Tanja, German physicist:
When you first asked, I knew I would do something that requires watching carefully and learning crafts, and then I'd
create something. And I didn't want this to stay a passion for some utopia. I wanted to do some of this in parallel
to my job. I tried to paint, but noticed I needed to do something in 3d. Then I tried sculpturing, but I didn't like
the fact that sculptures don't move. So I gave up and concentrated on my job. And suddenly this spring I have found
the right material. Plants. I'll build a garden when I am retired.
An anonymous AI researcher from the UK:
I'd still do exactly what I do now (do research, learn & teach) except I'd
have a lot nicer standard of living.
Not that I think your hypothetical state makes any sense. People in the
US & Europe already have institutions that ensure they can live without
work (more or less) and machines to help with their chores, but they don't
compete any less than those in less developed areas or have calmer lives.
Money will always stand in for effort. Time will always be a scarce
resource even if nothing else was.
An Entranced Astronomer:
It changes nothing. With maturity comes acceptance that some projects worth beginning will never be fulfilled in a
Human lifetime. Butterflies "know" that: Monarchs take three generations to complete a single migration. Perhaps
Man's Quest of Extra-solar Planets must be planned in such a vision: a generation to get there; a generation to do
something while there; a generation to get back, should one desire to do so.
I have already faced such Conscious Reflections on my present Existance: it is sufficient that I have Participated
in the Music and have Played the Game.
Christian college student, with interests in Evolutionary Biology:
Immortality with the possibility of accidental death would be even worse than
our present lives. Many would probably live in fear of death, taking cautious
and extraordinary measures to prevent it; of course, accidental death is never
completely preventable, and attempts to do so would make one so fearful and
restricted that the quality of life would hardly be worth the extension of life.
Such a world would really test my faith in God, but I would probably do the
same thing I'm doing now, finish college and then go on to graduate school. The elimination of money would mean that I could live in Germany for a few years to
improve my German and become fluent. Ultimately my goal to be an evolutionary
biologist would remain the same, but I would like to explore different avenues
of biology and visit as many different ecosystems as I can, including seeing
deep-sea environments in a submersible. I would have more time to devote to my
present hobbies. I would also love to travel around the world just meeting
people and talking to them; it would be fun to interview people who remember
what the world was like before life was limitless and to hear their insights on
what has changed.
Chris Stetson, a philosophy & computer science student:
If you're not already doing what makes you happy in life, then why
aren't you? I suspect very little would change in my life, though my
passions would continue to expand and fluctuate as they've done just in
these last six years. I would continue fostering my mental and physical
faculties, and continue to explore and appreciate the mysteries and
wonderment nature and the world have to offer.
Copyright January 3, 2006, Patrick Charles McGuire P.McGuire@reading.ac.uk
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