Who wants to live forever? Scientist sees aging cured

• Kollin wrote on 2011-07-05 20:10

  Quote from TA;501222:

  It isn't our right to decide the fate of future generations. We're condemning millions of people to their deaths by doing that.
  
  The people of the future will have to decide on either a low death rate or a high birth rate (subsequently rejecting these therapies). But that should be for them to decide.
  
  The research should still be done so that future generations will have that option and can make that decision for themselves.

  
  
  im speaking in terms of it will be completed in our generation/within the next few. it does not hurt to plan ahead, it does however hurt to have no plan. and who says the future generation cant overturn our plan? more than likely we would be dead (if we didnt have this "miracle medicine" by then) so we couldnt exactly tell them no.
  
  EDIT: and im not saying scrap the research. look into it all you want, just be aware of the consequences and possible negative affects this can have.
• TA wrote on 2011-07-06 05:37

  Quote from Kollin;501244:

  and im not saying scrap the research. look into it all you want, just be aware of the consequences and possible negative affects this can have.

  
  
  That statement is so naive. Look at how many people die from aging every single day.
  
  Can you agree that malaria is a bad thing? Thought so.
  
  So then why is aging bad? Because it kills people.
  
  I know I for one would prefer to live and not die. Imagine if our greatest scientific minds could have lived thousands of years instead of less than a hundred. As one comes closer to death, one realizes that one does not wish to die. You may not think so now, as you're young, but eventually you most likely will.
  
  That's why the most valuable thing in the world is time. It's something we always need but never have enough of.
  
  Personally, I'm a fan of heavily restricting our birth rate. We would only allow a sustainable birth rate, and one would have to pass certain certifications and requirements to even be allowed to enter a queue to bring a child into this world and raise it.
  
  If I could live a thousand years or even longer, I can assure you, I wouldn't give a rat's ass about having children. The entire point of children is to pass our genetic material down to the next generation. However, if our genetic material is still present then children are no longer required. It is merely an instinct. An instinct which can be overcome.
  
  We aren't meant to die. We die because it is more efficient evolutionarily to pass genetic material along rather than prolong one individual's life. We evolved from creatures that were hunted and eaten. For those creatures, it is better to have many children and pass on as much genetic material as possible so that your species can survive.
  
  But for one that lives for decades with little chance of death, and could even live for centuries so, it is more efficient to live than pass on genetic material and die. Evolution doesn't give a damn about us. It's up to us to give a damn about us.
  
  That's how I feel about it.
• Hiccup wrote on 2011-07-06 05:44
  Guess God and Satan are gonna have a lot more free time if less and less people keep showing up on their doorsteps. Or their just gonna have to be more creative in killing off people.
• Mama wrote on 2011-07-06 06:25
  thinking of the downfalls..
  
  if our bodies won't kill us, then accidents, predation (Haha, bears) and disease certainly can. Cancer seems the scariest.
  
  tragedy of the commons is definitely a problem when it comes to 'immortality' due to resource depletion, like kollin mentioned. And even though they're figuring out how to make the body immortal, I still don't see how they're going to keep the mind from running out of memory, quite literally. Ironically, humans would have to evolve larger brains or somehow manage it artificially. (RAM upgrade ಠ_ಠ)
  
  Meh. I can see bacteria and the like continuing to develop to the point where it's just us against constantly evolving superbugs that try to keep us from creating a stagnating gene pool, even though I'm sure we'll eventually get to the point where we can choose the genes for our children (if humanity doesn't kill itself by then)
• Kaeporo wrote on 2011-07-06 06:31
  Give the general population immortality and overpopulation will deplete our resources.
  
  Give the general population immortality while implementing global birth control and we succumb to rapidly evolving ailments which have been defeated through the natural selection process (which we will have effectively stopped).
• Kollin wrote on 2011-07-06 08:28

  Quote from Kaeporo;502099:

  Give the general population immortality and overpopulation will deplete our resources.
  
  Give the general population immortality while implementing global birth control and we succumb to rapidly evolving ailments which have been defeated through the natural selection process (which we will have effectively stopped).

  
  
  so either way its a lose situation.
• Morrigan wrote on 2011-07-06 08:33

  Quote from Mama;500516:

  if he can figure out how to prevent telomeres from fraying, then that's pretty much stopping aging in it's tracks. But there's gota be a reason why our body starts slowly killing itself after being 30 yrs old. Plus so many pathologies are due to genetics, how the hell is he gonna fix it on the genetic level? Even psychologically or due to stress, people make themselves sick and speed up aging.
  seems like a pipe dream to me, this guy's goals. But he's passionate, so why the hell not? I like the idea of not having to worry about heart disease.
  
  for some reason I think it's going to backfire horribly, or the side effects will be disastrous. But that's just a gut feeling.

  
  
  Zombies.
  
  (I totally didn't read the other pages btw.)
• Seruti wrote on 2011-07-15 03:59
  Am I really the only one who wants to live forever? I do... I want to live long enough to save the world and be the hero whenever something disastrous happens.
• Sumpfkraut wrote on 2011-07-17 01:22
  I'm surprised I'm really the only one who worries about the possible negative societal efect.
• Kollin wrote on 2011-07-17 02:04

  Quote from Sumpfkraut;515074:

  I'm surprised I'm really the only one who worries about the possible negative societal efect.

  
  
  you arent.
• Kingofrunes wrote on 2011-07-17 18:07
  I had a inkling that we were getting close to this when they came across that baby who was 16 years old and still a baby.
  
  Humans have an Aging Gene inside them somewhere in our DNA. If they can find a way to isolate that and manipulate that. We could certainly have a real Hourai Elixir.
  
  Eternal Youth. If they managed to make this possible by the time I turn 30, that would be appreciated. Or at least before I get too old :/ I'd rather stay 21 forever >.> Anything below 50 I think would be fine. Not sure what the optimal Adult Age to remain at would be though.
• Osayidan wrote on 2011-07-17 18:46
  I'm all for it, I saw de Grey's stuff a long time ago when he was just starting to show up in the media and I support it 100%.
  
  The normal human lifespan is too short for my liking. Actually everything about humanity seems wrong to me, kind of pissed off to be a part of this species. You have people who feel they were born of the wrong sex, I feel I was born of the wrong species. Being human and stuck on this planet drives me crazy sometimes. There's a whole universe out there and I want to see it. If it means the human race destroying itself with extreme longevity for me to get the chance to be around long enough for the technology I need to exist, then so be it.
• Navy wrote on 2011-07-17 18:53
  imo just leave it the way it is, you live, you die. That's how it should be, I would never want to live forever.
• BizarreJuju wrote on 2011-07-17 19:22
  Personally I dont see 80-100 years enough time for human life. In my view, 20+ of my years seemed... really fast... alot of us humans spend our time mostly educating ourselves (which I dont find wrong) but they put everyone in a time crunch.
  
  1-10 years: still a child, learning new things, may not be aware of the world
  11-20s: we are aware of ourselves and the world, mostly be in our studies and career to prepare ourselves for the future
  30-50s: probably have kids, busy making money to support yourself and family
  60s-80s: aged, want to do more things but body is at limit
  90s-100s: waiting... waiting... waiting... waiting...
  Death: a buried corpse or in ashes remembered by your children and grandchildren, after those generation you become a small or forgotten existence while the earth keeps spinning the wheel.
  
  Human are only here to reproduce ourselves like all the other life on earth, were nothing special besides being able to destroy earth 8D.
  
  Personally I would really live up to the time when the world ends. When we die, we miss out soo much events and changes around the world such as whats happening around the world, new and improved technology, possible 20+ year expedition to a new planet?, contact with other life in space, uncover the mystery of earth and the universe and WHY DOES THIS SPACE EXIST, HOW THE HELL IT ALL STARTED, WHERE DOES IT END!?!?! like hell there are planets that are like 1000000x size of the sun which puts us and earth a [SIZE="2"]tiny[/SIZE] existence in this endless space.
• BobYoMeowMeow wrote on 2011-07-18 23:39
  the cat would like to live to at least 40 years ._.