What if...

[samvara]

A technology suddenly made it possible to regenerate your body to peak health and live for 500 years - what would you do?

• would you be more/less reckless?
• would you play more/less right now?
• what would your relationships be like?

Comments

[maharetr]

Huh. (Assuming that death by violence or misadventure would still be on the cards) I'd play more, and now I'm inserting myself into what that culture as a whole would be like (100 is the new 20!). Actually, I'd love a culture where it was pretty much expected that you'd take a few decades out to just explore awesome things. I'd spend many, many years studying, and being in a uni environment for as long as I could.

More to come later, maybe.

[transcendancing]

I like maharetr would play more, and I agree - I would think that there would be more expectation of exploration and learning and 'growing into yourself' type stuff.

My relationships would look much as they do now and I'd approach them similarly because... they are now, and I value them, they enrich me and I in turn give back awesome stuff into them. I think that the expanded lifespan would affect and broaden the way we form relationships, for what reasons and for what timeframes etc. I'd have a lot of fun with this!

But they're not based on a time expectation... if they moved/changed/shifted/ended I trust myself that I can provide a space of openness where this can occur positively and fond thoughts/friendship is still on the cards.

I get that relationships ending isn't a failed relationship... and I think with the expanded lifetime, this is one thing that would change considerably. There would be a need to shift the thinking on 'always and forever' as even over one life time things and people change and move, and that would increase if not in number of instances than the length of instances I would think.

I would try more reckless things I think. I am more willing to leap off something as I age and let go of things that hold me back... so I think that would have an effect on me with an expanded lifespan too.

[maharetr]

Following on from transcendancing I couldn't actually see the 'until death do us part' old-style marriage tradition lasting very long -- I could see people being all 'you'll be my 100s partner, and having say 5 'very long term' relationships. I'd approach my personal relationships in much the same way, I think, but possibly be more relaxed in a: 'oh, yeah, I'll catch up with you on the other side of the world in a few decades' sort of thing.

If I had a pill that could revert me back to peak physical condition if I badly injured myself, say, I'd be far more willing to physically push myself, jump off things, or whatever.

[meghanc]

I was coming to say something like this--it'd depend heavily on how long regeneration would take.

That said, there's stuff that I'd love to be doing still--ice skating, skiing*, horseback riding, gymnastics, canoeing--that I do now in limited amounts, if at all. If I were to somehow lose the arthritis tomorrow, I'd like to think that I'd do all those things again, but more.

I'm assuming that allergies and the like would abate, as well, which would mean that I'd feel far more freedom to travel than I do. I'd love to spend a decade in Asia, say, but between the foods of death and the language barrier, it's not something that I feel would be safe for me at this point.

Interesting point about the partners, as well--I feel like there are three possible outcomes. The first is the one that maharetr brought up; the second would be having multiple casual relationships that sort of rotated and changed based on where you were and what you were doing; the third would be relationships that are actually more intense and healthy because you have all this time to explore life together, which I think could be a really amazing thing.

* Okay, it's actually not arthritis that keeps me from skiing so much as it is that the one time I tried to learn, I spend six weeks on crutches and my best friend spent several months with a cast after breaking his arm in such a fashion that the bone popped out of the skin and shredded his inner arm. I love skiing in theory, but in practice omg my ankle ow ow ow.

[meghanc]

(And yes, Asia = big, diverse place, but I'm using it in a generic large-place-I've-never-been sense. Substitute other large, non-English-speaking geographic regions with fish- or peanut-heavy diets at will.)

[ironed_orchid]

I think I'd be much like now, but with the time to learn German and Greek and read all those books I have on the too hard and too long pile (you know, the complete works of Aristotle and Hegel)...

I think I'd probably approach relations like I do now, which can sometimes mean leaping in and sometimes mean spending years getting to know people... it all depends on the sets of circumstances under which I get to know people... although I do quite enjoy the long game, and being able to flirth with someone for centuries could be a lot of fun.

[transcendancing]

Oh my! Oh I could so enjoy flirting with someone over the course of centuries!!

[rdm]

Oh! A tricky one!

Relationships: In this I count myself uncommonly blessed. We would have so much *fun* together! 500 years! Together! It works for me! And friends - we would have so much opportunity to meet so many more...

Playing: You bet we will play more - not that not-play is a big part of our lives to begin with. As things stand, not-playing is in the service of two things - paying for playing, or keeping things in order so we can play. (This last covers a multitude of things, though, and way beyond simple things like maintenance. For example, environmental/civil rights activism is important to us - no environment=nowhere to play, no civil rights=no right to play.) We like to think that we have Priorities. Just not the usual ones!

Recklessness: Probably no real change here - we engage in a sort of calculated risk-minimised recklessness. When we plan a THING, we plan for all the things that can go wrong, and equip and train appropriately. And then we do it. Be it a long bike trek, kayaking, or rock-climbing - or anything else, really. We try to remember the six Ps. :)

So, overall, no real change - just lots more of it.

[erda]

I'd go back to school immediately, even though I don't believe in school, because it is the only model we have for learning a lot of stuff and it is better than nothing for adults. I'd make sure it is near somewhere that has a lot of roller derby. Because when I was young, I didn't realize I could do roller derby and I want to!

Also, put more money in the bank.

There would be no change in my relationships. Well, wait, now that I think about it, there is this 11 year old boy I would probably adopt, and I would take in one of the grandchildren, because I'd have plenty of time to raise him and still pursue my own interests.

Probably being the person I am, the first thing I would do is sit down and map out a 500 year plan, including all the things I'd want to study.

[autumnus]

Feel less grudging about the time I do stuff I have to but I don't want to do.

[fred_mouse]

I would have a much longer list of things to do, but a greater chance of getting some of them done