The wasteful quest for immortality

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21428690.400-the-wasteful-quest-for-immortality.html

by lacero • 14 years ago

1 2 14 years ago

orangecat• 14 years ago

A bunch of empty platitudes that have been addressed repeatedly by the pro-life side.

Quantity vs quality: yes, quality of life is extremely important. And that's significantly impaired when you can't go to the bathroom unassisted or identify your children.

Inequality: all technologies are unevenly distributed at first, and then prices fall. And it's even less of a problem here, because curing aging would tremendously reduce medical costs. Governments and health insurers would likely profit by providing treatment for free.

Overpopulation: last I heard birth rates were falling rapidly, and global population was projected to peak in this century. Meanwhile there's a whole universe out there; talk to me again when we've filled half the Milky Way.

We haven't recovered from the idea that growing old is an awful disaster, which must somehow be put off.

Having your body and mind slowly degenerate (assuming you're lucky; quickly if you're not) is in fact awful.

If nothing awful happens to you, you go on doing what you're doing and looking for more.

If "nothing" happens to you by 90, meaning that you're physically and mentally able take care for yourself, then you're more fortunate than most. A healthy lifestyle can improve your chances, but isn't anywhere close to a guarantee.

When he found he was dying of cancer, Steve Jobs made this interesting remark, that it was the best thing that ever happened to him because it made his priorities clear. He said nobody wants to die but it is life's best invention, it is the mechanism of change. He had a point.

And then he spent vast resources trying to get cured. Another case of stated preferences versus revealed preferences.

Mz• 14 years ago

I will note that the remark about quality of life vs. quantity is a quote from a nonagenerian. Easy for them to say. They likely had both to make it that far.

The wasteful quest for immortality

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