Ask HN: What would you do if you could live for a 1000 years?
I am wondering how we would spend our lives if it became significantly longer, like 1000 years long.
Shoot! I was going to pass on this as "too personal", but thought better of it and dug it out again, mainly due to the "curse" answer, to mention that I could easily spend 1000 years just reading all the books I've bookmarked as "would like to read someday". Multiply by 5-10x to properly understand the subject matter (it's not fiction I'm talking about). And that's just what's available right now, not counting all the stuff that would keep pouring out while I'm reading. Along the way, I would obviously want to use my suitably enhanced mind (brain-computer interface, maybe genetic manipulation down the road) to apply what I've learned, and contribute to the subjects I've found most interesting. And go places, obviously - with centuries to burn, the solar system would be well within reach, maybe even the stars. 1000 years is not nearly enough. What a horrible curse! At 50, life is already borderline boring -- even another 50 years would be almost unbearable. So another 950 years? Damn. I'd probably spend most of it counseling younger people not to have too much fun -- lest they lose the capacity for it. And maybe finish my book. With that much time I wouldn't really have any legit excuses left. My priority would be acquiring and amassing power through politics. Why? Right now, I don't worry too much about the politicians who screw things up because a few more years, I'm gone. However, for hundreds of years... Living under the capricious whims of often thoughtless people? It'll be torture.