Is Eternal Life Even Desireable?

[c172]

Hmmmm. Not sure if I'm misinterpreting the OP, but here goes.

Eternal life, as in, here on earth, would pose some problems that you'd need to deal with. If we never died, divorce would become a 100% given. Even disownment would have a very high occurrence, I'd think. Families are not perfect. Also, would we physically age as we are right now? I'm 39 and my back frequently aches, and my right knee has felt on the verge of an ACL tear for the last month. What'll happen when I'm 39,000 years old?

Also, what about our work lives. When would retirement come?

And how would we adapt to linguistic changes? Middle English is not the same as what we speak, that's for sure.

If the OP is talking about an eternal afterlife...well...depends who's running the show. The Christian god seems like a creep, and no other god seems much better. Also, heaven could be extremely boring or it could change as quickly as we can envision what's in it, which would be kind of unsettling.

[AFTT47]

If it's forced, eternal life might become hell at one point. I'd still take it over forced death if it were really available. The true prize is being able to live as long as you want to. I'm not a particularly happy person but I think 70 - 90 years is a tragically short lifetime. I'm such a damn procrastinator, I would need 150 years to really get my shit together. Then, I would need more time to actually do something useful. I can't see me getting board in anything under a thousand years.

[Chad32]

Given that the older we get, the faster time seems to go by, I wouldn't think living for eternity would be all that great in the long run. I certainly wouldn't want to spend an eternity in the same place. Being under the supervision of someone expecting me to continually worship him for mercifully not sending me to the other place he created to torture those that don't. I don't think heaven will be any better than hell, given a few million years.

[Mister Agenda]

I think the only reason eternity doesn't terrify us is that we can't wrap our heads around it. After a trillion trillion years, it will hardly have started.

[Iroscato]

I think the only reason eternity doesn't terrify us is that we can't wrap our heads around it. After a trillion trillion years, it will hardly have started.

Right. Our brains just aren't equipped to grapple with concepts of eternity and infinity. That's not a slight on the human brain - considering half a million years ago its main priorities were eating, fucking and shitting (though to be fair, those are still pretty high up on my list, at least) we haven't done too badly at all.
But eternity...it will never end. Not ever. You would continue to exist long after the collapse of the universe, far beyond the time when the Earth is devoured by the Sun, condemned to go on, and on, and on...forever. I struggle to think of a more horrific fate, really.

[robvalue]

I don't want eternal life, at least not one imagined by a third party on my behalf. If I could design my own eternal life, to be perfect for me in every way and which I could turn off forever at any time, then I'd want that.

I spend a lot of time in that world anyhow, it exists on my head and I retreat to it to escape the shitstorm that is life on Earth.

Like most religious concepts, I don't think people put much thought into it at all. It's just a mental pacifier, to say "It's ok, you're not really going to die, and you're loved ones aren't really dead." It's actually a very harmful belief in many ways in my opinion. It devalues this life, doesn't permit proper grieving, and can lead to terrible decisions particularly on behalf of those under your care.

[Whateverist]

Recently, I encountered a Christian who asked me what atheists believe happens after death. I suspect the question was posed partly out of genuine curiosity, but with an underlying assumption that, whatever atheists believe, Christians believe in wish for a more desireable outcome.

Fixed that for you.

[robvalue]

I've noticed a tendency for some theists to expect reality to conform to their beliefs, rather than the other way round. For example I ask a question about hell and someone says, "Well I don't believe in hell." Whoosh! Hell disappears. Until I talk to the next guy who tells me all about hell and how I'm going to suffer there. Whoosh! Hell is back.

What you believe has absolutely no effect on reality, other than to inform your decisions.

[Whateverist]

Depends entirely on how you will use that eternal existence.

So "videogames and ho-ho's on a larger scale"? I wonder if there will be internet chat sites in heaven.

[Longhorn]

Free wifi in heaven would help deal with all those grandmas and grandpas up there imo

Still I'd get bored after a couple hundred years and would try to get kicked out asap