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Anti-aging stem cell treatment proves successful in early human trials

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Re: Anti-aging stem cell treatment proves successful in early human trials

#111
post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If rejuvenation techniques keep the brain's neuroplasticity youthful, then those hard-wired experiences should be no worse than those of younger people. Would a hard wired prejudice include being fundamentally biased against old people?

Is there any evidence that stem cell therapy can eliminate old prejudices?

I think that this topic went from next year's stem cell therapy to "What if you could live forever" territory from the top comment way up there.

Within the context of the pie-in-the-sky subject we're discussing, calling for citations seems kind of pointless. We're all just speculating and talking about what-ifs.

Re: Anti-aging stem cell treatment proves successful in early human trials

#112
post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Death as important as Birth when it comes to life. We only want to keep living because of sentience. If you really cared about humanity, you wouldn't impede death. It would lead to serious fragmentation of the human population with people from generations ago still alive. Not to mention the collapse of economic structures many of which are based on young v old generation. Apart from that hundreds of generations compe…

> If you really cared about humanity, you wouldn't impede death. That's an ideology masquerading as wisdom.

Isn't it all ?

Re: Anti-aging stem cell treatment proves successful in early human trials

#113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mind backups do nothing for me. Imagine if your airplane ran out of fuel over the ocean. You're going to crash and die, so you get on the radio, and air traffic control says "don't worry, your estate already restored a backup of your mind into a cloned body. just go ahead and plow into the water at full speed, the new you is already awake and seems happy and comfortable." Would you think "whew, I really dodged a bull…

The former.

wow. so you're perfectly at peace with death if someone convincingly tells you that your family won't be able to tell the difference between the old you and your clone?

That whole mindset is utterly alien to me. I guess it all comes down to how you feel about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_identity

Re: Anti-aging stem cell treatment proves successful in early human trials

#114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The former.

wow. so you're perfectly at peace with death if someone convincingly tells you that your family won't be able to tell the difference between the old you and your clone? That whole mindset is utterly alien to me. I guess it all comes down to how you feel about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_identity

[deleted]

Re: Anti-aging stem cell treatment proves successful in early human trials

#115
post #55
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's hope he's right. Life is a cycle and without death the world will be a very boring place.

Without death, the world would be an absolute disaster. It's really weird how utterly petrified some people are of death.

What if people said the same thing when every life saving invention came along ? antibiotics ? vaccines ? .... the list goes on

Re: Anti-aging stem cell treatment proves successful in early human trials

#116
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A better way to put is that, without death we wouldn't have progressed as a race as much as we have done. We need new people with fresh ideas to come to top, take higher roles and make radical decisions. People living longer will stay in power longer and keep the status quo alive. In a longer stretch, conservationism, which grows like age, is an impediment for innovation and progress, IMHO.

If we were immortal, the birth rate would decline as people worried less about continuing through progeny and more about continuing through their own lives. How many wars do you think anyone would want to fight if we didn't have an endless streams of the young who are willing to die on the battlefield? How many murders are committed by people over 30 vs under? How many people die in car accidents after 30? There's so…

If you were immortal, it's not entirely clear you would be sane and reasonable after living for 200 years.

Re: Anti-aging stem cell treatment proves successful in early human trials

#117

I want anti-aging, but I believe that our modern society will most likely self-destruct in fire and death sometime in the next 100 years the most likely outcome, which would limit the usefulness of such treatments.

Sure yes, scores of people are going to die of much sadder causes - natural and manmade disasters, epidemics, crime

But a decent number will surive and since they'll have the arduous task of rebuilding civilization (in a much more thoughtful way this time) - such treatments would prove all the more useful

Re: Anti-aging stem cell treatment proves successful in early human trials

#118
post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there any evidence that stem cell therapy can eliminate old prejudices?

I think that this topic went from next year's stem cell therapy to "What if you could live forever" territory from the top comment way up there. Within the context of the pie-in-the-sky subject we're discussing, calling for citations seems kind of pointless. We're all just speculating and talking about what-ifs.

Yes indeed.

I suppose my main concern is that if learned prejudices (against race, religion, ideology, age, economic status, etc.) cannot be eliminated by regenerating brain matter, then a potentially fatal error could arise for society since some prejudices can be virtually insurmountable for many humans. Such an error is often solved naturally when the leaders of the previous age die out.

Just like when a computer system has become corrupted or broken, turning it off and on again can be the most simple and effective solution, so can death and rebirth be an effective solution for when our collective mental processes become corrupted.

Re: Anti-aging stem cell treatment proves successful in early human trials

#119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The former.

wow. so you're perfectly at peace with death if someone convincingly tells you that your family won't be able to tell the difference between the old you and your clone? That whole mindset is utterly alien to me. I guess it all comes down to how you feel about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_identity

Not if someone "convincingly tells me," but if I've seen convincing evidence that demonstrates the backup is essentially identical, sure.
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