If the technology to become immortal existed, would you use it?

[IzzyD]

Sorry if this is in the wrong section, feel free to move it!
I read some articles which suggest that human immortality could be possible in the near future:

dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2012/02/is-immortality-possible-new-research-suggests-yes.html

mashable.com/2012/08/02/the-2045-initiative-immortality/

While I’m pretty sceptical about these claims, they did get me thinking. If the technology for immortality did exist in the future, what would the Catholic Church’s stance on it be? Would you ever really want to be immortal? (I’m not sure I could stick an eternity here on Earth). And would God intervene? To me, it seems as if human immortality would signal the beginning of the End Days…

 

[Julia_Mae]

Sorry if this is in the wrong section, feel free to move it!
I read some articles which suggest that human immortality could be possible in the near future:

dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2012/02/is-immortality-possible-new-research-suggests-yes.html

mashable.com/2012/08/02/the-2045-initiative-immortality/

While I’m pretty sceptical about these claims, they did get me thinking. If the technology for immortality did exist in the future, what would the Catholic Church’s stance on it be? Would you ever really want to be immortal?.

I’m already immortal, why would I want to be stuck in this place for eternity?

 

[waanju]

I’m already immortal, why would I want to be stuck in this place for eternity?

I agree. That would be like forgoing a trip to disneyland because you don’t want to leave a broken, litter-filled playground, but a million times more insane!

First, I don’t think that technology will ever actually exist. It just couldn’t. Because of original sin, we HAVE to die. We might be able to live 200 or 2000 or 2 million years, but we’d eventually die.
Second, I would refuse anything that made me live much longer than a hundred or two hundred years. There would be consequences to it. Namely, if nobody ever died, we would eventually run out of room. I know that overpopulation is a myth, but the REASON it won’t happen is that people die. If people never ever died, then, after a while, problems would happen. And we’d have to make the choice to give up our immortality (by discontinuing treatments or whatever if that’s what kept us alive, or else by killing ourselves {immoral option 1]) or to not ever have any children (by remaining 100% celibate world wide or through massive contraception/abortion [immoral option number 2]).
Funny thing is, I can’t see a lot of people giving up immortality once they have it. So we’d be left with a world crippled and sterilized by violence against children. Sure, some people would be opposed. But these people would choose to discontinue treatment and die off or would be the rare person celibate for eternity. Somehow, I have the feeling immoral option number 2 would prevail. Basically, the world would look like this novel amazon.com/Declaration-Gemma-Malley/dp/1599902958

 

[Tietjen]

I’m already immortal, why would I want to be stuck in this place for eternity?

 

[domandcarols]

Sorry if this is in the wrong section, feel free to move it!
I read some articles which suggest that human immortality could be possible in the near future:

dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2012/02/is-immortality-possible-new-research-suggests-yes.html

mashable.com/2012/08/02/the-2045-initiative-immortality/

While I’m pretty sceptical about these claims, they did get me thinking. If the technology for immortality did exist in the future, what would the Catholic Church’s stance on it be? Would you ever really want to be immortal? (I’m not sure I could stick an eternity here on Earth). And would God intervene? To me, it seems as if human immortality would signal the beginning of the End Days…

What are you talking about?? Our souls are already immortal…

 

[ahs]

It sounds like a fun idea to toy with while day dreaming, but if it were a real thing where you could never physically die I’d have to pass. Best case scenario is that you would stay in this fallen world…and whatever state the world happened to be in during that life is as good as it will ever get. Nah…I want to go through death so I can be with God in His Kingdom that He prepared for us…not in this time-out corner that Adam and Eve got sent to for comitting sin.

 

[Jvrlns]

Human beings are mortal no matter what it’s done to stop aging, you can still die. I don’t know if we are prepared to live hundreds of years without going nuts I might want to use it to live to a human’s maximum lifespan, that is 140 years but no more.

 

[waanju]

It sounds like a fun idea to toy with while day dreaming, but if it were a real thing where you could never physically die I’d have to pass. Best case scenario is that you would stay in this fallen world…and whatever state the world happened to be in during that life is as good as it will ever get. Nah…I want to go through death so I can be with God in His Kingdom that He prepared for us…not in this time-out corner that Adam and Eve got sent to for comitting sin.

I’ve never heard it described as a “time-out corner” before… but I LIKE it!

 

[VeritasLuxMea]

I would like to continue living for as long as possible!
Julia Mae:

I’m already immortal, why would I want to be stuck in this place for eternity?

Doesn’t this type of thinking become dangerous at a certain point? If the preservation of life merely keeps us from heaven, then why bother taking life-saving medicine?

 

[waanju]

I would like to continue living for as long as possible!

Doesn’t this type of thinking become dangerous at a certain point? If the preservation of life merely keeps us from heaven, then why bother taking life-saving medicine?

Yeah there’s a difference between living as long as possible and living FOREVER

 

[Julia_Mae]

Doesn’t this type of thinking become dangerous at a certain point? If the preservation of life merely keeps us from heaven, then why bother taking life-saving medicine?

I have a do not resuscitate order in my purse. What could be dangerous about dying?

 

[edwest2]

Sorry if this is in the wrong section, feel free to move it!
I read some articles which suggest that human immortality could be possible in the near future:

dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2012/02/is-immortality-possible-new-research-suggests-yes.html

mashable.com/2012/08/02/the-2045-initiative-immortality/

While I’m pretty sceptical about these claims, they did get me thinking. If the technology for immortality did exist in the future, what would the Catholic Church’s stance on it be? Would you ever really want to be immortal? (I’m not sure I could stick an eternity here on Earth). And would God intervene? To me, it seems as if human immortality would signal the beginning of the End Days…

No. Christ will return. Of that, Catholics have no doubts. End days? No one knows when that would happen and the Bible tells us what things have to happen first. Immortality is not on the list.

Peace,
Ed

 

[ilySHJ]

Wow – at first glance, I missed the t in immortal making in immoral - a real eye catcher.

But to answer your query …
No! My sole purpose in living is to grow closer to God. I probably wouldn’t advance significantly in holiness with an indefinitely extended life. I plan to live precisely as long as God wants me to.