FF: Tempting proposal

[Paulo]

Almost by the end of the book, Lloyd Simcoe is offered a unique proposal, and the author does not make it clear if he did accept it or not afterwards.
I'd like to know (for those who finished the book and know what i'm talking about): What would be your response, if you'd be given the same offer?

My response: (view spoiler)[
I believe I'd accept immortality. I'm married and have two kids. It would be really painfull to see them go, but hopefully, I'd have time to prepare for that situation. After all, mortals as we are, we do get used to the idea of outliving our parents after some time, which help us prepare and eventually accept their deaths.
(hide spoiler)]

What is your opinion?

[Anne]

I'm just giving you my gut answer without having pondered it too long: I guess I wouldn't accept.
(view spoiler)[While I would love to live longer, let's say two or three hundred years, to just be able to do more stuff and maybe learn more than one profession and visit more places, I do not think that I want to live forever. The thought kind of scares me, though I can't really put my finger on why that is. (hide spoiler)]

[Poly]

I'd totally go for it, though I'm also the kind of person who'd go for a one-way colonization mission to Mars.

[Paulo]

Anne got a point. When i gave my answer, i assumed that at some point in the future i would be able to (view spoiler)[ end my own life if i wanted to. To truly live forever we'd have to face the fact that eventually the Universe would end, and I'd stay behind. (hide spoiler)]

[Andrew]

My response: (view spoiler)[I'd have a counter perspective in that I would say no. As much as the future intriges me (as does the past) like Cheung I have a belief in something different after this reality. (hide spoiler)]

[Jlawrence, S&L Moderator]

You know, it's funny, the same question was posed for an earlier book the group read, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom -- (view spoiler)[ in that book pretty much everyone can opt for the same thing Lloyd is presented with. (hide spoiler)].

My answer then was no, but this time I'm leaning towards yes - I think in both cases I was blatantly influenced by each book's vision of the future. (view spoiler)[Down & Out posits humans using immortality to play endless meme-sideshow-popularity contests, whereas the vision Lloyd has of far-flung future events in Flashforward was a great 'sense of wonder' moment and one of my favorite parts of the book. So I guess my answers depends on who's painting the picture of the future. ;) (hide spoiler)]

[David]

I forget what book series it was, but it had a (view spoiler)[pseudo-immortality. In the book the immortality was accomplished by hibernation that only the affluent could afford (at least in the beginning of the series.

One character had a painting by a pre-immortality friend. She woke up after one set of hibernation to find out that despite her best effort that the painting had decayed so much that it was unrecognizable. Imagine living so long that you outlive a properly preserved painting and that there is literally nothing left of your childhood.

This deeply disturbed me at the time and still has such impact that I can't imagine desiring immortality.
(hide spoiler)]

BTW... Does the book (series) ring bells with anyone? It seems to be a late 80s or 90s book, I think.

[Mathew]

Yes make me immortal. It doesn't even seem like a hard decision to me.

[Craig]

I thought that when it came to immortality that ... there could be only one.

[Michael]

It sounds like the cost would be everything that makes life worth living. So I'd say no.

[Bobbi]

No way. Every day has value only because there is a limited number of days. And who would want to outlive the rest of the human race? I thought (view spoiler)[Lloyd's second vision was extremely bleak. (hide spoiler)]

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I wish this had been more fleshed out in the book. I'm still intrigued by this man and his connection to the story, although the end does explain Theo's confusion when he met him after the flash forward.

I think Sawyer does tell us Lloyd's decision. (view spoiler)[ When he comes home from that trip, he missed his orginal flight, and he says to his wife that he felt absentminded. Much like I'd imagine a person would feel after having their short-term memory erased after turning down an offer for immortality. (hide spoiler)]

[Paulo]

Jenny,

I read it both ways. He could either have been brainwashed, or he could just be giving an excuse to his wife about why he missed the flight - after all, what he did (if he did it) was confidential, and she would not share his fate.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I can see both of those interpretations, Paolo, good point.

I never said what I would do. I would take it. Can you imagine the number of relationships you could have?