Originally Posted by Jefe

Something else occured to me, and reinforced my decision to die at the age of 100 - money. If I choose to live to, say, 300, then how will I afford food, clothing, and shelter? Shit, I won't be able to retire at age 67 and expect to live off of my savings for another 233 years. Which means I'll have to keep working, at least till age 200 or so. Screw that. I hate work.

Originally Posted by Dilettante

Nah, if you're gonna live for centuries then all you have to do is master the notion of compounded interest.

I think Scott Adams uses a similar idea to end poverty in the future. His notion is that, since probably invested funds will grow at a rate slightly greater than the growth rate of the global population, all we have to do open a one dollar savings account for every person on earth today (that is to say, one account each). Since the interest should slightly out-pace population growth, the money-invested-per-person will steadily climb higher and higher as the centuries pass. Then, in the distant future, everyone can go to the bank to get their millions. At that point, the bankers of the future will inform all these people that their original $1 was immediately absorbed in fees centuries ago and that all the accounts are empty. Then all the people will murder the bankers, take all of their money, and everyone will be rich.

Originally Posted by Jefe

I hate work.

Originally Posted by Traveler

Who doesn't?

Originally Posted by IIIX

Perhaps he simply meant that he prefers other activities compared to work. Maybe he doesn't hate work, but he'd rather do something else - fpr example having sex, getting stoned, climbing the everest, whatever. I'm saying that because I'm in the same situation .

Originally Posted by Jefe

I actually like my line of work. I'd just rather be doing something else much of the time.

Originally Posted by LordVicari

Greetings and Felicitations,



If you'd rather be doing something else most of the time then I would say that your not doing what you feel you were meant to do.

Lord Vicari

Originally Posted by Dilettante

Well, its a little late for me but I'm still up and a little bored (so I'm sorry if this is a stupid thread) and I thought I'd try out a question I've been pondering of late. Namely this:

If you were given the ability, right now, to determine the length of your own life, how long would you give yourself? 100 years? 1,000? Total immortality?

If you have an answer already, that's great; but if you're like me you'll want some more specifics, so here they are:
* The time you pick is relative to your personal frame of reference
* You make the choice now for all time; no changing your mind later (not even via suicide, see below)
* Until the time you set, it will be impossible for you to die by any means. You'll still be subject to injury and disease and all that, but will have the miraculous ability to eventually recover from anything, always returning (given enough time) to a state of relative health. Should you be truly vaporized or sucked into a black hole or some such, you'll just reappear elsewhere instantly...try not to think about it too hard.
* When your set time comes, your body and mind will simply switch off; it will be instant, painless and without any advance warning.

So, how long do you want to live? How long would be too long? And what would you do differently given your pre-set lifespan? Or would you turn down the choice and stick with the unknown date you have now?

Personally, I think I would just stick with the unknown or, if I had to choose, give myself about two centuries. But even that feels risky; if we nuke the earth into a cinder sometime this century, those last decades would be pretty dull, and likely uncomfortable.

Originally Posted by White Rabbit

Question: What are we meant to do? That smells of deism.