This was a reply to some post on another site that I made a few minutes ago. The thread was about choosing between a number of options, such as eternal childhood or infinite political power or whatever.
People always talk about immortality (as in permanent immortality, not just eternal youth) like it's a given that it's a bad thing, that it's a given that you'd go insane from the boredom and loneliness. I don't think that's true at all. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think so. I think I'd be genuinely satisfied with immortality.
But I want immortality and the experiences that come with it. I'm happy now, I have purpose and love for living. Eternal childhood? My childhood sucked. I want to forever be able to pursue the things I enjoy. I want to live through the ages and watch the evolution of man. I want to play all of the good games, read every good book, watch every good movie. When humanity dies, even then I want to live on, learning all the knowledge of man, all of the secrets of trillions of men and women throughout history. Once I've learned all that remains, I want to spend the centuries or millennia creating. I will build the technology to travel the stars and explore the universe. Eventually, I will find the means to create life itself (AI or otherwise). I will be a creator. With infinite time, I can do anything possible within the realm of physics, can aspire to any goal and create or do anything. I can recreate the great experiment of man by myself.
That is my wish, and it is not among the choices.
People always talk about immortality (as in permanent immortality, not just eternal youth) like it's a given that it's a bad thing, that it's a given that you'd go insane from the boredom and loneliness. I don't think that's true at all. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think so. I think I'd be genuinely satisfied with immortality.