[jshevek]

They aren't speaking literally. From my point of view, a human who can live, say, 10,000 years is as good as 'immortal'. Sure its literally wrong, but I heard webster now defines 'literally' as 'figuratively' so I'm ready to give up on pedantry.

[cratermoon]

10,000 years, hmm? Ever read Larry Niven's short story "Cautionary Tales"?

[jshevek]

I read a lot of Niven's short stories as a child, but I don't remember that title. Did he illustrate some of the problems we'd have with long life spans?

[cratermoon]

Not really. It was more of an exploration into different perspectives on search for life-extending technologies by aliens with different life spans. I suggest reading it.