"The increase of lifespan in the last few centuries is not due to evolution..."
I completely agree as the increase in lifespan has been to average lifespan only, my perspective is that there has been no increase whatsoever to maximum human lifespan and that is hardwired into our DNA.
I completely agree as the increase in lifespan has been to average lifespan only, my perspective is that there has been no increase whatsoever to maximum human lifespan and that is hardwired into our DNA.
Perspectives are not necessarily facts. I do not see any logical reason why there would be a hard limit. I have asked several times why there should be, no replies except 'my opinion ..'. So there's no logical argument why it would be so.
Jan
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An interesting take on this living forever thing was tackled in the movie “The Man From Earth”. I watched it a few years ago, it’s more a play than a movie and it deals with questions about a single individual with a multi-thousand year lifespan.
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I would love to have a much longer lifespan, and a healthy one on top. A lot of that time will go into aquiring new knowledge and generating more of it, and then using the knowledge to build interesting things.
My todo list is endless, several lifetimes long, and it keeps on growing so I am unsure if eternal life will help even hahahaha
My todo list is endless, several lifetimes long, and it keeps on growing so I am unsure if eternal life will help even hahahaha
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No one brought up so far that vampires have eternal life. Maybe the writings about them would've had some thoughts put into it already. How Would Immortality Affect a Vampire's Memory? - Scientific American Blog Network
Just like Replicants in Blade Runner, a fail safe device of 4 year lifespan? In that case, I wonder who would be the equivalent of Dr. Eldon Tyrell...
I don't think this is a good idea at all. Our population has increased to the point that we are permanently altering the history of the planet. We are driving mass extinctions. We may be hastening our own departure from the planet as well.
Remember, even a slight faltering of technology will result in the death and displacement of scores of people. We are utterly dependent on technology for our ability to survive, at least in urban and suburban environments. Think about it. If the power grid were down for 30 days in even 20% of the US, many people would die. Imagine a city like Chicago or Phoenix, AZ without power for 30 days. Imagine Phoenix without air conditioning for 30 days in July. Imagine Chicago without heat for 30 days in Ianuary. How many would die?
We don't need schemes to increase the population more! Besides, this is a pipe dream of the elite anyway. Who would actually get to live forever? Your neighbor that volunteers at the soup kitchen, or evil parasitic sons of bitches like Dick Cheney? You know the answer.
Remember, even a slight faltering of technology will result in the death and displacement of scores of people. We are utterly dependent on technology for our ability to survive, at least in urban and suburban environments. Think about it. If the power grid were down for 30 days in even 20% of the US, many people would die. Imagine a city like Chicago or Phoenix, AZ without power for 30 days. Imagine Phoenix without air conditioning for 30 days in July. Imagine Chicago without heat for 30 days in Ianuary. How many would die?
We don't need schemes to increase the population more! Besides, this is a pipe dream of the elite anyway. Who would actually get to live forever? Your neighbor that volunteers at the soup kitchen, or evil parasitic sons of bitches like Dick Cheney? You know the answer.
You see this often, and it's misleading (hence the wink?). The human lifespan hasn't increased, only the average person's lifetime. This is due to less deaths among the young; no one was dying of "old age" at 45.
One reason I think this "couldn't work" - Perhaps excuse my example...
Let's consider that you're female, with a 30 year old physique and sound mind for a 3k lifespan. Historically, within say the first 300 years, you're going to have a number of un-sweet / un-savory encounters with men. After a certain amount of such experience, the mind and emotions just might become galvanized towards about 1/2 the human population. Perhaps toward all humankind. Only 2700 more years of that!
In fact I'd propose that mind / emotions would galvanize across a myriad of subjects, topics and experiences, such that it just may no longer be a very good or fun thing to live with, or be around. This assumes complete "recovery" isnt a guarantee from whatever life experience throws at you.
Now if you said that the medical technology included a complete re-boot; lose all memory and experience, keep your affinity and aptitudes, then that might be something. Quickly learn how to walk / talk / do math again starting in a 30 year old, already developed mind-body every so often along the way.
I've read death is your friend. Why? Because it allows you a way out when things become too rough, too difficult and impossible to escape. I'd guess the human mind and emotions are not infinitely malleable, before breakage occurs at some point in such a long time - even when the rest is perfect. Perhaps some could take it - who's gonna be first up to bat?
Let's consider that you're female, with a 30 year old physique and sound mind for a 3k lifespan. Historically, within say the first 300 years, you're going to have a number of un-sweet / un-savory encounters with men. After a certain amount of such experience, the mind and emotions just might become galvanized towards about 1/2 the human population. Perhaps toward all humankind. Only 2700 more years of that!
In fact I'd propose that mind / emotions would galvanize across a myriad of subjects, topics and experiences, such that it just may no longer be a very good or fun thing to live with, or be around. This assumes complete "recovery" isnt a guarantee from whatever life experience throws at you.
Now if you said that the medical technology included a complete re-boot; lose all memory and experience, keep your affinity and aptitudes, then that might be something. Quickly learn how to walk / talk / do math again starting in a 30 year old, already developed mind-body every so often along the way.
I've read death is your friend. Why? Because it allows you a way out when things become too rough, too difficult and impossible to escape. I'd guess the human mind and emotions are not infinitely malleable, before breakage occurs at some point in such a long time - even when the rest is perfect. Perhaps some could take it - who's gonna be first up to bat?
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Yes, that's true to a very large extend, good point. The increase in average life span in developing countries is almost all a result of drastically lowered infant mortality.
Jan
Jan
What doesn't permanently alter the history of this planet? Better angle for you to view from is, “change is the only constant in life”.
Except for Amish people.
Joe, that's a bleak picture. It sort of assumes that as one progresses through life, an accumulation of bad experiences makes one unhappy, grumpy, untrusty, etc. It happens to some to be sure, but lots of people get to old age and still are lively, happy and having great social lives.
I find it hard (hope not!) that these issues are limiting a happy life span!
Jan
Levine is an interesting person, I've read more from him, although not this article.
What I am missing in his story is to account for the fact that memory retention also depends a lot on how strong you were impressed with a certain event. We all vividly remember some important (for us) events of 30 years ago (if you are that old already) while have no memory of exactly what you did this time last year.
Jan
That's true, but it's the extent I'm referring to.
Drastic changes aren't new. When cyanobacteria evolved the ability to photosynthesize, it permanently altered the trajectory of the history of earth. In fact, we wouldn't be here without an event like this. 😉
While the potential changes we could be causing are catastrophic from our perspective, a bit of agnosticism gives a more realistic perspective in my opinion.
Yes, and I think their knowledge is crucially important for this reason. But can the Amish develop technology to support the present (and ever growing) population of the planet? Even though I have a decent size lot in the burbs, I couldn't eke out a subsistence living off the land. And many, many people that live within a 20 mile radius of me don't even have a tiny garden plot. What about them? They die first.
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Well consider yourself lucky.
I can't even enter a church without being triggered. It brings back the family trauma of my childhood and young adulthood. The last family funeral I attended (my father) was so nightmarish, my relatives said the most horrible and cruel things to me, all in the name of religion, that churches trigger me.
What I've heard is that our memory retention also depends on the physical ability of our brain. As we get older, it's subjected to physical degradation as well.