"HOW LONG HAS THIS BEEN GOIN' ON?"
No matter how long we CAN live, how long would you WANT to live? Can’t you imagine a time when you might desire the rest of death?
Let’s imagine a life-span of 1,000 years, or 10 times the extreme life-span of a modern human.
Planning for extreme life-spans: How do you fill a thousand years?
Even with perfected health and static aging, accidents will happen. Wars will break out. Terrorists will strike. Natural disasters will run their courses. Death will still intrude, and existence will still not be taken for granted. As time goes on, many of these events will rob you of friends and family.
Alas, people change. And because of the wild changes possible over a millennium, many of those you cherish will desert you, betray you, beguile you – bewitch, bother and bewilder you. Change will still inject itself despite your desires.
Let’s explore a hypothetical thousand-year life…
The Year 2060
In your 100th year you are still surrounded by friends and family. Knowing that you now face an open-ended life, you continue your education. Your first spouse of 35 years died 20 years before static aging was invented. You take on a second spouse. You have two kids who live on with you, and many grandchildren.
2160
In your 200th year many original family and friends are replaced by new younger people. You have now obtained degrees in medicine, law, engineering, psychology, philosophy, biology, history and economics. You raise 8 “new” children over the century, spread out by many years. Great-great-great-great grandchildren make holidays a challenge.
2260
In your 300th year your continuing education dwindles to extreme specialties. You have acquired enough wealth to retire forever from work, and are tired of working, devoting all of your time to recreation. Your 2nd spouse is killed in a transportation crash on the Moon. You are now the head of 10 generations, but family ties are growing less and less valuable in this era.
2360
In your 400th year your accumulated wealth is slashed by interplanetary warfare, forcing you to start over. Your century off has resulted in all of your education becoming obsolete. Your descendants are spread throughout the Solar System’s inhabited worlds and the Law forbids you from making more babies. Your lifetime quota is filled.
2460
In your 500th year none of your original family or friends are around, all replaced. With fewer people dying and more being born, getting real estate on Earth is nearly impossible unless you are extremely rich. You’re lucky to have gotten a quaint spot on the Moon. And now people can grow younger – you can stasis at any age-condition you desire.
2560
In your 600th year everyone you meet reminds you of someone you once knew. You have traveled everywhere that you’ve ever wanted to go, several times. You have done everything that you’ve ever dreamed of trying, several times. You’re sick of all your old favorite foods. Mad cravings for something new obsess you.
2660
In your 700th year you have forgotten almost everything about your first 100 years, and have to try very hard to remember them without assistance. Everyone around you now tries out being different ages, sexes, different races, different sizes – you cannot even keep individuals straight.
2760
In your 800th year a radical shift in thought occurs as suicide becomes institutionalized for those who simply do not want to live on. A massive poison cloud crosses the Solar System, corroding the structures of civilization and wiping out 31% of life, half of your family and friends among them.
2860
In your 900th year you’re on your 21st spouse and there are members of 35 generations under you. You have opted to live on Mars, where there is a city of folks largely born in the 21st century and who like to live in a slower, more casual, old-fashioned way. Membership is for those 800 years old and above.
2960
In your 1000th year new technologies are completely unfathomable. Contemporary language is incomprehensible. The youngest generations seem entirely superficial and very difficult to care about. Humans are now going to other stars and amazing discoveries are being reported. But you’re finding it ever more difficult to get excited about anything, having constant déjà vu.
When do you start wondering: what is the point?
When would you want to die?
