I wish our brightest minds were all working in areas like this instead of social apps and advertising. Is there even any doubt that with a better understanding of biology we could meaningfully prolong the human lifespan? What are we doing working on apps lol.
A $3B bet on finding the fountain of youth
121–130 of 214 posts
Re: A $3B bet on finding the fountain of youth
#122There have been several companies formed in the past few years whose premise is researching in industry anti-aging or basic science more generally (Calico, Altos Labs, Arcadia, etc.)... Does anyone understand the underlying economics or motivations? They can't be gambles when they raise $B's, and I'm too cynical to believe these are altruistic endeavors. Certainly there is research that cannot be reasonably expected…
Researching immortality or unnatural longevity isn't worth the investment for a society because a society of immortals becomes either stagnant or unsustainable. But making individual billionaires immortal is something billionaires might find worth investing in.
An immortal fascist dictator may be expected to get assassinated early on, versus people waiting for him to die from natural causes.
Re: A $3B bet on finding the fountain of youth
#123If we'd all just cleaned up diets and got in shape, Covid wouldn't have been such a big deal. You can do lots, such as diet and exercise, to live better and longer, but nobody does. We want a magic pill.
This view is both boorish and ignorant. There are many types of coronaviruses, including MERS and SARS. They can't be mitigated through "diet and exercise". These diseases often occur in parts of the world with much lower obesity rates than the West
Further, the idea that you won't get a serious respiratory virus if you just exercise and diet is offensive. You're just trying to reduce something that is incredibly complex into a bumper sticker slogan that you can wrap your mind around with the least amount of effort.
Re: A $3B bet on finding the fountain of youth
#124it's good to see billionaires putting money into health moonshots (vs real moonshots). Helps so many more people.
If immortality was somehow cracked, it would cause the end of civilization if it became available to everyone. Imagine the population of Earth ballooning to 12+ billion. Instead, it would be kept for the billionaires. Imagine the staggering inequality of 180-year-old trillionaires and their kin, that never ever relinquish their hordes. It's straight out of a cyberpunk dystopia. (Tessier-Ashpool comes to mind)
One could imagine a societal model where the number of children is restricted instead of access to life prolonging technology. So to target a stable population, you'd allow people to have only as many children as people have died in the last couple of years.
It's doable, we already had societies that deployed such restrictions on a scale similar to the global human population. Whether it should be done is another question, as many people criticize the issue of the state policing procreation.
Re: A $3B bet on finding the fountain of youth
#125I wish our brightest minds were all working in areas like this instead of social apps and advertising. Is there even any doubt that with a better understanding of biology we could meaningfully prolong the human lifespan? What are we doing working on apps lol.
I think that for most workers it's about paying the mortgage and raising your kids. Once bio-hacking starts paying the bills you may see more interest in it
As a secondary thought, I never would have gotten into code-hacking if I didn't have access to a terminal and some open source. I don't think that model would ever work for something like this
Re: A $3B bet on finding the fountain of youth
#126Re: A $3B bet on finding the fountain of youth
#127I wish our brightest minds were all working in areas like this instead of social apps and advertising. Is there even any doubt that with a better understanding of biology we could meaningfully prolong the human lifespan? What are we doing working on apps lol.
So how can I, as a software developer, meaningfully contribute to this area? I would very much prefer to live forever.
Re: A $3B bet on finding the fountain of youth
#128Earlier quoted context omitted.
If immortality was somehow cracked, it would cause the end of civilization if it became available to everyone. Imagine the population of Earth ballooning to 12+ billion. Instead, it would be kept for the billionaires. Imagine the staggering inequality of 180-year-old trillionaires and their kin, that never ever relinquish their hordes. It's straight out of a cyberpunk dystopia. (Tessier-Ashpool comes to mind)
would you rather face that - or death?
I would face death in both scenarios. I prefer the scenario where the ultra elite also face death.
Re: A $3B bet on finding the fountain of youth
#129There have been several companies formed in the past few years whose premise is researching in industry anti-aging or basic science more generally (Calico, Altos Labs, Arcadia, etc.)... Does anyone understand the underlying economics or motivations? They can't be gambles when they raise $B's, and I'm too cynical to believe these are altruistic endeavors. Certainly there is research that cannot be reasonably expected…
Does anyone understand the underlying economics or motivations? How much would you pay for a treatment to prevent or repair the negative effects of aging? For me the answer is "well over 100% of my net worth".
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field."
Re: A $3B bet on finding the fountain of youth
#130I wish our brightest minds were all working in areas like this instead of social apps and advertising. Is there even any doubt that with a better understanding of biology we could meaningfully prolong the human lifespan? What are we doing working on apps lol.
So how can I, as a software developer, meaningfully contribute to this area? I would very much prefer to live forever.
I guess you could dive into the world of home-brew biohacking? Understanding genetics and lab techniques doesn't seem out of reach for programmer types, but I don't really know.