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I've actually given this a fair bit of thought, mostly in the context of vampires. In that case, what with not being able to have sunlight or chocolate and having to deal with court intrigue being the preferred method of staving off the doldrums of immortality, I suspect I'd eventually throw myself into the path of a speeding sunbeam. Not any time soon, of course. As long as human civilization continues to exist in some form, there will be books to read, languages to learn, etc. Heck, even if the rest of humanity goes extinct, I have cephalopod civilization to look forward to. The prospect of being an aberration to aberrations is amusing.
But say that vampirism (or another form of undeath that I'd be likely to undergo: lichdom) isn't the means of immortality. Suppose science finally discovers the fountain of youth and miraculously, this affair doesn't end with only heads of state and plutocrats having access to immortality. Even then, I feel I'd eventually opt out. It might be centuries--millenia if![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tigerdreams is around as well--but I think I'd eventually grow bored of existence.
If everyone else got to live forever too, I think I might commit suicide sooner, as there are too many people who I'd despair of having to interact with for eternity. Besides, that'd just make Klingon promotions much more commonplace.
Lastly, think about how much human culture has changed in the past decade. Century. Millenium. Now think about how much of that change was fueled by the advancement of scientific thought and technology. The pace at which technology and science progresses now accelerates exponentially and nothing short of a disaster sufficient to herald a new Dark Age will stop that. Think about the difficulty that many baby-boomers have with the internet. That level of culture shock would be a constant concern for an immortal. Close your eyes for what seems like five minutes, and you find yourself inundated with new forms of information, streaming into your consciousness faster than you can process even a fraction of it. Or worse, being in such a world, but unable to access this information. Maybe the cybernetic implants that connect everyone to the worldwide web were developed while you were busy brushing up on your Mandarin, or the language of whatever political entity is the current world power. You find yourself trapped in a Red Queen scenario, struggling to remain on top of current events and trends, or at least to not fade completely into obsolescence.
I've actually given this a fair bit of thought, mostly in the context of vampires. In that case, what with not being able to have sunlight or chocolate and having to deal with court intrigue being the preferred method of staving off the doldrums of immortality, I suspect I'd eventually throw myself into the path of a speeding sunbeam. Not any time soon, of course. As long as human civilization continues to exist in some form, there will be books to read, languages to learn, etc. Heck, even if the rest of humanity goes extinct, I have cephalopod civilization to look forward to. The prospect of being an aberration to aberrations is amusing.
But say that vampirism (or another form of undeath that I'd be likely to undergo: lichdom) isn't the means of immortality. Suppose science finally discovers the fountain of youth and miraculously, this affair doesn't end with only heads of state and plutocrats having access to immortality. Even then, I feel I'd eventually opt out. It might be centuries--millenia if
tigerdreams is around as well--but I think I'd eventually grow bored of existence.If everyone else got to live forever too, I think I might commit suicide sooner, as there are too many people who I'd despair of having to interact with for eternity. Besides, that'd just make Klingon promotions much more commonplace.
Lastly, think about how much human culture has changed in the past decade. Century. Millenium. Now think about how much of that change was fueled by the advancement of scientific thought and technology. The pace at which technology and science progresses now accelerates exponentially and nothing short of a disaster sufficient to herald a new Dark Age will stop that. Think about the difficulty that many baby-boomers have with the internet. That level of culture shock would be a constant concern for an immortal. Close your eyes for what seems like five minutes, and you find yourself inundated with new forms of information, streaming into your consciousness faster than you can process even a fraction of it. Or worse, being in such a world, but unable to access this information. Maybe the cybernetic implants that connect everyone to the worldwide web were developed while you were busy brushing up on your Mandarin, or the language of whatever political entity is the current world power. You find yourself trapped in a Red Queen scenario, struggling to remain on top of current events and trends, or at least to not fade completely into obsolescence.
