What do you think would be the psychiatric effects of immortality? (men, thoughts)
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what if research on telemeres got to the point it made us immortal?
By immortality I don't mean wolverine style immunity to everything or that you can't be killed, but more like if the aging process could be halted and your cells never started making imperfect copies of themselves so basically you would never physically age past your early to mid 20's. so people will still die via sickness, starvation, accidents, murder etc etc etc.... old age would just not be a cause of death. so as long as you eat right and get moderate exercise barring any accidents you could live forever(we know most won't do that).
How would that effect behavior of the average person, how would it effect romantic relationships(women would still have a biological clock since they're born with all the eggs there gonna get, while men don't, so we could possibly father children well into our hundreds), relationships with your offspring(imagine being physically the same age as your kids and grandkids).
Would people in general be more laid back because they aren't worried about their bucket list? or would people be more uptight because they know they will have a lot longer to live with their mistakes(like living for centuries in a wheelchair from popping wheelies on the freeway on your ninja). Would we have a world full of geniuses because of the knowledge that could be soaked in by the average person over a few hundred years.
Would people who are trying to find a partner be less stressed about it? part of my stress about finding a partner is I'm 47 been single and looking for 17 years and I want to do it before I am too old to enjoy it(I'm in great shape now but what if it takes another 17 years before I find the one?).
Probably pretty hard to define, as we have grown up and lived with the knowledge that time is limited. That fact defines so much of our view of the world and our roles in it. Things often have value because they are finite and not equally available to anyone who wants them. Reminds me of the thoughts about why beauty is cherished...because it doesn't last (sunsets, youth, etc). Why do paintings of beautiful things often seem dead? Because they are static.
Personally, I don't want to "live forever". Seems to me this would make many positives including drive, desire, learning, passion, and perseverance obsolete. I'm not sure I want to be on this planet watching over the long term as we destroy it. It might be very boring if there is no change in a person over that limitless life. If you suggest that some change would be "permitted" along with this immortality, where would you draw the line? It could be different for every single person.
I think we'd get to a point where nothing would matter much. The fact that we only have a limited time... and no one knows when their time will be up... is a catalyst to actually DO and enjoy things.
After some time life might seem really dull, actually. We think that with unlimited time that we'd see everything we ever wanted to see, but chances are, we'd get lazy and figure, "Meh, I'll do it some other day." Even now, knowing we have such a short time on earth, we end up spending our time on meaningless stuff (I'm guilty of this!)
It's a really nice idea, though, to think that we could live a lot longer and have more time to become better at this whole "human experience" thing.
I've thought about this and it would dramatically change society and life as we know it.
Also we're assuming that this immortality is equitable. If not, then there's another layer of inequality and possible upheaval.
I would assume there would be less of us OR that we would soon realize that our resources are running out a lot faster then they would have otherwise. Meaning population would boom then eventually start to decline faster than the rates we see today in industrialized nations. We may even by no fault of our own kill off our species if most people eventually choose not to have children. Adoption from poorer nations may be relaxed and may go up. More governments would probably incentivize having children.
People would have multiple lives and would work longer. There may be a difference in work culture, possibly a 3 day work week for most professions and ironically time may pass slower because of the ability to live a very long time.
People would possibly be afraid to do things and there may be more segregation in the people we act with; fears may be magnified.
We would possibly have multiple partners(over time OR concurrently). Polyamory might be more accepted, because of the length of time you're with a person. You may have a wife or partner who you'll only see once in a while; like a good friend, but you'd have known each other for 130 years.
Mental health will be a big deal. Assisted suicide would also be huge. People would have to cope with eternal life and contrary to what I posted above, in later age may introduce risky behavior into their lives.
We may fund space exploration to a greater degree. Generational ships or self sustaining spaceships could be manned by an immortal crew. Again the only downside would be mental health. But we could colonize the solar system, with very experienced people.
Probably pretty hard to define, as we have grown up and lived with the knowledge that time is limited. That fact defines so much of our view of the world and our roles in it. Things often have value because they are finite and not equally available to anyone who wants them. Reminds me of the thoughts about why beauty is cherished...because it doesn't last (sunsets, youth, etc). Why do paintings of beautiful things often seem dead? Because they are static.
I doubt things would become static, think of all that has changed in just the last 20 years.
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Personally, I don't want to "live forever". Seems to me this would make many positives including drive, desire, learning, passion, and perseverance obsolete. I'm not sure I want to be on this planet watching over the long term as we destroy it. It might be very boring if there is no change in a person over that limitless life. If you suggest that some change would be "permitted" along with this immortality, where would you draw the line? It could be different for every single person.
My great grandmother lived to be 100, she was born in 1895 and passed away in 1996 just think about how much the world changed in her lifetime, she was born into a world where people were still getting around on horse and buggy, most people did not have indoor plumbing, and only every 5th house had electricity, her grandmother who babysat her was born a slave and she lived to see a world where we have space travel, the internet another 12 years and she would have seen the first black president.
The world changes enough that if you don't like the times you are in you can muddle through until a time of your liking pops back up(trends and social mores tend to be cyclical).
what if research on telemeres got to the point it made us immortal?
By immortality I don't mean wolverine style immunity to everything or that you can't be killed, but more like if the aging process could be halted and your cells never started making imperfect copies of themselves so basically you would never physically age past your early to mid 20's. so people will still die via sickness, starvation, accidents, murder etc etc etc.... old age would just not be a cause of death. so as long as you eat right and get moderate exercise barring any accidents you could live forever(we know most won't do that).
How would that effect behavior of the average person, how would it effect romantic relationships(women would still have a biological clock since they're born with all the eggs there gonna get, while men don't, so we could possibly father children well into our hundreds), relationships with your offspring(imagine being physically the same age as your kids and grandkids).
Would people in general be more laid back because they aren't worried about their bucket list? or would people be more uptight because they know they will have a lot longer to live with their mistakes(like living for centuries in a wheelchair from popping wheelies on the freeway on your ninja). Would we have a world full of geniuses because of the knowledge that could be soaked in by the average person over a few hundred years.
Would people who are trying to find a partner be less stressed about it? part of my stress about finding a partner is I'm 47 been single and looking for 17 years and I want to do it before I am too old to enjoy it(I'm in great shape now but what if it takes another 17 years before I find the one?).
What are your thoughts?
Random synaptic flow:
First thing that comes to mind is the impact of ones cultural morals and values. People with a value system that is imbued with constructive activity may take more time for indulging in playful endeavors.
People with a destructive set of values would still tend to 'self exit' by some means, whether their own, or via consequences to their destructive behavior, (subject to the values construct they abide by).
I think an analogy could be made to the cycle of boredom some encounter at points in their life where they feel like they are going through the motions. (Think the opening sequence of Joe and The Volcano when the main character [Tom Hanks] gets up and goes to work and the monotony of it all.
If you were indeed, immortal, the chance of being encumbered by this sensation would I think, be more likely because no matter how long we live there is a tendency for most to seek some routine to varying degrees.
One effect may likely result in people pursuing purposeful randomness to life style as if there is an endless new experience to try. i.e. the sort who has an outlook of - life is short I want to experience as much as I can. Well, the immortal aspect may make this type get emotionally and physically exhausted as they will not have an 'end in mind' view anymore.
This could be positive or negative depending on how the individual immortal chooses to seek the new 'thrill/ experience'. A good example could be the pursuit of continuous learning which truly never ends in this scenario due to constant evolving technology. Then again, with no terminal horizon built inot the psyche, would the immortal people even care to improve and innovate as rapidly?
On the other hand, you may get to a point where an advanced civilization may have rendered the excitement of life experiences totally dull from their own pursuit of not doing any 'work' i.e. having a robot or some other automaton perform activities on their behalf; excessive fear of danger resulting in a the 'boy in a bubble' mentality or hyper hermetically clean environment approach to life i.e. everything foreign is a danger.
An example leading to an immortal's "exit" via accident, may be overly daredevil like thrill seekers who violate laws of physics resulting in their own demise. I do think this scenario without a new framework of values / mindset toward life would lead to increased suicide or assisted death. It seems to me people who live their life with some 'higher purpose' may find a dilution in its value with immortality. It seems many peoples realization of their very shortness of earthly realm existence in the whole scheme of things provides the prod to do / accomplish something whatever it may be. Immortality would likely diminish this over varying thresholds of an individuals lifetime.
In general yes less stress if you were of the mindset of finding 'the one'.
Finding a life partner / romantic emotional desires would be influenced a couple different ways. There is the old conundrum of emotions and love, where someone's 'values / mindset of what constitutes 'love' would be impacted. Would it still be forever without death to enable parting to some degree?
(Quick segue as Robert Heinlein's sci fi novel, Time Enough For Love, came to mind which may have addressed some of the issues related to romance).
If everyone is immortal it probably wouldn't be as difficult, but as prior poster aptly alluded to, this type of advance would likely have some form of inequality simply because of human nature. Certain people would want the trait for themselves to a degree higher than others and then you get variances in lifetimes and a romantic interest may lead to the classic Twilight Zone episode conundrum of Long Live Walter Jameson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Live_Walter_Jameson
The overall impact to humans development : maturation, matriculation, competency in areas of learning, finding a niche of fulfilling activity may be delayed more and more once the first couple generations to experience the 'immortality" are around and multiplying and only dying in accidents. By all being at their say peak physical age (say 25) eventually I would think the cultural values on things like incest would get reexamined to a degree. Conflicts with identity (think multiple familial generations with no physical aging differentiation) - how can you tell which is grandparents versus great ^10th parents? And would this cause need for potential genetic 'branding / tracking' to insure
I'm envisioning it being like Logan's Run without the life clock (expiration feature) and no need for a faux "renewal" to alleviate the overcrowding. Everyone reaches a mature physical age and stays that way. I definitely would like to still be physically as I was at 30 years of age. Differing to ones elders would be nebulous. How could you tell where accumulated wisdom resides in an individual?
Another cool aspect to it could be enabling everyone to live multiple 'lifetimes'. If you are the continuous learner mindset you can have career as a myriad of areas of knowledge or environments. Gone would be the distraught angst on CD over which community is right for me, instead it would be which community shall I experience next!
Fascinating topic for brain exercise! I like when topic makes you have to think...kudos
First thing that comes to mind is the impact of ones cultural morals and values. People with a value system that is imbued with constructive activity may take more time for indulging in playful endeavors.
true because there would be no rush trying to save for when you are too old to work.
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People with a destructive set of values would still tend to 'self exit' by some means, whether their own, or via consequences to their destructive behavior, (subject to the values construct they abide by).
Yes that may reduce over time, right now eating right and getting moderate exercise may buy you and extra 15 - 20 years, in this world it can but you centuries, even if we no longer aged fatty foods, hard drugs, and drinking like a fish could still shorten your life as all that fat and cholesterol can still build up in your arteries causing health problems(though it may take longer as it's basically building up in 20 year old heart and arteries which can handle the stress longer than a 50 year old heart today ), so people living an unhealthy lifestyles may on average only live 200 - 300 years where health nuts may live thousands of years barring any accidents, I also feel there would still be an average lifespan, even excluding suicides I doubt most people would live past a few hundred years just based on probability, odds are if you live for centuries something will take you out within a certain time-span where a lucky few may live a a few thousand years. .
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), relationships with your offspring(imagine being physically the same age as your kids and grandkids
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). Would we have a world full of geniuses because of the knowledge that could be soaked in by the average person over a few hundred years. 
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