Asklemmy

43958 readers

1182 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy 🔍

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

Open-ended question
Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

Lemmyverse: community search
sub.rehab: maps old subreddits to fediverse options, marks official as such
!lemmy411@lemmy.ca: a community for finding communities

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 5 years ago

MODERATORS

196

What are some downsides to immortality that most don't think of? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by doomsdayrs@lemmy.ml to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

208 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I'll start off with one, Being upset about a breakup that happened hundreds of years ago.

Edit 1:

Heath death of the universe, Death of the sun, etc, does not count. I feel like focusing on this is an overused point.

Edit 2:

Loneliness does not count. I feel like we all know immortality means you'll miss people and lose them.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] z3rOR0ne@lemmy.ml 20 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Given a long enough time frame, the vast majority of an immortal life would be spent buried beneath something or floating in the void of space. Think about it, you outlast planets and stars. When those go dark, but you don't die...nothing to do but float in space.

You might counter that with, "well yeah, but eventually I'd find other sentient life forms and/or people again.” And sure, maybe, but that wouldn't last as long as you...and then you're just alone floating in space again, for the vast majority of your life. The only thing to look forward to, since you will outlast everything, is the end of time itself.

[–] RootBeerGuy@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I think there is a clear difference between being immortal and being indestructible. I would think if your planet breaks apart you'd probably die with it being crushed or whatever. Also always unclear if being immortal means you don't need to breathe air.

[–] davidgro@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago

I think a good author makes it explicit.

Here's a sci-fi web novel I read years ago, where a couple of the characters end up being immortal in different ways, and in one case they show exactly how far that can go (in the context of the story) even without invoking heat death.

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 8 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Does your consciousness evolve to Godhood, and you reach back beyond time and create the universe which birthed you?

[–] Elaine@lemm.ee 6 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

You join the Q Continuom.

[–] z3rOR0ne@lemmy.ml 2 points 3 weeks ago

The fantastic animated show, Pantheon explores that very idea at the very end of its second and final season.

[–] grue@lemmy.world 6 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Think about it, you outlast planets and stars. When those go dark, but you don't die...nothing to do but float in space.

LOL, that's just the beginning -- only on the order of 10^12^ - 10^14^ years. After that, you're going to be waiting around for proton decay (10^36^ - 10^43^ years), all the way up to 10^10^120 years* for the final heat death of the universe.

(* Anybody know how to get Lemmy markdown to do nested superscripts?)

[–] toototabon@lemmy.ml 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

10^^10^10^