Would you want to be immortal? And do you think immortals exist?
I was wondering if you would like to be immortal and why or why not? These are the most obvious reasons why many people are against it and my rebuttal to each one. I am interested to know if you agree or disagree:
1) Boredom.
I think this is a poor answer though, because there are far too many things to do. The world will likely be destroyed before you can ever do every single thing there is to do on it. Places to explore, people to meet, TV shows to watch, books to read, hobbies and goals to pursue, and even just everyday things. I may be biased because I have never actually been bored in my life, but I think it is because I have various passions and know how to make things interesting. I am actually fairly confident that I could take anyone's life and "remake" it to ensure that they really enjoy it indefinitely.
Furthermore, if, for example, millions of years down the line, you decide you are too bored to live any longer, you can always just kill yourself - so you haven't given anything up, all you've done is given yourself more options.
2) Loved ones dying.
This is a valid objection in some cases but becomes irrelevant for vampires as you can make your family or friends immortal anyway.
3) Unnatural.
This is, in my opinion, the worst objection, as it is just illogical. Either (1) anything not directly existing in nature is "unnatural," meaning phones, computers, internet, TV, processed foods, planes, spaceships, printed books, and basically everything else is also unnatural, and if you use any of those things then your "it's unnatural" objection is invalid because it shows that doing unnatural things doesn't really bother you at all, or (2) anything allowable by nature IS natural - meaning, the very fact that it's possible for you to do something means it should be considered as "natural," or (3) whether something is classed as natural/unnatural is irrelevant to determining whether you should engage in it anyway.
Another way some people present this is with that line about life being meaningless without death. I don't see any sense to that, though. Yes, it's true that if every person in the world became immortal, some of them would waste their lives because they think "I have time to do it later." I see this as an inferior mindset though because if you have hobbies and passions and things that you truly enjoy and care about, then you are going to pursue them regardless of whether you have 10 years or 100 years or 10 million years at your disposal.
4) Immortals find it harder to relate to people.
I've heard this only once, and it's (likely) a valid statement, however it's also not relevant. First, you can relate to other immortals. Second, many people already find it hard to relate to others (for example people who are highly intelligent or who have unusual interests that fall outside the scope of mainstream appeal), and this doesn't make them want to die. Third, what does it even matter? The desire to "fit in" is childish (in my opinion) and if you haven't grown out of it already you definitely would after a couple of hundred years.
I'd like to hear your thoughts on this and know if you have any other objections that I haven't covered, or if you disagree with anything I've said.
Last, I am also wondering if you think that immortals exist already. Of course there isn't that much evidence indicating it but I would assume that it wouldn't be easy to locate them anyway (if I were immortal I definitely wouldn't be telling people about it or doing things to draw attention to it, and I would have specific protocols for myself to follow to ensure I avoid detection). Unless you've already seen them personally it would probably be foolish to believe just on "faith," so when I ask if you think they exist, I really mean do you think the probability that they may exist is substantial, and why or why not?
If anyone is interested in this, feel free to reply. If you'd like to discuss it privately, you can also email me directly (my information is listed on my IMDB profile). Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.