Eternal Life
Xislakilinia
10-05-2006, 07:46
Well, not really "forever" but indefinite life-span, without aging process or cyclic aging process. It seems like a long shot now, but conceptually possible. Reduction of oxidative damage and caloric restriction does wonders for lifespan increase, albeit difficult to apply. Then of course there are non-biological means such as robotic technologies.
My question is: should scientists one day discover the secret to indefinitely lifespan, will it spell the end of organized Christianity?
UpwardThrust
10-05-2006, 07:47
Well, not really "forever" but indefinite life-span, without aging process or cyclic aging process. It seems like a long shot now, but conceptually possible. Reduction of oxidative damage and caloric restriction does wonders for lifespan increase, albeit difficult to apply. Then of course there are non-biological means such as robotic technologies.
My question is: should scientists one day discover the secret to indefinitely lifespan, will it spell the end of organized Christianity?
Not sure it will kill it but I think there will be a much reduced ... urgancy about it
When you remove the stick there is still the carrot ... but you only get half the motivation
It's impossible. That which does not die of age will inevitably fall prey to diseases most foul.
Death is a necessity in nature, and attempts to circumvent it will result in failure.
Saladsylvania
10-05-2006, 07:55
Probably impossible, but wouldn't undermine Christianity. The reward of heaven isn't "not dying", it's getting to spend eternity in the immediate presence of God.
UpwardThrust
10-05-2006, 07:59
Probably impossible, but wouldn't undermine Christianity. The reward of heaven isn't "not dying", it's getting to spend eternity in the immediate presence of God.
But most people choose what they have infront of them before they risk ...
I think that christianity will survive but be quite a bit deminshed
(though like that matters thoes sort of people will just find a way to incorporate some other sort of punishment/reward system into a new religion)
Saladsylvania
10-05-2006, 08:02
Now that I think about it, it might be a good thing in the long run to weed the "what's in it for me?" Christians out of Christianity....
Xislakilinia
10-05-2006, 08:06
It's impossible. That which does not die of age will inevitably fall prey to diseases most foul.
Death is a necessity in nature, and attempts to circumvent it will result in failure.
Of course. In this thread I wish to find out:
1. If the promise of an eternal (read very long) lifespan is a main motivating factor for accepting Christianity.
2. If people will be discouraged to accept Christianity if alternative long lifespan techniques are available.
3. If Christians themselves see any diff between this sort of biological "eternal" life and their version of spiritual "eternal" life. Will they be in such a hurry to reach their spiritual life that they wouldn't drink this elixir of biological life?
Brains in Tanks
10-05-2006, 08:07
I bet in the future some religious nuts will make copies of themselves, program them to be all holy and then let them die and say, "Yay! Now I'm in heaven!"
UpwardThrust
10-05-2006, 08:07
Now that I think about it, it might be a good thing in the long run to weed the "what's in it for me?" Christians out of Christianity....
I have a feeling it will be a rather more lonly religion if you do that ...
Brains in Tanks
10-05-2006, 08:11
With this whole eternal life gig, I always wonder, which one of my lives gets to be eternal? The senile shell of a life I am left with in my old age? The egotistical three year old? The incredible cool and good looking hominid I appear to be now? All of them? None of them? What?
Personally I don't think eternal life is possible. Only eternal lives. We are always changing, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. We have no single life, just a succession of lives that blend into each other.
Saladsylvania
10-05-2006, 08:12
You're probably right, UT...
For the record, I would most likely take such a long-life elixir if it existed, although I would consider doing so more an effect of my religious beliefs than a compromise or abandonment of them.
Xislakilinia
10-05-2006, 08:22
You're probably right, UT...
For the record, I would most likely take such a long-life elixir if it existed, although I would consider doing so more an effect of my religious beliefs than a compromise or abandonment of them.
A HA! Flippy-flop. "I'd take biological eternal life until I get spiritual eternal life." What if your God happens to dislike this kind of spineless yarble-lacking stand.
Straughn
10-05-2006, 08:30
Well, not really "forever" but indefinite life-span, without aging process or cyclic aging process. It seems like a long shot now, but conceptually possible. Reduction of oxidative damage and caloric restriction does wonders for lifespan increase, albeit difficult to apply. Then of course there are non-biological means such as robotic technologies.
My question is: should scientists one day discover the secret to indefinitely lifespan, will it spell the end of organized Christianity?
I don't think it will, since it's a religion notorious for its confabulation.
It'll invent an excuse to accomodate the situation, perhaps some revisionist history as well.
Saladsylvania
10-05-2006, 08:33
Haha, I don't think it's flip-flopping. Christianity isn't a race to heaven; if it were, everyone who converted to Christianity would commit suicide on the spot. I would view the choice to die earlier for the sake of "cashing in" on my eternal reward as far more self-serving and un-Christian than the choice to prolong my life so that I can continue to (try to) enact whatever plans God might have for my life. Doing so would not mean that I stopped believing in God, or that I had any less faith in the afterlife; it would simply mean that I accepted the possibility that prolonging my life in such a way might enable me to better live a life that is more pleasing to God. And if that turns out not to be the case, it's not like God can't kill me.
Well, even if some guy does find a way to not die of old age, according to Christianity, at least the way I believe it, he will live to see the Second Coming of Christ, and there will be "resurrected" as Christ was. Perhaps not resurrected, just changed to the state that Christ is in now and from there still have the opportunity for Eternal Life.
So, they can go together.
Also, I think there's a difference between immortality and eternal life. Immortality is merely living forever while eternal life is living forever with God. So there will still be a desire to believe in Christianity.
PasturePastry
10-05-2006, 13:18
Practicing Christianity for the sake of eternal life is like working a job for a paycheck: if you don't like the work, you're not going to be any good at it and you're going to get fired before you ever make it to payday.
Well, not really "forever" but indefinite life-span, without aging process or cyclic aging process. It seems like a long shot now, but conceptually possible. Reduction of oxidative damage and caloric restriction does wonders for lifespan increase, albeit difficult to apply. Then of course there are non-biological means such as robotic technologies.
My question is: should scientists one day discover the secret to indefinitely lifespan, will it spell the end of organized Christianity?
Some people would let go of their religious beliefs, others would cling on to them. Of course, some would be hypocrits and claim to believe in an afterlife, but use indefinite-life-technology anyway.
The Gate Builders
10-05-2006, 13:33
Getting rid of old age could be possible. I think 'they' (the magic 'they') have found a link between the build-up of random genetic crap and the unpleasantries of aging, so hey, it could happen. And I think that it would certainly shut up a lot of Christians.
There doesn't seem a poll option for "It's a bad idea because people will get real bored and also I don't believe in Christianity."
There is a great book that addresses this by Corey Doctorow, called "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom." Some of the interesting points are
- people's brains can just be uploaded into a new body if it gets damaged
- people often "deadhead" for a few centuries when they get bored
- entertainment is pretty much the sole point of living
- money is obsolete because of eternal life so it is replaced by the "whuffie" system, which is basically a measure of how much you're liked and respected
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whuffie
To quote Woody Allen: "I don't want to achieve immortality through my work... I want to achieve it through not dying."
That said, it can't be done. The body wears itself out.
Saladsylvania
10-05-2006, 15:57
Practicing Christianity for the sake of eternal life is like working a job for a paycheck: if you don't like the work, you're not going to be any good at it and you're going to get fired before you ever make it to payday.
^A pretty good analogy.