tinaz said:

I never want to die... ever

And since that of course isnt gonna happen, I choose NOT knowing...

I am with you, there could never be enough

paintsprayer said:

tinaz said:

I never want to die... ever

And since that of course isnt gonna happen, I choose NOT knowing...

I am with you, there could never be enough

It would depend on HOW you lived, for me. We KNOW what happens to the human body as it ages. So how would we live forever? Fountain of youth type science or medicine? Doubtful. Robotic implants? Nanotechnology? Maybe. More likely it would have to be some sort of transference of consciousness into an electronic external "body". If that's the case, I wouldn't be interested.

I think I'd like to go in my early 80s... if you're in ok health you can still enjoy some things..

I would hate to know how I'm gonna die because I would never stop thinking about it. I can't say how I want to die, but I don't wanna drown, crash or be tortured in any kind of way. I'd like to go feeling no pain

I will outlive all of you mere mortals. We're talkin' at least 112 years of age, baby! HotGritz, I got you on speed dial, sexy. I'll ring you from my retirement getaway.

As long as possible. If my mind and body are in tact, I would like to go on for at least another 50 years or more.

Identity said:

I will outlive all of you mere mortals. We're talkin' at least 112 years of age, baby! HotGritz, I got you on speed dial, sexy. I'll ring you from my retirement getaway.

U all are some bad mofo's. I don't want 2 be around humans that long........yikes.

Number23 said:

Until about six months ago lol. I can still laugh so there's hope I guess. If lol counts as laughing. Which it probably does these days.

I was going to say until yesterday

I think I would rather not know when I am going to die

I'd like to decide when I day and I don't want to become so old that I would need other people to take care of me. I want to be fit and healthy when I die, so I'll probably take my own life at about 60.

If I really could choose freely, I'd like to live for about 1000 years, but stop aging physically at a certain age. I would just love to witness first contact with another species, or move to live on another planet. I find the thought to be extremely thrilling.

Dave1992 said:

I'd like to decide when I day and I don't want to become so old that I would need other people to take care of me. I want to be fit and healthy when I die, so I'll probably take my own life at about 60.

If I really could choose freely, I'd like to live for about 1000 years, but stop aging physically at a certain age. I would just love to witness first contact with another species, or move to live on another planet. I find the thought to be extremely thrilling.

As you get older, you'll realize how young 60 really is!

NDRU said:

Dave1992 said:

I'd like to decide when I day and I don't want to become so old that I would need other people to take care of me. I want to be fit and healthy when I die, so I'll probably take my own life at about 60.

If I really could choose freely, I'd like to live for about 1000 years, but stop aging physically at a certain age. I would just love to witness first contact with another species, or move to live on another planet. I find the thought to be extremely thrilling.

As you get older, you'll realize how young 60 really is!

Truer words were never spoken!

Kurt Vonnegut wrote a great short story about a time in the future where you could choose your own death. Or old people could. Maybe young people got to live forever. I forget.

But the point of the story was following Old Grandpa as he chose his day to die. He kept putting it off and putting it off - first, he had to see how a soap opera ended. Then, he had to see the World Series. And so on, and so on.

I think Vonnegut was trying to tell us no one would willingly choose to die. Either that, or everyone wants to live forever or until the Cubs win the World Series, which might be the same thing.

If I had the power to choose, I'd also want the power to say something like "a long, long, LONG time but still before any more of my loved ones died and about half an hour after all of my money runs out. And in my sleep." Something like that.

Hypothetically, I'd love to live for a very long time--including the science-fiction lengths that some people have mentioned in this thread--but if the loved ones I have didn't also make it that length, then I think living that long would eventually turn into a sadness...even if health and mental acuity could be assured.

Graycap23 said:

Question:

If u could choose, how many years would u want 2 live?

If u had a choice between knowing when u are going 2 die or not knowing, which would u choose?

I would wanna know when I was going 2 die.

RodeoSchro said:

NDRU said:

As you get older, you'll realize how young 60 really is!

Truer words were never spoken!

Kurt Vonnegut wrote a great short story about a time in the future where you could choose your own death. Or old people could. Maybe young people got to live forever. I forget.

But the point of the story was following Old Grandpa as he chose his day to die. He kept putting it off and putting it off - first, he had to see how a soap opera ended. Then, he had to see the World Series. And so on, and so on.

I think Vonnegut was trying to tell us no one would willingly choose to die. Either that, or everyone wants to live forever or until the Cubs win the World Series, which might be the same thing.

Yeah, I didn't consider and include the natural survival instinct (which is probably the strongest of all instincts we have) in my answer. I was speaking hypothetically, if I could choose right now.

Here's a modified response from an assignment I did on how to deal with death and dying...

Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross is the pioneer behind the 5 Stages of Grief model (Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and finally, Acceptance). She spoke about how a lot of us cannot really concieve of our own demise, even if we see it happening around us (i.e dying grandparents, the elderly, terminally ill patients, etc.). "It'll happen to thee and thee, but it will not happen to me" is her way of putting it. The only way we can concieve of our potential end is when we see children, or someone our age, dying. Then this denial of what appears to be an illusion takes a very dark and potentially frightening reality. "It can't happen to me, I'm too young..." becomes much more concievable. But according to Dr. Kübler-Ross, we still cannot see ourselves "growing old, going to bed and not waking up". We concieve of our potential death as a big force that we cannot control, taking us out of our existance (i.e someone taking our lives, murder). But dying patients, whether they are children or the elderly, have a way of communicating that is unique to them. What I gathered from this was that those who know their death is imminent have a much heightened perception of feelings, especially of others. And it can either be a pleasant experience or a more uncomfortable one if you are in their presence. Dr. Kübler-Ross goes on to say that the lives of dying patients also become more centred on them, their world shrinks from everyday worries and obligations, to perhaps just focusing on themselves (giving them more time to think), and their treatment. The hospital room might very well become their world, when prior to that it encompassed so much more (i.e kids, jobs, bills, etc.).

Dr. Viktor Frankl, a pioneer psychiatrist in logotherapy and existential psychology, explain how meaning can be derived from suffering and the knowledge of dying. He stipulated that these people truly do have a higher sense of meaning than normal populations. I personally think that is true because when you are faced with the knowledge that you are going to die, I would think that you really don't care what other people think of you, or how they judge you. I remember when I read Dr. Frankl's book "The Will To Meaning", and he was recalling his time in Auschwitz, he remembered how beautiful nature was everyday as he marched with the other prisoners to the work site. He became more grateful for everyday he woke up alive. He thought of happier memories, such as those with his wife, and they helped sustain him everyday. He found meaning in his suffering, even though he knew there was probably no end in sight except the gas chamber. The shackles that had once bounded him into not noticing the little things, or being in touch with his feelings, were no longer there. As he said in his video, when faced with a situation that you cannot change, it can put you in what he deems to be "the existential vacuum", where the frustration begins. But from that frustration, can come great change (he used the example of political revolution). But it can manifest in a change in outlook on life, or bring about a questioning about the things you once held dear. No matter what situation you're in, either favourable or not, you can find meaning in it.

As Morrie Schwartz (i.e "Tuesdays With Morrie") once said: "Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live."

That being said. I'm not afraid of dying. I don't like the idea of my body failing on me as I grow older...but I'm doing the best I can to stay healthy and keep myself in good shape. I personally that...dying should be no more than feeling like you just woke up into a brand new existance.

My two cents.

[Edited 12/9/11 13:03pm]

I watched the sun rise this morning over the dark mountians

in a few hours the moon will rise

I have lived an incredible life ~ loved much and lost as well

I raised 4 great kids ~ took care of my Mom with Alzheimers for over 9ish yrs

have spent more that 1/2 my life married to my best friend and a wonderful husband/father

If I were to die tonight ... that would be fine

If I am to live much longer ~ that will be fine too

i would like to live at least long enough to see our son graduate high school, go to college, get married, and see my grandchildren.

i don't want to know when or how i'm going to die. death isn't a great subject for me.