortality will come a need to focus on fine tuning our world and our relationship with it and others.

[LarryFeltonJo]

It's hard for me to even respond to an argument about boredom as a motivation for dying.  Maybe I'd ask the people who assert this if they've been recently so bored that they felt like dying on the spot, and if so, are their depression and suicidal impulses being treated.

 

The arguments against life extension I've heard most frequently are that "death is a natural part of life", and that the arguer doesn't want to spend decades suffering from the extended frailty and illness they imagine life extension would bring.

 

Boredom though?  It would take many centuries to move to every city available, take on every possible new career or enthusiasm, learn every new foreign language possible, climb every mountain ... ford every stream