A Gift or a Curse?: Users Consider Different Scenarios for Humanity's Immortality (13 photos)

People have always been interested in the topic of life, death, and immortality. A Reddit crowd decided to revive this timeless theme and speculate on how the world would (or wouldn't) change if humanity were granted immortality.





And, as it turns out, not everything is so rosy in this scenario. Because immortality isn't just about eternal youth. It's also about eternal debt, the struggle for resources, and the lack of choice.

1. Funeral directors - that's it



- Funeral directors would have to close down.

2. It all comes down to one thing





- Well, I don't know. As long as there are at least two people left on the planet, there will always be someone who wants to kill the other.

3. We didn't sign up for this!



- And those sentenced to life imprisonment would be furious.

4. Forever Imbalance



- There will always be differences in people's positions, which ruins everything.

5. "Altered Carbon"



- Watch the TV series "Altered Carbon"; this topic is explored very well.

6. "Afterlife"



- There's a book called "Postmortal" by Drew Magary that explores this topic.

The point is, the immortality procedure there is a piece of cake. It's practically an outpatient procedure. People just flew to Las Vegas (or wherever), got an injection, and then spent the whole weekend playing slot machines.

True, the procedure paused you, rather than rewinding. So if you did it at 25, you're forever 25. Do it at 65—you're forever an old man.

At first, everything was fine. But by the end of the book, the US population had surpassed 750 million and was still growing. The planet was already approaching 15 billion, and resource scarcity was on the rise.

I think it's a great book.

7. Immortality as a Tool for Destroying the Spice of Life



- I recently discussed this with my 13-year-old son as a plot device. Here's what we came up with.

There's the "undying" option. You simply age slowly and then stop, but you can be killed like a normal person.

There's "absolute immortality," where you can't be killed under any circumstances, even if you're blown to pieces.

And there's "conditional immortality." You live as long as you want (no matter what), but when you decide to die, you simply switch yourself off.

"Undying" is probably the best option. At least you still have human goals and desires, and you have to pay attention. Absolute immortality sounds like a hell of a nightmare if there's no escape. And I'm not just talking about "being buried alive" or something like that. Conditional immortality seems ideal, but I bet it would take the edge off life.

8. "Torchwood: Miracle Day"



- If you want to get to the bottom of it, there was a BBC miniseries called "Torchwood: Miracle Day." It was a Doctor Who spin-off, and it aired about ten years ago. In it, people just stop dying. And they're pulling this idea off very well, with all the consequences.

9. Futile, scary, but interesting



- It could only get worse. Much worse. Pensions – hello, for now. They simply won't exist.

The inheritance tax is also out of the question, and that's the main way to somehow shake out the dough.

Corporations have been stagnating for centuries: no one retires, no one dies, there are no jobs.

Although, to be honest, it would be incredibly interesting to see what immortality does to fashion, history, and culture. Especially in a couple of hundred years.

10. Eternal Debt



- Credits are a real joke. They'll make them so big that you'll be paying them off for centuries.

11. Too Many Options



- And how immortal will we be here? Because the options range from Highlander-style battles for resources and property to still-living corpses that simply continue to exist.

Will we die when the Sun expands and roasts us, or will we burn for millions of years until it finally goes out?

12. Nothing will change



"All this fuss about immortality is just scenery. The play will be the same."