Suppose you woke up and found out you were immortal (don't know how you would find out unless an angel came down to tell you the “good” news). Not only that, but you don't need to eat/drink/sleep/breathe, and if you're over 20 years of age your body is regressing to that age and you become literally disease free. What would you do with your so called gift?

I'd hide it as best I can. I'd use another identity every 50-80 years or so. Why would I hide it? Well… I'll let you figure that out. I'll finish this post later. :)

If I don't need to breathe, I'm going to go play around in the Mariana Trench and see what's down there ^.^ I think I'd be really excited about my new gifts for a while, but I'd start to get kind of depressed when my friends and family started dying. That would be really difficult to cope with, I'd think. Curious why you'd hide it, Lonnehart! I think I might so I wouldn't get send to some laboratory somewhere and poked at with needles.

You would make new identities so you could live a relatively normal life, without the annoyance or paparazzi.

First off, I agree with your quotations around ‘good.’ I would not enjoy it.

I guess I would live my life as normally as could for as long as I could. Probably until everyone I had known died. I would make myself look older as need be for as long as possible.

I guess after everyone I know had died, I'd keep creating new identities, go and learn as much as possible.
I would try to live as normal as possible, until the day comes when I break down and live the rest of my life in relative misery.

My hope would be that I have few regrets in my eternity, and am able to help the world instead of harm it.


Edit: I hope I don't inevitably become a nihilist…
I enjoy time to much to live without it…

I'd see how many M&Ms I could eat.

Oh this is going to be fun.

First thing I notice is that you didn't include anything about pain. I would see if I could still hurt myself, but I'll assume that I can.

I would have a grand old time saving money and investing, then faking my death and moving somewhere else. But mostly I'd just watch Humanity advance. I would love to see the changes we will bring about on ourselves, both good and bad. Maybe for a while I'd go out and live underwater or in a forest or something. And once the drugs got good enough (memory enhancing ones to be specific) I'd start work on learning everything. At least, everything INTERESTING anyways.

But this sort of reminds me of that story about the family that lives forever so long as they drink from that one magic spring, and the little girl finds them. Tuck Everlasting.

Good book.

Yeah… if I could make at least my family immortal too, then I'd be fine :)
By myself, I'd eventually become very disconnected from humanity. Inevitably you'd think of yourself as something different, superior… You'd have to keep those feelings closely in check because that's very dangerous.

I think I'd try and learn as much as possible (languages, science, history, read every book, cultures- learn dances, study all religions, cultural rites, lore and the rest… everything) and try as hard as I could to be a good person now that I've got so much freedom. :)

Sorry I didn't complete my post earlier. Pressing issues at hand. Here are my explanations. My two reasons for hiding my gift would be:

1) Every two bit dictator/despotic ruler/emporer wanna be is going to want to know how I got my “gift” so they can have it for themselves. I'd be poked and prodded in the vain hope that they can hold on to power for eternity.

2) Every religious organization will want me dead, or on their side. After all, everyone would want my gift, and thus they would worship whatever diety gave it to me. However, that would reduce the number of worshippers in other churches, so my death would help them keep the worshippers in THEIR congregation. And yes, I didn't mention pain; just because you're an immortal doesn't mean you're free from death by bullets/knives/etc…

Knowing myself, I'd probably go off to war, travel, etc. and attempt to experience every possible thing I could find within the known and as yet unknown universe.

If they try to send me to some lab to fix the world's ailments, I'd probably end up fighting or running like crazy to avoid capture. Call me cynical or whatever, but I wouldn't want the world being cured of it's diseases and human frailties. Then we'd end up with a world of humans just like I was, completely unable to die and who can guess what catastrophe would occur then.

And maybe, just once, I'd go and kick Chuck Norris in the balls to get everyone to shut up with those godawful old jokes. Because nobody is going to stop a living god.

lba
Because nobody is going to stop a living god.

But you wouldn't be a living god. You'd just never age. You'd need to be omnipotent to be a living diety. :)

The only reason I would every want to be immortal would be to explore, to see everything there is to see. I think it would be cool to explore the windcaves in South Dakota, after I was done seeing all the cool places in the world. And when I was done with the earth, I'd begin my space travel. I imagine that eventually I would want to die, though…I mean, I would outlast the earth! You would just get so lonely being immortal. I imagine after I got tired of exploring and the loneliness became too much, I would take my own life.

Being unable to die, with the accumulated experience that would result sounds pretty close to omnipotent to me. Of course, I'm taking your use of the word immortal for it's face value and going by the definition.

im·mor·tal
Pronunciation Key Pronunciation
–adjective
1. not mortal; not liable or subject to death; undying: our immortal souls.
2. remembered or celebrated through all time: the immortal words of Lincoln.
3. not liable to perish or decay; imperishable; everlasting.
4. perpetual; lasting; constant: an immortal enemy.

I'd imagine that people could hurt me with that definition in mind, but no dying.

amanda
If I don't need to breathe, I'm going to go play around in the Mariana Trench and see what's down there ^.^

Would you be able to move down there? Or get crushed to death (since he said you could die from bullets/etc).

I would go to the library and practically live there for years, reading all the books, especially history, science, math, religion, and old literature. Learn all the various languages I can. Learn to fake accents. I'd do like others and change identity every ten years (about how long I think people wouldn't notice me looking around 20), probably faking my death. Change careers each time. Maybe get plastic surgery to change my appearance. I guess I'd pretty much try to be a Pretender. =P

Lonnehart
just because you're an immortal doesn't mean you're free from death by bullets/knives/etc…

Yes it does ;)
Not ageing is something different…
Ah well, indefinite longevity would be good, but fragile. Maybe you'd become obsessed with keeping yourself from harm? That would corrupt you.
Not having to eat, sleep, or breath would be nice though, it'd also mean you wouldn't have to go to the toilet. ^_^

Immortal as in i can't die from being shot, stabbed, etc?

I'd rob a bunch of banks and to make sure i wasn't caught i'd arm myself as a human bomb (You know so they can't detain me for an eternity, i'd explode when they get close) So i'll buy stuff i couldn't have before.

After a few centuries the sorrow from watching my family and anyone i'd ever loved die around me will be too much, i'll use my knowledge from age and evil money to slowly ease into politics and take over. I then will have enough power to have a hitler-like dictator ship and do whatever i want with the part of the world, morphing it to my evil ways. >B^U GANONDORF!!

j/k ^.^ I'll play video games.

Skullbie
i'd arm myself as a human bomb (You know so they can't detain me for an eternity, i'd explode when they get close)

That'd be hillarious ^_^
Funniest evil villain idea ever lol!

Immortal Human Bomb Woman! Don't go near her or she'll explode herself! o_O
You'd be running around with a black face, hair sticking up and no eyebrows, with “BOMB!” written on your shirt and a crazed grin on your face. :)

Wouldn't the bombs esplode her clothes too? O.O

Question, could I get fat? If not, I'd eat whatever good tasting foods I want forever and ever!

I'd pull a Vandal Savage and be known as various conquerors throughout history. :)

highspeedcomics
I'd pull a Vandal Savage and be known as various conquerors throughout history. :)

That'd be mean :P

Raccoo
Wouldn't the bombs esplode her clothes too? O.O

Yea, and that'd be funny and sexy… but I'd prefer it if her comedy “BOMB!” T-shirt stayed on. :)

Raccoo
Question, could I get fat? If not, I'd eat whatever good tasting foods I want forever and ever!

If you did get fat, what would it matter? It can't kill you and you have all the time in the world to get thin again if that's what you want ;)

ozoneocean
Yea, and that'd be funny and sexy… but I'd prefer it if her comedy “BOMB!” T-shirt stayed on. :)

Or there could be a circular hole blown in the shirt precisely where the ‘M’ was.

ozoneocean
If you did get fat, what would it matter? It can't kill you and you have all the time in the world to get thin again if that's what you want ;)

I guess that's true. Also, if you don't eat, you won't die, but wouldn't you get thin and stuff?

Better the hole where the “O” goes lol!

Thin? naw… Lonnehart says you go to some fit 20year old shape. So you'd probably just bounce back there again by default. …The alternative to getting fat is crapping a whole lot. So… which is better?

Oh boy, if I become ageless, I'll have to be very careful not to get caught in a situation where I suffer forever because I cannot die.

For example, what if you're piloting a private plane and it crashes into the ocean? And the wreck sinks to the ocean floor with you trapped in a mesh of steel? You can't die because you can breathe underwater, but you can't move because your limbs are pinned.

What can you do? I suppose you can wait around 500 years until all the stuff holding you down rusts away, so you can float back up to the surface… Then spend the next 5 years trying to swim to land.

Definitely can't be ageless without a buddy system.

i would prolly start chain smoking and be drunk all the time . then i would start walking and try to visit everywhere on the Earth. by the time i finished the trek everything would be slightly different and i could start all over again . but it would prolly be so lonely that i would go crazy after a few weeks !

I've always wanted this.

Really, to keep learning, to have all the time to perfect my craft without concern for time, to travel the world on foot, etc. I've always wanted to be there at the very end of all things, watching the very world devoured or remade, and the changes happening all the while prior to that. There's so much I want to do. One lifetime seems so little.

I'd be the eleventh Doctor.

But you know, without a Rose Tyler.

I would definitely travel a lot and learn a lot, but not until my family dies. They're not going to be around forever, so there's no sense wasting that time.

But after all that, I'd start learning languages and skills. I think my learning would actually take me overseas, where I would learn as many forms of martial arts as possible… not to be any kind fighter or anything. But I've always wondered what kind of fighting style you would create if you knew all the fighting styles and could choose the best from each one. Plus, perfecting your body is as important as perfecting your mind.

Unfortunately, it seems like the more you know, the sadder you become. Maybe it's because you find yourself able to empathize more with the people around you, and are also more aware of the widespread suffering and death. Maybe you just start to realize more and more how futile things are. I don't know. That's why I'm sure that my immortality would eventually result in misery.

LOL at the thread.

Hmm, let me see. I'd learn all languages, read all the books and understand all forms of science known to man. then I'd find a way to make safe copies out of all of that and store the total human knowledge… and hopefully pass it on to whatever next mammal (hopefully mammal) species would dominate the earth after humanity is gone.

…or I'd just go into tyranny and dominate the earth myself *evil laugh*

What would I do if I was immortal?


WORLD DOMINATION!

Now that I'm a MacCleod:

I'd travel and do everything and learn and become an antiques dealer. Why not you'd have first hand experience with what you sell? One problem, in about 800 years or so the odds would catch up to you and you would have a fatal accident.

And of course look for the Kurgan, THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!

I'd say I'd milk it for all it's worth. Become some kinda low-class deity, sell diet and exercise books, etc. I'm of the mind that, if you do turn out immortal, a lot of people are going to be ‘gunning" for you, but if you make yourself a very public figure it gets a little harder. It’s not easy to abduct Tom Cruise, and people are gonna notice if he goes missing. Aside from which I don't really trust my ability to disappear and start up a new life. I'd probably get into acting; maybe start up a franchise character like James Bond and I can play him indefinitely.

Seeing as I'd never die, I'd try to stay at my home for a little longer. But at some point, I'll have to disappear, or fake my own death.

From there, seeing as I'll never need to do mortal things again, I'll freely travel the world. And figure out what to do then.