Just listened to an Alan Jackson song about getting old. He states in it that if there were a fountain of youth, he would not drink it.

MY QUESTION TO THE YOUNGER MEMBERS IS

If there was a fountain of youth, would you drink it? Remember, it does not send you back in time; it just makes you younger.

If yes, why, and what would you do differently? If no, why not

For me, I'm really not sure with everything going on and the world the way it is. I think I would also pass.

For sure, yes and yes. I believe everyone would drink from the fountain of youth. For me, it would first of all be about getting rid of all the wear and tear and feeling young again. Drinking from the fountain does not have to mean living forever, and honestly, the world as it is now is not really any different from the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, or 70s. It is just how the world acts and how people live.

I bet those times felt just as chaotic to someone growing old as today does to us. At least we should know better now, even though we are constantly bombarded with negative news and stories. Still, I doubt it was much different back then. I found newspapers from the 1930s in a house I restored, and honestly, they did not look much different from the news today.

Why would I drink from it? I miss being in top shape and feeling immortal as I did when I was younger. But I would not copy my reckless life from back then, when my only purpose was to survive another stunt just to feel alive. I would enjoy life as it is, without extreme sports, and channel my energy into other things in life that I now find more interesting.

A philosophical question...

Let's say you can control it. Five years per sip.

Then yes. I would take a sip. And can decide in 5 years again if I take out that bottle again.

If it were 20 years or more - absolutely not.

Dreaming is nice and costs nothing :-)

If I could wind back physical age to 30,40, 50 yes.

If I had to stay at 60,70 old and decrepit then no.

5 hours ago, kingstonkid said:

Just listened to an Alan Jackson song about getting old. He states in it that if there were a fountain of youth, he would not drink it.

I had so many aging friends, who told me, that if the reaper came, they would not fight it, if it was a serious debilitating disease where the last months would be agony and suffering.

Sure enough, everybody that got this nasty fate fought crying and screaming to his last second, his last breath -- some spending all of their money doing so, leaving their partners or other dependents penniless and unsecured.

It is human nature, and it is very difficult to overcome.

Therefore, I believe, that I would not be able to not drink from the fountain of youth -- together with the large majority of everybody else -- even if it were known beforehand, that there would be some nasty strings attached (because nothin in this world is free).

Edited 11 hours ago11 hr by jts-khorat

It's never that simple.

There is always a tradeoff.

How about drink the fountain of youth, but your willy stays permanently flaccid?

10 hours ago, Celsius said:

How about drink the fountain of youth, but your willy stays permanently flaccid?

Join a monastery.