Would We Want to Live Forever? 

Who else is thinking about their childhood dog now? 😢

My dad died yesterday and I needed this video. Thanks Neil.

Life seems all too short to me. It feels like I'm just starting my life and I'm almost 60. I don't know if I'd want to live forever but I would like the choice of being able to live as long as I choose to. I feel probably we would evolve over time and become more developed than we could imagine in our short lives.

My dog died this week, I think I needed this

I don’t know about “forever”, but at least until I’m ready!

what people want is not immortality, but a life of good health at the peak of their physical abilities until death.

More of this reading with Neil!!! I could hear him all day long :)

I don't know if I would like to live forever, but I love my life right now. I have the best wife, a wonderful daughter and a stable financial situation. I don't want this ride to end anytime soon.

Without even starting to listen: Yes. i would like to life forever, or rather: Would like to choose the place and time to truly die for myself. When i feel it, when i have seen it all, when i have reached my limit and cannot continue to grow without passing what i know in the the next generation because i feel i lack a certain point of view to do so. I decide the successor and my passing. That would be the best of both worlds for me.

I get the points surrounding not wanting to live forever, but I think that intrinsic human desire to keep living and wanting to live forever is probably the one I side with more.

I didn’t choose to be born. The monotony of paying taxes, mortgages, sitting in traffic, cooking, cleaning etc gets old really quickly. There is absolutely no way I would want this to continue forever.

I am 66 years old, and strangely, I no longer fear death, my mother is 94 years old, and my grandmother died at 105; what I have also learned from them is that their mind has prepared them to go anytime, and they start talking about being tired. I am just wondering if those that lived generations back when life was short, did they have the same feelings as older people today

i will happily become stardust once again. no need to live forever... i do...

Before I even watch this I want to say this: I only am here for one goal and I only have so many days before I get too old to accomplish it. If given the chance to extend my life while keeping my intelligence and memories intact, I would gladly take it. Just so I can have more time.

Well done mate. This reflects my own view of our existence. I do not worry about death. It will come, I cannot prevent this. I simply rejoice in my existence. I am so privileged to be existent at this time.

Thats deeeeep. Makes you re-think and care about things that we already have.... i would't want to live forever. To see everything end, all the sadness. I rather have a happy short life filled with love.

Is it weird that I hear Neil’s voice speaking in my head when I read his books? Also, love the editing on this video, it made the reading excerpt even more interactive.

I hate the fact that I have to die. I want to know what is happening in a hundred years or a thousand years. I want to be there when we go extinct. Or when we migrate to another planet. I love gaming. I want to know what gaming is like in 200 years.

When we are young we think that we can live forever or we want to live forever , so very much that we can do . As we got older and lose loved ones and friends we realize the total horror it would be to have to live on forever never having even one loved one or friend who will understand and relate , I find life lonely enough already as it is , I would not want to live forever , truth being said I wish nature would hurry up , I'm tired , all alone , and lost too many that I loved already , a life time of loosing is not good . Yes for as much as we suffer there is such a beauty to life and the wonderful adventure it brings so this is why every possible day is so important and why survival is paramount . There is a reason for every life even if that life seems a waste , there was a reason for it we may never know , there is a reason why babies that are supposed to die , somehow lived on yet didn't appear to do a thing , silently working every day to help keep everything evened out . The saddest part is the life forgotten . I remember and think about every dog I got to share my life with , every day , I can remember every person who came and went , I lived 55 years and am already exhausted I could not conceive the horror of eternity .

When I was young I always wanted to live forever to travel the stars and learn more.

I have been living chronic pain that is disabling, that's not living to me as the pain sucks most joy away. I could not imagine living forever in pain. Its been this way since 2008 and I am so done, that I would love not to wake up tomorrow. Please don't take this as a suicide threat, its not, ive been under care since 2014 for it. I cant say when was the last time I was truly happy. Long past the nickname of sunshine!

Wish I had heard this before speaking at the memorial of my cousin who died on Feb 6, 2024, due to TB, Heart enlargement, thalassemia and post delivery. I miss her but didnt want her to live with aal this burden and pain. Thanks for the support Neil.

I lost my uncle this week Nothing makes me feel better than this video Thank you 🙏

Living forever would suck. I would rather die under circumstances that I'm most comfortable with. I will be at peace with knowing my time has come. People forget that death is just as natural as life.

People really don't think this though. Live forever? Ok then by extension you need all of your loved ones to live forever, and all of thier friends and loved ones. If one person lives forever, then we would all have to live forever. The universe has existed for 13 billion plus years without me. I think it will be just fine when Im gone. A timeless existence is meaningless.

What a lovely passage-and solemn reminder.

The passage about our canine loved ones brought tears to my eyes. 😢

How have I only just come across this podcast in the last week. Absolutely fantastic!!!!

Possibly one of the best and most insightful books I have read in my life.

Answer to the question.. Yes.. That'd give me a blissful outlook

I view death as the necessary process to avoid eternal suffering. Imagine being buried alive, or trapped in an underground cave or a collapsed building. Death is the only escape. We are limited in the amount of time we can suffer which I think is a wonderful thing.

Our modern hygiene, like clean teeth to understanding diet, and sleep, extends our lifetime expectancy compared to those before us. It’s a great point, as a new generation, we don’t see it as we benefited more than previous generations. I like the perspective of dog years, and how we measure our time, and see how much longer we live both naturally, and with modern medicine. Bravo, more please!

Living forever does not imply that one can do anything one wants. Although elegant, the words you read bypasses the work one must maintain to continue living. 😯

I find Neil deGrasse Tyson to be so unique exquisite to the senses of every discipline. Profound. I love you. The Greatest of all times.

Surely gonna add this to favorites video and play it every morning and afternoon on my way to work and back to home afterwork.

definitely am compelled to joy because my dogs have a 'ready to go get whatever' kind of encouraging energy.

Thank you so much for your wisdom and leadership 🙏

That was so beautiful. Thank you, Sir.

I often say I wouldn’t want to live forever . Nothing preventing terrible times for me.

Death is similar to returning to a state of non-existence. Just as we have no memory or awareness of the time before we were born, there will be no consciousness or experience to miss or remember anything. Death is the end of conscious existence, where our consciousness ceases to exist.

he does have a great story telling voice :)

where there is no death there is no life, where there is no life there is no death. -Bryan Bradley

I loved this. thank you. it made me feel peaceful.

I wouldn't mind living a couple hundred years just to see the advancements humanity makes. But I don't believe anything is meant to last forever. I would rather feel privileged to get to experience existence for a short time than experience the years slowly dragging by with no true purpose.

6:13 understatement of the year

I would want to live forever with these conditions: 1. I have perfect health and don't physically age. 2. I'm set up financially. 3. I still have the option to take my own life when I'm ready. There's no point in living after the sun expires. 😉

There are all sorts of people in the world. As someone with a severe anxiety problem, I already feel like I'm just 'passing through' life and not enjoying it. From my perspective, living forever would be wonderful.

I feel "Living forever" is not the actual desire but Living forever as a youthful joyful being is a real "Want" 😊

A 19-year-old looks ahead to what his life will offer him. That same person at his 70th birthday party wonders where all the years went. The movie, Meet Joe Black, illustrates it well when Anthony Hopkins utters that very thought. I would choose a longer lifespan, though not forever. Even immortality would get tiresome I would think.

If you think that living forever would be bad, then is living a shorter life better? There is a happy medium somewhere. It's up to each individual to find out what that is for themselves and make the most of that time. Would you rather have flowers that live forever, or flowers that die 5 seconds after they're picked? Probably something in-between.

I would want Neil to read to me all day every day. This was fantastic and now I miss my Maggie May and I’m looking at my two dogs with even more loving eyes. 😢

I read your book when it came out. It’s amazing.

Not alone, no. When there are no shortages of resources or even time itself, then it is love that becomes the currency of immortality.

My new favorite quote from Neil is: "Dogs aren't flowers."

Very profound. Love the analogy of the Forever flowers!

Very Deep. I think I appreciate this as much as you do, and that voice lends so much more substance to it !

simply beautiful

First, just because we wouldn't age doesn't mean we wouldn't die. Age and disease aren't the only things humans die from. Second, maybe this would motivate us to live in the moment and enjoying life right now, instead of racing around always thinking about our limited future and everything we need to "get done" before it's too late. Third, my daughter gave me silk flowers for mother's Day a few years ago. I value them to this day. It's not the object that I love it's the person who gave them to me. Also, every year I work hard in my garden to grow my own flowers. I get so much enjoyment seeing them grow and blume. But I don't value them less than the silk ones because they don't last as long. Like most things in life it all depends on your perspective. 😊

didn’t know you wrote a book. I am going to purchase it asap !

Thank you Neil for this great video ❤ always great to watch your videos! Meaningful and informative

I would, I don’t mind work, I find it rewarding, the idea of traversing deep space is so appealing. To be that generation, there is no bigger reward. To infinity…

Beautifully written and read, Neill. I think I just noticed a tiny mistake: At 4:30 you say about the 7:1 dog/human ratio: "A day onto a dog is a week onto humans". Shouldn't it be the other way round? A day onto human is a week onto a dog? 🤔

The idea of dying is the very reason to live. Life and living would be pointless if we lived forever. I'm grateful for the years I have, at 29, I hope to grow old and age well.

Everything you said is true, fear pushes us forward and limits us at the same time! We get tunnel vision and can't see anything around us, we become selfish and full of ourselves.

I've never accepted the rationale that we only do things today because we might die tomorrow. When I'm painting an illustration I do it because I enjoy it. Not because I'm racing death. When I play a video game it's because I'm in the mood to play. When I take my daughter out for ice cream it's because I love seeing her happy, not because I'm trying to cram as many memories in before I'm gone.

Yes up until the universe dies... I wouldn't want to just be floating in nothingness for eternity

There's no time for us There's no place for us What is this thing that builds our dreams, yet slips away from us...

Time is not what humans lack, rather the will to still live even after knowing death is closer every second. Don't go saying you'll do many great things only if you had more time. If unable to do anything meaningful with your life in a average lifespan of 75 years, you'll achieve nothing in an eternal lifespan. And if you did achieve wonderful things in your life, then die in peace knowing that fact.

Not forever just a lot longer like dude how do I ocean creatures live so long

I’ve already died twice (one from a motorcycle accident, one from a serious illness) - my experience tells me there’s nothing to avoid and nothing to fear. I know others will say there’s nothing after death, or that any such phenomenon is just the random firing of neurons. I’m not debating that - just relaying my personal experience.

There is beauty in the truth that was expressed. I've seen a poem in the Persian language by Omar Khayyam that has expressed the same sentiments (I'm sorry I can't translate it to English and maintain its elegance and beauty like Algebra.) You are like the old Persian Scientists who expressed their thoughts in poetry. That's another reason why you are loved by many.

That was so awesome. Amazing narration.

Yes I wanna live forever

Personally 'forever' I don't know I don't think so, but 1000 little years, absolutely, yes.

We need more of these videos!

I am convinced that just as everything that belongs to this Universe is returned to it, but there is something in us that is not matter and therefore, that something continues in another instance.

I would not want to live forever, I would have no motivation to get out of bed since I have all the time to do whatever and when I'd be done with everything I'd still have forever to do nothing.

I'd want to live forever, with the caveat that I could decide when I died and when I've had enough.

This man's voice reminds me of a thought about a meeting excersice for natural habitat conservationist where we would practice communications skills mimicking other species deciding direction.

chills down my body this whole video>

i would...

Yes

That last line is from Enter the Dragon! "They worshipped strength, because it is strength that makes all other values possible. Nothing survives without it. Who knows what delicate wonders have died out of the world, for want of the strength to survive."

Neil, you rock! More of this, please. Peace

"And someday when the descendants of humanity have spread from star to star, they won't tell the children about the history of Ancient Earth until they're old enough to bear it; and when they learn they'll weep to hear that such a thing as Death had ever once existed!" -A wise Man

if you consider the definition of life, living forever is not life, so it's kind of a silly question

Very moving and thought provoking

I love the StarTalks with Niel deGrasse Tyson, I learn sth treasured and helps me to learn English too.

I would definitely want to live forever

The funny part about this conversation everyone thinks they want to die until one day CRISPR catches up and you can look and feel like you're 24 indefinitely then everyone will change their opinions.

Very impressive poetry! Thank you.

Neil deGrasse Tyson, you've ruffled some feathers and perhaps made some enemies for standing up for true things. Good for you sir! You have integrity and I wish more people were like you.

I definitely want to live forever or until I choose not to. I want to live long enough to see us inhabit other worlds and speciate.

NDT for president! Please..

Well that certainly left me in a cheery mood. ..

The answer is, yes, we would like to live forever. At first. In time, who knows. We could reach a point where people who are 200 years old just.. don’t wanna be here anymore.

I have to reject this argument completely, not everyone procrastinates indefinitely, knowing there will be a tomorrow does not have to mean I waste today.

Dear American I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to express my deep disappointment and frustration regarding the delay in receiving my tax refund. As a law-abiding citizen, I fulfilled all my tax obligations promptly and expected a timely refund.

What a nice voice. I can listen to more readings from you Mr. Neil

I just love listening to you. You are inspiring. I will buy your book