[Dan]

It might be possible eventually.

Tehre are a number of science fiction books that deal with this problem.

Outnumbering the Dead by Frederick Pohl is about a mortal living in the world of immortals due to gene therapy techniques.

The Takeshi Kovacs series by Richard Morgan is about a socially stratified galaxy. Those who are rich, well off, or soldiers can have their brain downloaded into a computer chip and transferred to a new genetically engineered body, thus giving them immortality, while those who are poorer can't afford it. Physical death becomes nothing, but real death, when one's computer chip is destroyed, is the real scare.

There's also a number of short stories dealing with the concept of downloading people's minds into computers a la the Matrix to achieve a digital immortality.

So there are a number of possible ways that immortality may possibly be achieved.

[sensiblealphabet]

The human body actually wishes to live as long as it can, we are 'born to survive' as-it-were.

As much as I'd like to live for a longer amount of time, what would happen to the Earth's population? It would explode, the natural resources would run down faster and we'd reach a stage where the whole world including nature distablised and 'crashed', the death of hundreds of billions would occur in one go and we'd enter a dark-age. Of course, this is only a prediction, but I feel it's rather accurate.

[Rodion]

As much as I'd like to live for a longer amount of time, what would happen to the Earth's population? It would explode, the natural resources would run down faster and we'd reach a stage where the whole world including nature distablised and 'crashed', the death of hundreds of billions would occur in one go and we'd enter a dark-age. Of course, this is only a prediction, but I feel it's rather accurate.

If only there was somewhere to go! Oh, how grand it would have been: breathtaking landscapes, remote colonies, new ways of life... Alas, mankind is doomed to spend its last days in the overcrowded, suffocating Europe.

[Galoredk]

Motivation would freeze, noone would be in a hurry and people would not nesecarily have as many babies as now.

[sensiblealphabet]

One thing I don't like is forgetting that we're human. We're an animal, just like a dog, a cat, a rat, or a wren.

Our drive in life is to reproduce, get power and influence in the group we inhabit, protect those around us (true of social animals), and to preserve our life.

That will never, ever, change.

We're only human, afterall.

I think that's why racism is built into us, just most of us better examples of humans can surpress their hatred of others simply because of who they are. If you search deep-enough inside yourselves, without use of your concience, or any other skill we have along with being self aware, and I promise it will be there. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar. (I guess this is going to take off faster than a Lightning).

[Citizen J]

That's actually a good point, sensiblealphabet. Immortality is no proof against primacy. Sure, we collect experiences that modify our behavior, but what are those experiences we collect? All of them were filtered through our dubious awareness. The question is; how much of our conscious thought is real awareness and how much of it is just rationalizing our subconscious primal urges. We all have them whether we acknowledge them or not. A few thousand years of civilization does not supercede millions (billions?) of years of genetically driven social conditioning. So everyone becomes immortal. Will that accelerate the civilizing of the subconscious beast, or will it just accelerate our rush towards oblivion with new ways in which to kill each other?

[sensiblealphabet]

Don't sound so surprised, Citizen J

Our natural instincts have been formed since Homo Sapiens (humans as we know them today) evolved from the species that came before us. We've only been on the Earth for a few thousand years, so that's all the experience we have.

Our current way of thinking came to light very recently, human rights, racism, etcetera, so there will still be those in our society who are socially conditioned to voice their opinions, and act upon it.

I feel that my previous points of resource depletion, and over population would cause us to die anyway.

There is no-such thing as immortality, really.

[Citizen J]

Oh, I would not rule it out given the possibilities of an infinite universe. It's a matter of whether we survive long enough to figure that out. But as we both seem to agree, our lack of control over our primal urges seems to preclude long term survivability.

It's nice to hear from someone aware enough to recognise this in us. So few of us have.

[Rbns]

No, it's against the laws of dialectics.

[Doomhammer]

So it's hopeless? But I'm too narcissitic to die!

[Blondie]

IT is definitely impossible to live forever. Anyway, what quality of life do you have after 500 years or so? none.

[Torwan]

Nothing is impossible.

Those who say that something is impossible have always been proven wrong at some point.

[Rbns]

Anyone who was born will die.

[Torwan]

"Anything heavier than air cannot fly"

[Rbns]

This universe isn't going to last forever, therefore immortality is impossible, no matter what scientists do with genetics.

I find your attempt to depict me as a bigot rather amusing.

[Torwan]

And I find your "absolute truths" equally amusing. So sorry that I don't have the centuries to see you proven wrong.

[electron]

Nothing is impossible. Science can find a way to avoid extinction by universe destruction.

[Rbns]

So sorry that I don't have the centuries to see you proven wrong.

Haha, exactly.

By the way, I would like to remind you that living a trillion years is not equal to immortality.

Everybody will die. It's just a matter of time.

[Raoul]

This universe isn't going to last forever

I think you'll find that even those people who study the question almost exclusively don't actually have a defininte answer to that yet.

[Rbns]

This question is a matter of philosophy, not science. And I would like to mention that philosophical statements, especially the ones concerning ontology, are absolute and cannot be disproven or updated.

I think you'll find that even those people who study the question almost exclusively don't actually have a defininte answer to that yet.

Even if universe has no beginning, humans do, it's their birth. Life leads to their end, death. End of story.