From Gregory Stock’s The Book of Questions: Would you want to have your rate of physical aging slowed so much that, barring some accident, you’d live for 1,000 years?

First of all, let’s address the elephant in the room: loneliness. Sure, living for 1,000 years might sound like a grand adventure, but what’s the point if you have to watch all your loved ones age and pass away while you remain forever young? Talk about a recipe for some serious emotional baggage. I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine anything more heartbreaking than outliving everyone I’ve ever cared about. It’s like being the last one at the party, except the party lasts for centuries, and there’s no Uber to take you home.

But wait, there’s a solution! What if your close friends and family could also hop on the slow-aging bandwagon? Then you could all grow old together… very, very slowly. You could spend centuries reminiscing about the good old days, watching the world change around you, and maybe even start a few trends of your own. Can you imagine the family reunions? “Hey, great-great-great-great-grandpa, pass the potato salad, will you?”

Of course, there are a few logistics to consider. For starters, you’d have to make sure everyone’s on board with the plan. It might be a bit awkward if you’re raring to go for the long haul, but your best friend is like, “Nah, I’m good with my normal lifespan, thanks.” Plus, you’d have to figure out how to keep yourself occupied for all those extra years. I mean, there are only so many times you can binge-watch Friends before you start to feel like you’re living in a time loop.

But hey, think of all the amazing things you could accomplish with a 1,000-year lifespan! You could learn every language, master every instrument, and finally get around to reading all those books on your ever-growing “to-read” list. You could witness the rise and fall of civilizations, see technology evolve in ways we can’t even imagine, and maybe even take a few trips to Mars (assuming Elon Musk gets his act together).

So, would I want to live for 1,000 years? If my loved ones were on board, I might just be tempted to give it a shot. But if I had to go it alone, I think I’d rather stick with my normal, finite lifespan. After all, life is precious because it’s fleeting, and sometimes the best memories are the ones that don’t last forever.

But what about you, dear reader? Would you take the plunge and sign up for a millennium of life? Or do you prefer the idea of living fast and dying… well, not young, but at a relatively normal age? Let me know in the comments below – I promise I’ll still be here to read them, even if it takes me a few hundred years to get around to it!