Lifetime Appointments & Immortality

July 07, 2018, 05:59 PM

If science ever manages to develop immortality, or what is essentially immortality, how will that affect life time judicial appointments? 100 year term limits? A permanently fixed court?

What if the justices are immortal, but are just nine heads floating in nutrient broth and communicating through computer implants?

God Bless and Protect our Beloved President, Donald John Trump.

July 07, 2018, 06:06 PM

sigfreund

That will be a minor issue if practical immortality is achieved. Even the question of how long someone can collect an unending pension like Social Security or military retirement would be insignificant compared with all the other effects on society.

► 6.0/94.0

To operate serious weapons in a serious manner.

________________________________________________________
"Great danger lies in the notion that we can reason with evil." Doug Patton.

July 07, 2018, 07:29 PM

Fenris

quote:
Originally posted by Gustofer:
Biology won't allow it.

True, and we'll never be able to fly or go to the moon.

God Bless and Protect our Beloved President, Donald John Trump.

Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me.

When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson

"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown

July 07, 2018, 09:14 PM

Fenris

quote:
Originally posted by JALLEN:
What happens to reincarnation?

Interesting question. Could religious institutions survive at all if there were essentially no death? Could science circumvent the whole what happens after death question by simply making an end run around death? Choosing to die anticipating either heaven or reincarnation would be an extra-ordinary leap of faith. The angels might get pretty lonely.

I suspect religious observation would become exceedingly rare.

But think of the compound interest.

God Bless and Protect our Beloved President, Donald John Trump.

July 07, 2018, 09:19 PM

Orguss

I'm sure laws would be passed to disallow judicial, legislative, or executive branch appointees to be immortal; however, there are a few sci-fi sources which have immortal councils ruling over a populace. After a while, though, things usually prove fatal for them.

"I'm yet another resource-consuming kid in an overpopulated planet raised to an alarming extent by Hollywood and Madison Avenue, poised with my cynical and alienated peers to take over the world when you're old and weak!" - Calvin, "Calvin & Hobbes"

July 07, 2018, 09:55 PM

sigfreund

quote:
Originally posted by Fenris:
I suspect religious observation would become exceedingly rare.

And that would inevitably lead to the same accusations that are now made against atheists, that we cannot avoid being immoral and wicked without the bribes or threats of religious belief to keep us in line. The other side of that coin is, of course, that many religionists are religious merely because they believe it’s the right thing, not the hope for reward or fear of punishment. And, somewhat ironically, that’s what those of us at the opposite ends of the spectrum share: that we recognize we should do the right thing in the here and now merely because doing the right thing is best for us all here and now.

► 6.0/94.0

To operate serious weapons in a serious manner.

July 08, 2018, 02:06 AM

Rey HRH

I would rather worry about the zombie apocalypse than worry about immortality. I might as well worry about what I'll wear tomorrow should I wake up as a girl.

"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.

July 08, 2018, 02:18 AM

sigmonkey

quote:
Originally posted by Fenris:...
What if the justices are immortal, but are just nine heads floating in nutrient broth and communicating through computer implants?

One can always hope for flies...

_{"the meaning of life, is to give life meaning" ✡ Ani Yehudi אני יהודי Le'olam lo shuv לעולם לא שוב!}

July 08, 2018, 02:52 AM

Hamden106

quote:
Originally posted by Mikito:
Carrousel
Probably have to keep an eye on the blinking light on the palm of your hand.

Run, Logan, run. Jessica too.

SIGnature
NRA Benefactor CMP Pistol Distinguished

July 08, 2018, 06:05 AM

XinTX

quote:
Originally posted by Rey HRH:
I would rather worry about the zombie apocalypse than worry about immortality.

But, aren't zombies reanimated dead, so essentially immortal? Wouldn't this in essence be the same thing?

I'm so confused.

_______________________
“The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.” Ayn Rand

“If we relinquish our rights because of fear, what is it exactly, then, we are fighting for?” Sen. Rand Paul

July 08, 2018, 06:32 AM

Mars_Attacks

quote:
Originally posted by Mikito:
Carrousel
Probably have to keep an eye on the blinking light on the palm of your hand.

There is no sanctuary.