For years I have asked Family, Friends and Co-Workers this question:

If you could live forever never feeling sick, looking any older than you do now and retain at a mimimum your present mental state and the world will at least stay the way it is today but can always improve, would you choose to do so?

I now ask you that same question.
After I get a dozen or so responses (if that happens) I will post what I have learned these past few years of asking others this question.

I expect a few funny or sarcastic responses and that is fine but I do ask this question in all seriousness so your help with this will be more appreciated than you will ever know.
Thank You All Very Much .
Iven

I would.

I would,
simply so that I could see how the magic world is changing over the years, magic just keeps getting bigger and better with higher quality tricks comming out all the time... and as technology moves on so will the magic, look at fabrice delure for example!

so YES! but for me it would be to see magic eveloving.

In Magic
Steve Dela

If so, my Pass will be almost invisible at last.

Hideo Kato

Absolutely!! I NEVER have enough time to build magic!!
The downside might be that the entire living world dies of from some tragic virus leaving me demonstrating my now perfect Double Lift to a ROCK...which would happen to have a cute face painted upon its gritty surface!
Chance

Iven, that's curious that you would bring this up because this has been a thing with me for decades. I have a few friends that have always wondered about my answer to "the big wish" question.
From time to time people have asked the "if you could have anything" question and most answers have to do with riches or fame or superhuman powers. I've always answered that if it came with no physical, health or wealth problems that I would opt for eternal life. Why? Curiousity. The ability to finally see what's next.
I'd love to see all the future inventions, the changes in culture, the advances in medicine, the weird things that become pop culture, new movies & books, trends that come and go, etc. Even in our magic world it would be curious to see the advances. What little kid right now is just getting interested in magic and will one day be the next big thing? And what new way of approaching magic will it cause it to be the next big thing? And then how many will try to jump onboard of that new style or approach?
Curiousity is what would make me want to live forever... but curiousity did kill that cat so I have to be careful of what I wish for.

Greg

Without a doubt, yes, I want to live forever.

Only if I could Time Travel to the good parts long gone.

Doug

In this day of age I'm not so sure , if there was no terror then yes I would but who wants to live forever in fear.

Gareth

Yes, I would to a certain extent, however if the rest of the inhabitants of the earth died of then I wouldnt like to be left living forever on my own.
or what if all humans evolved and your left on your own living as a human?
and all your friends died, over and over again. you would eventually outlive your son/ daughter, your grandsondaughter, and so on. don't forget the fact that once people started noticing you was not growing older then you would become very well known.
ok, I change my answer, no , no I wouldnt like to live forever.
or maybe id like to live for a long period of time but still die at some point

ollie

I'd say no - for the same reason that Greg said "yes" - curiosity. I >>>eventually<<< want to know what comes after death. I wouldn't say no to a couple thousand extra years, though.

Could you pick someone else to live forever with??? No fun living forever alone:(

Also, it sure would be sad seeing all your loved ones die, like Ollie1235 said...you'd outlive your great great great great great great great grandchildren.

That is a tough question Iven. I'm gonna have to think about it more!

Cheers
Dayle

If I could have my wife and children have the same chance, Then Yes, with an "if", and no with a "but". I would want my children to grow up to adulthood first. But I think I would want a chance to turn the switch off for myself were the situation become so that such a thing is warranted, of course the same for my family.

I think its easier to want to live forever when your 30 or 50 or 90. Imagine though when you turn 1,000,000 what could possibly be the thrill anymore. Perhaps you could still find joy, but if not I believe it would be a blessing to be able to "turn out the light, and then turn out the light".

Now if you had the power to explore the universe, assuming there is something of value to explore (Life, Wisdom) Then I could imagine eternity to be an awesome thing.

Ah, but Josh, who's to say that in that extended time there are inventions that let you explore the universe. Maybe someone ends up inventing Deep Thought and we can ask it the meaning of life, the universe, and everything.
Hopefully, 42 will not be the answer that time.
As for bringing someone with you... hmmm? I know that in life sometimes familiarity breeds contempt so I'd hate to end up with someone who becomes my enemy for eternity.
Oh, well... it's all just a fantasy anyway. It's just nice to dream.
Greg

And the earth was gone,
the earthling floated in the void,
alone
forever.

Another couple of hundred or so years or so would be nice though.
Maybe?

Not if I'm the only one.

Life is chaotic. There are no certainties except for the ever-present idea that one day we will die. The fear of death (or in some cases, the rush toward this eventuality) has a profound effect as to how we choose to go about our lives.

Iven, I believe your question leads more to existence than it does life. I’m sure some may disagree, so I’ll explain - To live is to grow, to learn, to experience health and illness, joy and sorrow. None of these things should be negated, not even death - for the process of dying is part of life. To exist is to drift without a particular purpose. There is no end in sight. However, desire may continue but boredom and loneliness will eventually set in - not unlike being stranded on a deserted island.

Some may say that the island is not changing and the world in which the immortal exists would and that change would prevent boredom and loneliness but, I say it would only prolong serve to postpone the inevitable.

It’s a well-known phenomenon that as people get older, their outlook on life changes. Many become set in their ways, unwilling to learn new things. They lose their respect for the younger generation. Many drop out of the mainstream of life and lose interest in current events. Some develop eccentric habits or beliefs which they loath to give up. If you don’t think you are affected by this phenomenon and you were to choose to live forever, then in time all of the people you currently know will die off and you will be forced to find others whom you can relate to. In order to relate to others, it is often important to have certain things in common - whether it be culture, books, t.v. or other interests. This is assuming you can keep a low profile - a task that will become increasingly impossible through the continuing development of tracking technology. (Could you imagine if a group of scientists discovered your immortality and what lengths they may go through just to study your ability.) Even if you are not tracked, captured or studied, you will inevitably become an oddity, being more of an interest to others than they are to you.

Will the fact that you chose to live forever in order to satisfy curiosity of discovering what will happen in the distant future be enough to comfort you when you have more than a lifetime of memories that only served to distance you from the world you now reside in? Current events and even conversations about subjects you love will become predictable. Stimulation that these things provided will become lost - spurred on by apathy. You’ll only need to press play on that mental tape deck and off you go.

Being able to bring along others would do little to prevent the same problems (stated previously in this post). I think even a thousand years of life would bring about an abject existence, with the best that one could wish for is to be touched by the cold finger of death. Death, for all of the fear and dread it brings, is the great equalizer.

Give me the life I am intended to lead, no matter how long it may be. The only immortality I desire is one where I live on in the hearts and minds of the people whom I have affected in some thought-provoking or positive way.

Well as I see it in a "eternity" setting if your wife and you were to take a couple of millenia to go out with some freinds, it would be like a few hours to us.

Also I forgot to mention, the off button that we would posess I would want to be able to control everyone elses as well. In this way like Caligula would say, "let them hate me , as long as they fear me". That'll teach my wife to burn my steak ..... Humor.


As I have too much time for thought, I have also thought it would be nice to be able to hibernate for a while, if you got bored with the present, you could shut down for a few hundred years, or however long you wished.

Imagine the ability to fly into a black hole, explore what it truly is and to be able to return when you wished. I have often thought it would be wonderful to come back in thought. You are nothing more than a state of mind, you would have the ability to communicate, and cast your arearance into a persons mind so they would have the ability to see you. But with that you could travel in the speed of thought. If you thought of a place light years away you would be there instantly. or a time in history, or even a story you read. I think I am insane.

WOW!!!! What enlightened Responses from everyone .
I printed out your threads and now I must take them home (I'm at work) for the weekend to go over more carefully and Monday morning I will respond with my take on all of this.
Over the years most everyone answered no to this question and even after explaining over again that they would not physically age anymore than they are now and never be sick etc... their answer is still a solid no.

Just yesterday a young 20+ year old lady I work with asked me how old my Mother was since she just had her birthday last week, I told her she turned 71. The young lady said "wow, that is old" "I don't want to live that long" "I don't want to live past 50". When I realized that she was very serious, I asked why? She never really gave me an answer except to say that she just did not want to live that long (she has two very young children). I asked her about living long enough to see her Grandchildren but all she would say is the same line about 50 being old enough.
I just don't get it. I am 53 and I want to live at least long enough to see my Daughter achieve self reliance but I really would prefer to be able to hold a Grandchild someday.
I'll save the rest of what I have to say until Monday.
Thank You Everyone for your thoughtful and insightful thoughts on this subject. I would like to say that I learned something today but I really have to go home and spend the weekend giving this much more thought.
Thanks Again Everyone .
Iven

I'd like to live a long life.

I have no desire to live forever.

The acknowledgement of the fact of death is, I believe, the beginning of maturity and wisdom.

All Things Must Pass. That's what makes it interesting, that's why choices have to be made.

Jack Shalom