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Longevity FAQ: A beginner's guide to longevity research

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Re: Longevity FAQ: A beginner's guide to longevity research

#21

Post by lachlan-sneff »

millstone wrote: post #19
lachlan-sneff wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you not want to live longer?

"Science advances one funeral at a time." - Max Planck "Death is very likely the best single invention of life. It is life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new." - Steve Jobs I know my life is accreting old biases and obstacles. Today and for years to come (I hope) I have more to do, but some day I will become an agent of stagnation instead of advancement. Nobody wants to die. But in the big…

I can't say I understand this viewpoint. If you feel you're going to become an agent of stagnation, as you put it, simply put effort into not stagnating.

Re: Longevity FAQ: A beginner's guide to longevity research

#22

Post by rantwasp »

flyinglizard wrote: post #3

Actual substantial longevity - beyond quality of life enhancements - is something I greatly fear. It would change everything. Imagine life with no kids and the joy they bring, a stagnation in all societal structures, no turnover of ideas (loosely quoting "agendas don't die; people die"). I'm sure such a civilization would be very stable, but won't have any extreme sports.

I would not fear it. Technology has the potential to make us immortal and to help us transcend out biological beginnings.

Humans that live for extended periods of time would be able to make progress and keep knowledge alive for longer periods of time facilitating an acceleration of progress made -> repeat.

You are also assuming that we fix aging but we make no progress in other domains. Would you really care how old you were if you could "download" yourself in a new replica at will? ie technology was so advanced that we would maintain our biological form only because we would like to experience things our ancestors did, not because it would be necessary.

---

Also, when people say longevity there are at least 2 things that are mingled together. One is: living longer but the other one is just improving the quality of life. So whenever you are afraid of this new future, picture people living 20% longer only, but their life quality into their 80s and 90s would be the same as a person today in their 40s.

Who would not want to have a better quality of life and instead of spending their last decades watching as their body fails and things get worse and worse?

Re: Longevity FAQ: A beginner's guide to longevity research

#23

Post by Vinceo »

nynx wrote: post #17
xwdv wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best time to be alive is when longevity break throughs first appear. You have the advantages of experiencing the old ways of living and get to live unexpectedly longer and see the world adapt to the new normal. Fortunately that is what we are positioned for.

You're getting some downvotes, but I actually agree with this. The next ten or twenty years are going to be the most exciting so far, and then it only goes up from there.

How long time do you think it's realistic that we reach longevity escape velocity? And what current longevity research do you think is the most promising?

Re: Longevity FAQ: A beginner's guide to longevity research

#24

Post by nynx »

Vinceo wrote: post #23
nynx wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're getting some downvotes, but I actually agree with this. The next ten or twenty years are going to be the most exciting so far, and then it only goes up from there.

How long time do you think it's realistic that we reach longevity escape velocity? And what current longevity research do you think is the most promising?

I have no idea, I'm not a scientist, I'm just a transhumanist.

Re: Longevity FAQ: A beginner's guide to longevity research

#25

Post by kiba »

flyinglizard wrote: post #3

Actual substantial longevity - beyond quality of life enhancements - is something I greatly fear. It would change everything. Imagine life with no kids and the joy they bring, a stagnation in all societal structures, no turnover of ideas (loosely quoting "agendas don't die; people die"). I'm sure such a civilization would be very stable, but won't have any extreme sports.

Actual substantial longevity - beyond quality of life enhancements - is something I greatly fear. It would change everything.

Enhancing health basically means you live longer. If you don't want to live longer then don't be healthy.

Re: Longevity FAQ: A beginner's guide to longevity research

#26

Post by xwdv »

Vinceo wrote: post #23
nynx wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're getting some downvotes, but I actually agree with this. The next ten or twenty years are going to be the most exciting so far, and then it only goes up from there.

How long time do you think it's realistic that we reach longevity escape velocity? And what current longevity research do you think is the most promising?

Probably about 20 years, just try to hold on until then.

Re: Longevity FAQ: A beginner's guide to longevity research

#28

Post by kiba »

millstone wrote: post #19
lachlan-sneff wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you not want to live longer?

"Science advances one funeral at a time." - Max Planck "Death is very likely the best single invention of life. It is life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new." - Steve Jobs I know my life is accreting old biases and obstacles. Today and for years to come (I hope) I have more to do, but some day I will become an agent of stagnation instead of advancement. Nobody wants to die. But in the big…

For the vast majority of our history, there had been little to no technological changes.

Only difference is that in the last few centuries, there had been technological and scientific changes.

What changes? it's certainly isn't that old men die faster so that we embrace newer ideas faster. The old guards probably lived longer on average thanks to medicine.

Re: Longevity FAQ: A beginner's guide to longevity research

#29

Post by Apocryphon »

alirsgp wrote: post #27

Anyone don't want longevity for humans? I think death is a beautiful thing and for a lot of us including myself life has been really tough at times. The fact that there is an equalizer in death makes life comforting at times.

It doesn't have to be all or nothing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdCB9yE9Hcc

Re: Longevity FAQ: A beginner's guide to longevity research

#30

Post by millstone »

lachlan-sneff wrote: post #21
millstone wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Science advances one funeral at a time." - Max Planck "Death is very likely the best single invention of life. It is life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new." - Steve Jobs I know my life is accreting old biases and obstacles. Today and for years to come (I hope) I have more to do, but some day I will become an agent of stagnation instead of advancement. Nobody wants to die. But in the big…

I can't say I understand this viewpoint. If you feel you're going to become an agent of stagnation, as you put it, simply put effort into not stagnating.

I think we stagnate because we accumulate experience. As we grow old, we gain wisdom, but our wisdom is centralized in the past. We can't shed our experiences without forgetting ourselves.

Steve Jobs also talked about "the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything." But I can't be a beginner again and again and again: some day my biases/old-dreams and stale-ideas/past-successes will dominate. Nobody has an endless capacity for creating the new.

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