Question of the day: Thought provoking questions from work

As most adults do, I work for a living. Constantly having to smile and please people and having to remind myself that I need a job to pay for things like food and shelter. Sometimes this makes for dragging days. I started this thing at work called the “Question of the Day” where anyone can present a question that makes you think. Sometimes it’s silly questions, sometimes it’s thoughtful, sometimes the questions stick with you. We’ve been doing it for about two years now and I thought it might be fun to share some questions with you and see how you would answer!

The question yesterday was “If humans could find a way to stop mortality, should we do it?” These questions are interpreted in any way you want to, meaning you can make up any scenario you want to answer how you feel about the question. For example, mortality all together, or just in that you can live without disease yet killed in other ways...do you still grow old? Who knows! The situation is up to you!

So... if humans could find a way to stop mortality, should we do it? What’s your opinion?


I’ll update this post from time to time with new questions

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10/13/19 Mayor Monday asks another wonderful Question of the Day:

Why does everyone live life the way that they do- as in, living it in such a disassociated matter?

https://www.belltreeforums.com/show...ns-from-work&p=8314521&viewfull=1#post8314521


10/15/19 How do you put on your socks and shoes? Are you a sock sock shoe shoe person? Sock shoe sock shoe?

https://www.belltreeforums.com/show...ns-from-work&p=8315707&viewfull=1#post8315707

I used to think it would be cool to never die but I think it would pose a problem as the population would be giant, unless yeah, we could die from other reasons. I'd love to not have disease anymore though. They seem to be killing people off too young.

I agree with Corrie! It wouldn't be ideal if we had NO mortality because the Earth would be overcrowded, but if we had a way to stop only early mortality that would be nice. Like a "you're protected against mortality until the age of 65 and then you are on your own" kind of system

getting rid of disease, pain and suffering, simply dying naturally via age, yes. immortality? hell no for multiple reasons. on a personal level, I certainly wouldn’t want to live forever with how this world is, and I can’t help but think after living for however long, there’d be a point where you just want to pass away. now onto the logical issues... Overpopulation (if we aren’t already there) would be inevitable, unless reproduction is halted or controlled, which is kinda opening another can of worms so I’ll just end it here by saying that, unfortunately, I don’t think people would stop having kids. going hand in hand with overpopulation, and another inevitability, is the earths eventual inability to sustain the population.

the more I think about this, the more bad things I think would come from immortality. ik this sounds cynical but im pretty sure we’d eventually decimate the earth and everything on it, and by that point if we literally can’t die, we’ve kinda made hell a reality

I'm getting a big brother vibe, or a premise for a terminator movie if the answer is yes :S

Usually when this question is raised it’s associated with the idea that we may one day be able to save our “consciousness” to a computer, and basically continue living our lives as a virtual pet. I, for one, don’t think it’ll ever be possible. We may be able to create a simulation of someone’s personality, mental capabilities, emotional reactions etc, but I don’t believe someone’s consciousness could transcend death.

But hypothetically speaking, I wouldn’t want it to happen anyway. I think experiencing loss is very important. Getting to continue your life through a computer, or choosing to hold on to the company of a lost one by holding their consciousness hostage is not only selfish, but also stripping you of one of the more delicate attributes of humanity, the grieving process.

“To everything
There is a season
And a time to every purpose, under heaven”
-Ecclesiastes 3:1... Or The Byrds, Turn! Turn! Turn!

I would be very much against immortality. As others have already stated, overpopulation would be a huge problem if nobody ever died, especially if people continued to have children. A constantly increasing population is simply unsustainable. Plus, I really wouldn't want to live forever. I accept death as a natural outcome.

However, if we were able to stop all unnecessary death, I would be in favor of that. By unnecessary death, I mean accidents, murders, diseases, starvation, and so forth. Those are all preventable deaths and if we could do something to make sure that nobody ever died under preventable circumstances, then we absolutely should. Let people grow old and die naturally. That would be my recommendation.

I think the way I would answer this is to not look at it from a general point of view. If everyone could live forever, the world would be overpopulated, but what I think the main focus of answering this question is from the point of who would have access to such a huge breakthrough in scientific achievement. I guarantee you that if someone figured out how to live forever, guess who you think will get access to it while everyone else doesn't? The elite. To me, this is the focus that people should be pondering on. If people in power can live forever, there is no hope for the general populace to overthrow them in the long run if they decide to abuse their power and possibly give immortality to people that served them loyally (which many people would take unfortunately if it meant life or death). Due to this point of view of the potential abuse this would allow, I don't think humanity should ever have access to such a breakthrough in science.

EDIT: A great example of this sort of concept in action is in the show: The 100, Season 6.

> if humans could find a way to stop mortality
But, to be real, if that was happening it wouldn't be "humans" but actually a very limited specific group of people that find "a way". Then, naturally.. that'd lead to the situation where they plan/try to get the benefit out of the "a way". Because that's how humans are, you could see it from history or how a lot of issues in the world that's going on. So.. it doesn't seem to happen that "a way" is used commonly in a good way, like removing "unnecessary death", to benefit the whole society.

But, if that wasn't the case, I'd be very much interested in it happening. 'Cause, yes like others' have said, overpopulation. I wanna witness what happens there/where our civilization is going to be, when no one dies and yet people make children and when this planet obviously cannot sustain us all. I desire to see how it's gonna be there.

- - - Post Merge - - -

MasterM64 said:

the point of who would have access to such a huge breakthrough in scientific achievement.

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Yessssss yeeess yes! That was the other thing I was thinking about!

RedTropicalPeachyFish said:

> if humans could find a way to stop mortality
But, to be real, if that was happening it wouldn't be "humans" but actually a very limited specific group of people that find "a way". Then, naturally.. that'd lead to the situation where they plan/try to get the benefit out of the "a way". Because that's how humans are, you could see it from history or how a lot of issues in the world that's going on. So.. it doesn't seem to happen that "a way" is used commonly in a good way, like removing "unnecessary death", to benefit the whole society.

...

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That is exactly how I feel as well Yuki in my post above, such a miracle is only going to get in the hands of those in power and the rest of society would be treated as pawns in a long term game of chess.

If you mean to live forever, then definitely no. This society is honestly spiraling out of control on so many plans and the fact that I'm still kind of young and will live through it, no. As other said overpopulation and that basically the only thing nowadays is tech stuff and just improving without thinking almost... no.

If you mean stop mortality as in actually putting money into scientific research, medicine and methods to stop eg. cancer and other dangerous things and tech for that, then yes. Though I would hate to like having computer chips and such operated into my body just go get into a restaurant, then I'd rather move into the jungle.

I think if we develop that technology, people should be able to make the choice for themselves whether or not to have their mortality "cured". Cuz personally, I don't know if I would want to live forever, I feel like life has more weight to it because I know it's a limited experience, I feel like it would really drive me nuts to live for more than maybe 500 years tops.

As for the overpopulation issue people have suggested, that'd definitely be an issue, but I kinda imagine we'll be in the "humans living on other planets" stage of humanity by the time we figure out how to reverse mortality.

Why does everyone live life the way that they do- as in, living it in such a disassociated matter?

Not everyone does, I know. But I don't understand why everyone lives so carelessly, well at the same time grasping it with an iron fist. People are always hooked to their phones and social media. They're different people online than they are in real life. People get wrapped up in politics so much that they begin to hurt those that don't deserve it. People start to despise every new day instead of welcoming it as a gift. No one sees the beauty in the little things- they don't cherish what makes life beautiful, or what makes their lives beautiful. People worry about their health. They take a new drug, try a new therapy. Yes, some need it, but everyone's on something these days. People cast aside quiet mornings and restful nights for an immediate connection to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.

People worry about what others think. They mold themselves into what others perceive of them. They feel like they have to join a group to be safe (which is probably why everyone riots these days). School fills their head with useless crap they'll never use, or whatever the government/teachers wish to indoctrinate them with. They enter the real world a shell of a former brilliant child- a copy of the school system's failure at keeping individual thought and perception alive. I won't even get into the matter of college.

Life is hard, I know. But I wish people could avoid becoming people, and go back to being human beings.

Why does everyone live life the way that they do- as in, living it in such a disassociated matter?

My answer:

Yes, while this is true for a lot of people, it’s not true for me. I may live carefree, but not carelessly. I’m actually not on my phone or social media for most of each day. Actually, I turn off my phone a lot of the time, especially when I’m in class, at the movie theater, in the car, or somewhere else. I only keep it on when I don’t have somewhere important to be or something important to do, and even then I only have it on so I can receive calls and texts from others. I’m also not really on social media nor do I use it.

As for politics, I don’t care for politics at all. I find it to be very polarized and argument-inducing, and would rather stay away from things like that. I know some of that is important for how the nation is run, but I’m not interested in it and I certainly wouldn’t hurt someone else or shoot down an opinion of theirs over it.

I actually do cherish every new day, because I never know if it will be my last. I wake up in the morning, go outside, and just view nature’s beauty on a sunny day. I also love to go hiking and I really appreciate a lot of things most people don’t appreciate. I actually really do cherish what makes my life beautiful, and I can often be found laughing about things when talking about how far I’ve come as a person and how happy my younger self would be to see how my current self turned out. Most of the time though, if it’s early morning or I’m trying to get a good sleep, I’m not trying to connect to anything.

I also don’t care about what others think. I live life carefree and end up being the kind of person I want to be. On the school subject, I would agree that a lot of the stuff schools teach is useless, and that it definitely needs to be changed. As far as colleges/universities go, I also agree that most of them, such as party schools, don’t help a lot with forming the human being. I will say that I go to a study school, AKA a university where everyone takes their studies seriously, and therefore it’s very difficult, but also very rewarding to me. If I had the chance to go back and go to a different university, I wouldn’t have changed my choice. ^^

Overall though, I agree with pretty much everything you said. People DO need to stop becoming people and go back to being human beings. Enjoying the beauty of life and our own lives is very important, because it doesn’t last forever. I was pretty much just answering my own thoughts/experiences and saying that I’m not like that. c:

Mayor Monday asks another wonderful Question of the Day:

Why does everyone live life the way that they do- as in, living it in such a disassociated matter?

https://www.belltreeforums.com/show...ns-from-work&p=8314521&viewfull=1#post8314521

How do you put on your socks and shoes? Are you a sock sock shoe shoe person? Sock shoe sock shoe? I’m a sock sock shoe shoe kind of girl

Lol, I like this one. I would say I’m a sock sock shoe shoe person. It just feels weird and wrong if I do it any other way.

Kaiaa said:

How do you put on your socks and shoes? Are you a sock sock shoe shoe person? Sock shoe sock shoe? I’m a sock sock shoe shoe kind of girl

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Sock sock shoe shoe! Because I always put my socks on at least 10 minutes before I put my shoes on. Imagine wearing one shoe and nothing on your other foot....no thanks

Kaiaa said:

How do you put on your socks and shoes? Are you a sock sock shoe shoe person? Sock shoe sock shoe? I’m a sock sock shoe shoe kind of girl

Click to expand...

I guess I'll be different. I'm a sock shoe sock shoe person. I only put on socks and shoes when I'm ready to go out (I go barefoot or wear slippers around the house), so while I've got one foot up putting on my sock, it just makes sense to me to go ahead and put the shoe on too.

10/19/19 Let’s not focus on the bad, what’s your earliest GOOD memory?