Birthdays and getting old

I'm 20 years old today.  The last couple years have felt like a very weird period of feeling old and way too young at the same time.  I want to know how some of you have felt getting older.

Haha, wait till you clear 25 dude, it'll blow your mind when you think about being alive a quarter of a century.

 

In all seriousness, though, aging used to freak me out.  I thought I get such a limited time here on earth, every second passing that I don't take advantage of just freaked me the fuck out.  I always felt like I was working against the clock which, counter-intuitively, caused me to just lock up and not pick a direction, or head in a lot of different directions in my life at the same time and never get anything accomplished.

 

Since then I've kind of made peace with having a limited time.  It's part of what makes being human great.  We get a chance to burn incredibly brightly before we go out.  As such, I'm focusing on burning as brightly as I can between now and then.  =)  It's become a much more positive life direction for me.

Don't worry. I turned 20 this past June and I felt the same way, suddenly my teen years were gone, and I was freaking out about entering the adult world, and slowly becoming what I see in adults, boring, working constantly, no sense of adventure or fun. I was especially afraid of what would happen when I finished my degree, because even though I love what I'm studying, all I could see in the end was me in a business suit and tie fighting my way to the top of the barrel and neglecting my kids, like you see a lot of working women portrayed in movies.

But then I looked around me and realised that my 20s may very well be better than my teen years. I was shy and incompetent as a teen, afraid to try things I really wanted to for fear of judgement and afraid to even speak to some people, and since I started university I've grown out of my shell and I'm really enjoying it. Older people would kill to be back in their 20s. Life hasn't passed you by yet. And as it is, I'm not sure about you but I'm already doing adult things, and I haven't become my worst nightmare. I've been on work terms and I've realised that the whole business woman thing is wrong, I don't have to be that. At some point in your life, you don't lose passion over all the things you love and become some grayscale worker cog that doesn't matter and puts all hours into nothing but work.

And even when you reach your thirties, its the same thing, you'll still be wondering what you want to do with your life, you'll still be a little freaked out that you've been on this Earth for 30 years now and maybe even be a little afraid of what's to come. But you're still you and you're still capable of making this life the best you can. Your life only gets into a steady, boring rut if you let it. So go out there and be like, "Yeah man, I'm alive" and do something!

I think the weirdest part of getting older is how our perception of time changes. Thinking back to when I was younger and waiting for Christmas to come... felt like it lasted forever. Now I blink and need to flip the page on my calendar. Perception wise half of your life is over by the time you're ~28*. It doesn't bother me, though; to think somehow my life is more important or I'm somehow an exception to the natural flow of life would be selfish and ignorant. Just here for the journey, or something.

 

* I remember doing this in a pre-calculus class in high school, googling it however brought me to the result that half of your life is over before age 10. http://everything2.c...eed up with age

By the UK law I'm a legal adult now. I still feel like I'm 12 though, you are as old as you feel, as it were.

I'm 20 years old today.  The last couple years have felt like a very weird period of feeling old and way too young at the same time.  I want to know how some of you have felt getting older.

I'm 22, quit your complaining, whippersnapper!

apparently I doubleposted. May as well lose the game while I'm at it.

Human beings are unique among all other animals for several key reasons.

The most prominent of which being our invention of time.

No other beings on Earth feel the pressure and stress of knowing, without any doubt, that we are working our way toward an end, then that is it.

The trick is to try and not over think your own mortality.

Or maybe this will happen and we never have to worry about aging or dying again. This guy thinks he has found a way for us to be able to literally transfer our 'souls' or 'consciousness' over to an artificial body and never die. 

 

2045: A New Era for Humans: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=01hbkh4hXEk

 

Ray Kurzweil - Immortality by 2045:http://www.youtube.c...h?v=f28LPwR8BdY

 

It's just so amazing and interesting, and I believe a lot of it can happen, but do we really think that we'll be able to transfer our consciousness to a robot and still be the same? I would think if we were to transfer ourselves from a human body to a robotic body there would be a lot of consequences. Such as possibly losing memories. Also, I dont think the copy of ourselves that was put onto the machine would actually be us, I think it would literally just be a clone that thought it was the real Sethre but really wasn't the EXACT person. Basically what I'm saying is I think if this were to happen, the person that transfered their memories and consciousness to a robot body would just become a clone like in Star Wars, just a simple copy of the person but not the original human that came first. If that makes any sense.

Or maybe this will happen and we never have to worry about aging or dying again. This guy thinks he has found a way for us to be able to literally transfer our 'souls' or 'consciousness' over to an artificial body and never die. 

 

2045: A New Era for Humans: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=01hbkh4hXEk

 

Ray Kurzweil - Immortality by 2045:http://www.youtube.c...h?v=f28LPwR8BdY

 

It's just so amazing and interesting, and I believe a lot of it can happen, but do we really think that we'll be able to transfer our consciousness to a robot and still be the same? I would think if we were to transfer ourselves from a human body to a robotic body there would be a lot of consequences. Such as possibly losing memories. Also, I dont think the copy of ourselves that was put onto the machine would actually be us, I think it would literally just be a clone that thought it was the real Sethre but really wasn't the EXACT person. Basically what I'm saying is I think if this were to happen, the person that transfered their memories and consciousness to a robot body would just become a clone like in Star Wars, just a simple copy of the person but not the original human that came first. If that makes any sense.

I would hate that.  Personally, I can't wait to die.

I would hate that.  Personally, I can't wait to die.

But to think about the technology involved is amazing. Just think if the system that would have to be created to store/transfer your soul onto a flash drive (or whatever they are creating for it). It's incredible.

I would very much like to live forever, even if it is in a machine body.

I understand the potential for misery, and if I had an infinite amount of time to get over that misery then I would be fine.

I would very much like to live forever, even if it is in a machine body.

I understand the potential for misery, and if I had an infinite amount of time to get over that misery then I would be fine.

Agreed

...live forever...

 

Immediately: if "living" means our consciousness is dependent on any type of electrical-based system whatsoever, then "forever" ends with the next major CME pointed at Earth

 

Short Term Future: If we bow out as ecological consumers (robots that don't need organic sustenance), then we give rise to the next global apex predatory species & whatever environmental threat they will assuredly bring.

 

Long Term Future: If we live solely as consciousness (no longer possessing mobility), then "forever" ends when the Earth's core cools, or the Sun blows up, or some asteroid hits - all of which are guaranteed.

 

This is a short selection from a long list of problems which all have corollaries if we become a space-faring species.

 

I'm just cynical of things that seem too good to be true & "living forever" sounds like it has a lot of fine print to it.

 

...just sayin'

Immediately: if "living" means our consciousness is dependent on any type of electrical-based system whatsoever, then "forever" ends with the next major CME pointed at Earth

 

Short Term Future: If we bow out as ecological consumers (robots that don't need organic sustenance), then we give rise to the next global apex predatory species & whatever environmental threat they will assuredly bring.

 

Long Term Future: If we live solely as consciousness (no longer possessing mobility), then "forever" ends when the Earth's core cools, or the Sun blows up, or some asteroid hits - all of which are guaranteed.

 

This is a short selection from a long list of problems which all have corollaries if we become a space-faring species.

 

I'm just cynical of things that seem too good to be true & "living forever" sounds like it has a lot of fine print to it.

 

...just sayin'

Well goodness that sounds like an awful lot of interesting and adventure-filled challenges for us to overcome, doesn't it?  =D

Well goodness that sounds like an awful lot of interesting and adventure-filled challenges for us to overcome, doesn't it?  =D

 

They are & I'm happy doing my part. I'm not the slight bit pessimistic. What I am, is suspicious of a conceptual basket of eggs being sold to me as a bunch of chickens. (I'm thinking of a "seller" which is not this forum btw)

I would very much like to live forever, even if it is in a machine body.
I understand the potential for misery, and if I had an infinite amount of time to get over that misery then I would be fine.

Oh. Fuck. No.
Misery is all well and good, but its who is in power.
I have been here for 50 years and I have watched what these fuckers are doing and to know that I have absolutely no say in anything (and if you believe otherwise you are fooling yourself--just look at what our congress and senate are doing for themselves and not listening to what the people want) and know that I don't know what is in the afterlife, or the next one, but its gotta be better than this.
Stay here and watch these fukkerz enslave everybody? I'd rather not, thanks anyways.

Immediately: if "living" means our consciousness is dependent on any type of electrical-based system whatsoever, then "forever" ends with the next major CME pointed at Earth

 

Short Term Future: If we bow out as ecological consumers (robots that don't need organic sustenance), then we give rise to the next global apex predatory species & whatever environmental threat they will assuredly bring.

 

Long Term Future: If we live solely as consciousness (no longer possessing mobility), then "forever" ends when the Earth's core cools, or the Sun blows up, or some asteroid hits - all of which are guaranteed.

 

This is a short selection from a long list of problems which all have corollaries if we become a space-faring species.

 

I'm just cynical of things that seem too good to be true & "living forever" sounds like it has a lot of fine print to it.

 

...just sayin'

Immediate: Eh, MAYBE. A cme hitting earth would not necessarily be the end of you. Also even if it is, presumably you ajoined yourself to the mechanical body because your original body was no longer a sustainable option. So any amount of time you live in the mechanical body is bonus time over what you would have had otherwise.

 

Short term future: Hardly an issue, considering I am no longer part of the food chain at this point. And a new global apex predator would take a very long time to establish itself. We are not suddenly disappearing, we are still here, and frankly I do not see humans stopping meddling with the other species around them ever. So this is a non-issue.

 

Long term future: You would not survive any of these things living as a human either, so once again BONUS TIME.

 

 

You appear to be missing the point. The whole thing is to avoid the reaper for as long as possible. A machine, a cloned body, a head in a jar in a pinch. These are all viable options because they let you stick around longer than you would have otherwise.

Oh. Fuck. No.
Misery is all well and good, but its who is in power.
I have been here for 50 years and I have watched what these fuckers are doing and to know that I have absolutely no say in anything (and if you believe otherwise you are fooling yourself--just look at what our congress and senate are doing for themselves and not listening to what the people want) and know that I don't know what is in the afterlife, or the next one, but its gotta be better than this.
Stay here and watch these fukkerz enslave everybody? I'd rather not, thanks anyways.

You have to bear in mind that things change. Plato believed that democracy would eventually dissolve into tyranny, which, historically speaking has a good bit of truth. Living in a world where you exist forever, I would say that the US in general has existed and will only exist for an extremely small span of time. Not that I'm for the whole "living forever" thing, I think losing death would make us lose a good sense of humanity and our desire to help others.

I would like the idea of living for an 'infinite' amount of time.  I think it would be more feasible for us to make it to planets in the Goldilocks zone if we had hundreds of thousands of years to waste traveling, (asleep?) just under light speed.

 

It would be amazing to see what kind of life might exist on these planets.  Or what kind of life we could make for ourselves with the planet's natural resources.

 

http://en.wikipedia...._habitable_zone

http://en.wikipedia....ki/Gliese_581_g - Not sure I like the temp though.  -12 C° (10 F°)