Immortal or Indestructable?

[Smokey_Monkey]

Would you rather be:

1: Immortal, basically if you don't get harmed you live for ever.

or

2: Indestructable, basically you can't be harmed in anyway but you die at ~77 or whatever your life expectancy is.

 

[col]

There is an old story about the monkey's paw. A guy wishes for immortality and then is involved in a car accident. He is doomed to spend the rest of eternity in agony yet unable to die.

 

[Smokey_Monkey]

Ok but with this I mean if you pick #1 and get hurt enough then you die.

 

[thetrooper]

[Highlander mode]

Who wants to live forever?

[/Highlander mode]

 

[CruddyLeper]

I think you meant Freddie Mercury mode.

 

[FredLC]

Can I get a compromise? I mean, not being hurt by anything short of an Atomic Bomb AND getting to live for 400 years?

Nah, being indestructable for me. Not only for what Col said, but also because i'd get some great paying jobs with that qualification and that would mean a helluva fun ride in life (and no worry with STDs as well ).

Regards .

 

[Che Guava]

77 years is long enouogh. I'd rather live it pain free!

 

[JohnRM]

I will take immortality. Life would be too weird if you were indestructable. You'd fear nothing and become arrogant and egocentric. At least if I were immortal, there is still something to be feared and rules to follow. Everyone needs natural boundaries. I'd rather eliminate one natural boundary than all but one of them.

 

[Che Guava]

Are you saying you woudn't get arrogant if you knew you could never die?!

 

[JohnRM]

Are you saying you woudn't get arrogant if you knew you could never die?!

Presumeably, you would not know that you are immortal. There is no test that one could do to find that out, so unless it were genetically engineered and a doctor or scientist told you, it is reasonable to assume that you would not know. If you were indestructable, it is certain that you would find that out over the course of your life.

 

[Che Guava]

Ahhhhh......I see.....

 

[Shaihulud]

Immortal, if I never age as well. Btw being indestructable should also make you immune to the ravages of time.

 

[FredLC]

Well... there is also no way you could know. If you survived a handgun, who could tell your skin is enough to withstand a shotgun? Or a bazooka? or an ICBM? Or the explosion of a supernova, getting to something more extreme?

Until I see someone entering a black hole and coming out to tell us how was the weather, it's safe to assume that nothing could possibly be considered indestructable.

But we can reasonably assume tests for a level of resistence that means indestructability to earthily standards. Still, the pool does not speaks of superforce. Hence, if you behave badly, twent cops could hold your arms and legs and leave you to spend those precious 77 years in a jail cell...

Regards .

 

[Truronian]

Indestructable, as life could get dull.

 

[Corlindale]

I think the kind of immortality described here would make you extremely careful about everything the least bit dangerous, because you'd have so much to lose by dying in an accident.

It's a tough choice. Indestructibility would allow you to do all kinds of cool things, and you could make a fortune as a bomb-defuser, or a doctor treating highly contagious diseases. You could also jump from planes without a parachute, and you could become an ideal astronaut if lack of oxygen and extreme temperatures couldn't hurt you.

But immortality would be cool since you'd get a longer livespan, and get to see what happens to the world in the distant future, IF you manage to avoid dying by an accident.

 

[Erik Mesoy]

You're digressing waaayy into territory that's usually considered the province of fantasy novels here. Not that I mind.

I picked indestructible, because I trust myself with it, despite John HSOG's concerns.
While I'd personally prefer immortality, I'd probably get less done with it, as my chance of dying from random causes rises, and I grow horribly senile.

Now, "immortality" usually means that one doesn't die of aging degeneracy. If whatever genie granting this would be the least bit kind and offer me Elven immortality (immunity to age and disease), I'd certainly pick that.

 

[thetrooper]

I do remember a comic strip here in Norway called 'Iskalde Grøss'. One of the characters was granted immortality. Too bad for him, he got cancer and evolved into a huge carcinoma. Wonderful way to spend the rest of your days, which is forever.

 

[Che Guava]

What a disturbing comic! How do you write for a giant walking tumor?

 

[RoddyVR]

i'm young enough and not experienced at all with death that i still consider myself immortal, so i'd pick that.

plenty of people live long lives without any crippling accidents, besides, if i live long enough, with whatever befalls me, someone (maybe even me) will figure out a way to cure it.
even if i get cancer, i can just keep trying different attempts at a cure knowing that nothing will kill me.

 

[Kayak]

(and no worry with STDs as well ).

Regards .

Now why would you be worried about STDs weren't you happily engaged last I heard? Don't let her see this, you may find out how indestuctible you are...