General Question

luigirovatti's avatar

Would a organism able to live forever survive the extinction of the universe?

Asked by luigirovatti (2889points) 2 hours ago

I imagine this question can be considered from various angles; I’ll just try to add my 2 cents to it. Most of this you already know, but it’s to make you understand what I know.

First of all, we’re made of energy. Energy can be converted to other forms of energy; for example, potential energy can be converted to kinetic energy, chemical energy can be converted to thermal energy, and so on. Each time, these transformations occur; however, some part of this energy is lost. It disappears and can’t be used in the physical world ever again. This condition occurs everywhere in the world, heck, everywhere in the universe, and it’s called entropy. The point of all this is, when the entropy reaches a certain level, the universe will cease to expand, and will contract itself to a ball of compressed energy, after which, who knows?

This condition is the main reason why man becomes old and dies after 80—? years, by the way. We’re unable to access forms of energy that help us sustain our life indefinitely. If, however, a living organism was able to access some other forms of alternative energy, it could potentially live forever. It’s not so outlandish, there are organisms that are proof of that, for example, Turritopsis dohrnii, Hydra, and bacteria. Henrietta Lacks herself had her blood taken, and the HeLa cell line was created.

In any case, the question stands. If a person was able to live forever, (ie, using some form of inexhaustible energy), would it be able to survive the extinction of the universe?

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1 Answer

flutherother's avatar

It’s another form of the old question what would happen if an irresistible force met an immovable object. The answer is that in a universe in which an irresistible force was possible there could be no immovable objects and vice versa. It’s a question of language and definitions rather than of science.

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