If we somehow eradicated death, would we live an eternal suffering?

1. 79

   Jeremy Gillposted 10 years ago

   If we somehow eradicated death, would we live an eternal suffering?
   
   If mankind found a way to prevent death, but not pain, would our expanding population doom us to a never-ending life of hunger, thirst, and despair?

   replyreport
2. 71

   dashingscorpioposted 10 years ago

   I once had an instructor define intelligence as "the ability of an organism to (adapt) to it's environment."
   Usually with these hypothetical situations one assumes man will not develop new technologies with the passage of time.
   I'm sure 200 years ago no one living at that time could imagine 747 jet airlines, space travel, cell phones, laptop computers, microwave ovens, automobiles, cruise ships, skyscrapers, TV/radio and so on.
   I suspect if mankind figured out a way to prevent dying he would also come up with ways to generate different food sources and make use of sea water. Mankind has proven to be "adaptable".
   We're already seeing strides made in cloning food products. I don't foresee the end of pharmaceutical companies coming up with new pain killers nor narcotics disappearing.
   People will always find a way to ease their pain.
   The longer man lives the more inventions he will come up with!

   replyreport
   1. 79

      Jeremy Gillposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      You're right, we have methods to ease pain, and we'll keep developing more. For curiosity's sake, what if we lost all those methods? Perhaps a meteor destroys Earth, and we are left in the vacuum of space. Would you want to continue living?

      replyreport
3. 70

   Tusitala Tomposted 10 years ago

   There is quite a difference between suffering and pain.  It's a common enough mistake to think they are one and the same.   Suffering is physical PLUS mental pain - the pushing out, the not wanting, the why me? interpretation which only adds to WHAT IS.  Pain is physical.  Observe the sensation of pain without the mental attributes we add to it, the 'reaction,' and we find that it is far more bearable, and goes away more quickly.   
   
   A course in Vipassana meditation will teach you this great truth, not by intellectual understanding but by experience.   And once known by experience our lives become a lot more pleasant overall.   
   
   Why don't you try it?

   replyreport
   1. 79

      Jeremy Gillposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Good point, Tom. Often, the two go hand in hand; enough pain almost always equals suffering. Still, thanks for the clarification.

      replyreport
4. 0

   Stargrrlposted 10 years ago

   I am sure we would get sick of living, at one point, and then at another, we would overpopulate the earth.

   replyreport
   1. 79

      Jeremy Gillposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Possibly! I'd be interested to watch such a world, and see how it fares.

      replyreport
5. 83

   tsmogposted 10 years ago

   Interesting question. Seems so. Maybe science would develop a means to diminish need for quenching thirst or feeding hunger. Despair is absence of hope. I would have to presume to be absent of hope is to not have faith and trust there is a next be that a next moment, tomorrow or etc. Very interesting question.

   replyreport