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Live to be 1000

Complexity said:
Foolish words.

I'm not a Luddite.

I am in favor of research to improve the quality of life, but I have little interest in prolonging the length of life. I'm sure both kinds of research will continue (and often overlap).

Significant life extension would very likely be available only to a few and at great cost. The serious risk of social upheaval and injustice make it undesirable at this time.

I think there is a lot of power and drive that comes from the arc of a life - mortality motivates in ways that little else does.

I would far rather leave some things undone than live past my desire to live and past my ability to live well.

If I can avoid doing more damage to my body, I've got perhaps ten or fifteen more years. I intend to enjoy them as best I can. When my expected future quality of life decreases too far, I'll call it quits without regret.
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I love you.
 
quarky said:
Skimmed; sorry.

When people start living that long, which may be possible, its the sacred duty of young people to kill them. Even if you risk the death penalty yourself.

Civilization is already infused with oldness. Not wisdom. Oldness.
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What's wrong with a world of old people?

Yeah, we here about entrenched ideas and how wonderful the young are. Really though, a lot of being young is repeating the mistakes of the old farts, while ignoring them and saying you're doing something new.

Lots of wasted energy.
 
Complexity said:
If I can avoid doing more damage to my body, I've got perhaps ten or fifteen more years. I intend to enjoy them as best I can. When my expected future quality of life decreases too far, I'll call it quits without regret.
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I try to avoid grandiose moral speeches about absolutes myself.

When the icy hand of death closes in, if you shake it and smile then congratulations. You may just find you cry and beg for another day though.
 
Complexity said:
Foolish words.

I'm not a Luddite.

I am in favor of research to improve the quality of life, but I have little interest in prolonging the length of life. I'm sure both kinds of research will continue (and often overlap).

Significant life extension would very likely be available only to a few and at great cost. The serious risk of social upheaval and injustice make it undesirable at this time.

I think there is a lot of power and drive that comes from the arc of a life - mortality motivates in ways that little else does.

I would far rather leave some things undone than live past my desire to live and past my ability to live well.

If I can avoid doing more damage to my body, I've got perhaps ten or fifteen more years. I intend to enjoy them as best I can. When my expected future quality of life decreases too far, I'll call it quits without regret.
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This is the luddite screed.

I honestly think there is something in human nature or evolution that has created this "taboo" area when it comes to talking about radical life extension.

For the record Aubrey has fairly good arguments against this silly kind of thinking. Watch his Ted talk for details.
 
NewtonTrino said:
This is the luddite screed.
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Repeating a lie doesn't make it any truer. Something you should have learned by watching the fundies 'debate'.

Speaking of which, you're sounding like a True Believer confronted with someone who simply doesn't believe.

NewtonTrino said:
I honestly think there is something in human nature or evolution that has created this "taboo" area when it comes to talking about radical life extension.
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Nonsense. It is merely common sense.

NewtonTrino said:
For the record Aubrey has fairly good arguments against this silly kind of thinking. Watch his Ted talk for details.
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No. I haven't watched a 'Ted' talk yet and I'm not about to start now.

I have better things to do.

I've offered some of my reasons for being unenthusiastic about life-extension research.

Marshal your arguments and put them into your own words or stand mute. Either suits me just fine.
 
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Millions long for immortality who don't know what to do with a rainy Sunday afternoon.

Susan Ertz
 
Complexity said:
I don't want to live to be 100, let alone 1000.
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That means you have no imagination.

Just reading all the books I want to read would easily take 150 years. Not to mention do all things/careers I'd like to do, all place on Earth (and off Earth!) I'd like to visit. I would have no problem at all filling up 1000 years and never geting bored.
 
Complexity said:
Millions long for immortality who don't know what to do with a rainy Sunday afternoon.
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Just because "millions" have that problem (and frankly I think she was exaggerating), does not mean everyone does.
 
Complexity said:
Millions long for immortality who don't know what to do with a rainy Sunday afternoon.

Susan Ertz
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That's a cool quote. On the other hand, I also long for immortality but do know what to do with a rainy Sunday afternoon. I tend to enjoy every day of my life, even the not so good ones.

If there came a day when I found the good was outweighed by the bad*, I'd prefer death. If the cost of another day of life was to cause pain and suffering to others (or, at least, significant pain and suffering), then I think in that case I'd also prefer death. On the other hand, if I'm enjoying my life now and I get a treatable disease, and the treatment can cure me of the disease, I'll take the treatment, no matter how many years I've lived so far.

I'm not afraid of death, but I enjoy life, and am happy to keep living it.

* ETA: Note, I mean if the good was generally outweighed by the bad, and looked like it would continue to be. Everyone has rough periods.
 
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If people start to live to be 200 years old, even, the ramifications and implications are dire.
Either we vastly over-populate, or we stop reproducing. In short order, it would be all old people.
A nightmare.
 
Complexity said:
I think there is a lot of power and drive that comes from the arc of a life - mortality motivates in ways that little else does.
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Very profound. Let me think about it for a few trillion years, and I will get back to you.
I would far rather leave some things undone than live past my desire to live and past my ability to live well.
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Agree with last part -- I would not want to be hooked up to a breathing machine either. But as long as my "ability to live well" continues, I cannot imagine losing my "desire to live".

And if I ever do, nothing keeps me from killing myself.
 
quarky said:
If people start to live to be 200 years old, even, the ramifications and implications are dire.
Either we vastly over-populate, or we stop reproducing. In short order, it would be all old people.
A nightmare.
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By the time this happens, YOU will be either dead or equally old. And if then you STILL think it is a nightmare, I won't stand in the way of you jumping off bridge. I'll be too busy working on my tenth Ph.D.
 
Mark6 said:
By the time this happens, YOU will be either dead or equally old. And if then you STILL think it is a nightmare, I won't stand in the way of you jumping off bridge. I'll be too busy working on my tenth Ph.D.
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10 phd's is too many.

Perhaps you've heard this old addage:

a B.S. is bull ****
An M.S. is more ****
A PhD is piled on higher and deeper.


Yeah death!


(btw, when that day comes, I won't be doing much "jumping off bridges". I barely jump now, and I'm not even depressed. Also, when you're an old fart, I could barely expect you to intervene in my jumpings, regardless of your prior 9 ph d's. They say the knees go first.)
 
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quarky said:
It would be ethically sinister.

That's what I'm saying.

(I'd be willing to re-make the point.)
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It would certainly be creepy to those of us who aren't interested. Someone who lives that long in good health would be abhorred by mortals.

If we have solved the problem of mortality, the technology and wisdom to solve overpopulation can't be far behind.
 
Richard Masters said:
It would certainly be creepy to those of us who aren't interested. Someone who lives that long in good health would be abhorred by mortals.

If we have solved the problem of mortality, the technology and wisdom to solve overpopulation can't be far behind.
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Exactly.
So do the math:

Assuming an upper cap on population; i.e., controls, that holds us to a sustainable level with minimum starvation and such, and people not dying...

Well, you can't get a permit for a pregnancy until someone checks out of the hotel. This should be obvious.

So, a minimal of births.
Hence, a thorn in our evolution, and no kids around.
You'd have to hate kids to want to live to 1000
 
Oh... thread necromancy. If humans can't live forever, let's try to extend the life of ancient threads indefinitely.

Just like the singularity people (which may be related), the "wanna live forever" crowd might not fully realize the necessary assumptions behind their dreams or the implications of living 1000 years. Working on a tenth PhD? As rewarding as it is to get one, I don't think it's so much fun to do it again, and again. Eventually you want to move up the hierarchy, and if the profs can live forever, well postdocs aren't that fun either... And academia is only one tiny speck of the entire economic system.
 
One cool thing about the "live to 1000" gang, is that it ain't gonna happen.
 
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