Would you ever choose to kill yourself?

Would you ever choose to kill yourself?

That was a loaded question. Most people would say "No, of course not. Life is too precious."

Would you choose to live forever?

Surprisingly, many people would say "No. Living forever would be boring and pointless." Or they may give another reason - people have come up with many ways of justifying their mortality.



Do those questions set up a false dichotomy? Right now, you don't have to kill yourself to find death - age and disease and accidents will take care of it eventually. But some day, science might provide us with solutions for each of those problems; there may be a cure for aging. Aubrey de Grey and other researchers are convinced that they will find a way.

When there exists a choice for immortality, isn't choosing the alternative equivalent to choosing death?

Think of it this way: Every year on your birthday, you receive a small package in the mail. You unwrap it, and inside is a red pill. There's a card there that explains what everybody already knows: If you take this pill, you will live another year, completely healthy and active and free of diseases, guaranteed. If you don't take the pill, you may die within the year.

One year, you feel depressed, or bored, or just sick of it all, and you decide to flush the pill down the toilet. At the end of the year, you're still alive and healthy. And the next year too. You get suspicious, and call the number on the back of the card.

It turns out that all those red pills are actually placebos. The only real pill was the first one you took on your 18th birthday - that one has already made you immortal.

After the call, you receive a package in the mail. It contains a blue pill; if you take the blue pill, you will die. Not immediately, but inevitably, you will die.

Would you take the blue pill?