Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nah, I'm vibing.
Likewise
more dead than alive i would say
A $3B bet on finding the fountain of youth
181–190 of 214 posts
Re: A $3B bet on finding the fountain of youth
#182Re: A $3B bet on finding the fountain of youth
#183I love this. People are starting to realize how powerful the logic of life extension is. Think about this: if this startup succeeds only at extending human life expectancy by a single day , it's already worth it. A life is about 3e4 days, and there are 9e9 humans, so giving 1 extra day to every human is the equivalent of saving 3e5 lives.
I can't help thinking that people dying of old age is our last defense against consolidation of power. No matter how much power someone accrues they're eventually going to die. That power always dissipates, dynasties never last forever. This might be an extremely cynical take, but it feels like if we did discover a scientific fountain of youth we would end up with immortal billionaires rather than the likes of you an…
Power is already consolidated. It just passes generationally. Living longer won't change that, especially when we're talking optimistically about 10-20% longer lifetimes and, more likely, not much longer lifetimes but more healthy years with the same end date.
Re: A $3B bet on finding the fountain of youth
#184Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would agree “we” don’t. Whoever “we” is. The problem is the hypothetical billionaires and politicians expanding their power with elongated lifespans. Imagine the ramifications if Supreme Court justices lived 50+ more years, for one example.
Of course, we'd have to change how many things work in the world, this specific example seems like a rather simple one to change.
Yes, it was a simple example but regardless I have a hard time believing that the needed changes would happen before powerful people achieve and take advantage of supraphysiological lifespans.
Also I’m not sure how simple changing it would be to change Supreme Court justice retirement.
Re: A $3B bet on finding the fountain of youth
#185There 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.
The problem with this conversation is that it's about immortality, which no one is going for right now. The best research is looking at addressing specific age related issues in order to increase your healthy years and, potentially, increase your lifespan by maybe a decade.
But the conversation is always "immortal billionaires".
It's a totally fake problem to talk about that.
Re: A $3B bet on finding the fountain of youth
#186Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm looking forward to when all the people who can't pay either start murdering wealthy immortals or are galvanized by a strongman who convinces them that this is actually good for them because one day maybe they too could become immortal, and that who they should really hate are immigrants.
Youth extension therapies will be cheaper for insurance companies than current hospice care. As such it will not cost more than the price of your current insurance premiums. However, while the intellectual property is still protected, there may be some hiccups but they seem unlikely. Specifically manufacturing of medicine is cheap. The R&D is expensive. As such even if the company owning the IP kept prices artificial…
Definitely this. What people don't get is that an optimal solution in insurance is to have everyone healthy. If everyone is healthy then there's no one drawing money from the pool and the insurance company is only collecting money.
Of course the other optimization is forcing everyone to have insurance when healthy and kicking them off when they get sick.
Re: A $3B bet on finding the fountain of youth
#187You can play "didn't read the article" bingo with these posts every time.
1. This isn't technology that increases lifespan dramatically. No one is going to live to 150 because of this work. Instead, they might live an extra decade at absolute best, but more likely (and the goal) is that they'll have a longer healthy life. That is to say, maybe you'd die at the same age, but you'd be walking around, feeling young and energetic, for more years of your life.
2. This technology is unlikely to extraordinarily expensive. Even current anti-aging pills that are patented are easily affordable by the middle class. But more importantly, imagine if you eliminated cancer, alzheimers, and other age-related illnesses - imagine the economic impact, what that would do to insurance premiums, etc. It would have a significant overall positive impact on the economy.
Almost every post will make the mistake of talking about immortality, absurd age extensions (150 year lifespans), etc. None of that is on the table.
Re: A $3B bet on finding the fountain of youth
#188Earlier quoted context omitted.
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."
Nice
Re: A $3B bet on finding the fountain of youth
#189Earlier quoted context omitted.
I could imagine living as a subscription model...
Maybe with an implanted chip that kills you if you didn’t manage to acquire the necessary time currency to live another minute. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Time
We have that, except you need to acquire calories.
Re: A $3B bet on finding the fountain of youth
#190If 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 com…
My comment addressed Covid-19 and the United States, sorry I was unclear.
Seems to me that if you follow an anti-inflammatory routine, smoke weed, and are physically fit, you stand a better chance than others of handling Covid.