Why rich and powerful? Everyone, no?
They’re the only ones who would be able to afford it.
This is an argument against all technological progress.
The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever. What If They Could?
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Re: The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever. What If They Could?
#62Gonna go out on a limb here and say that old age and dying are actually good, and that many of the problems in Western society are due to people living too long and holding onto power longer than they should / not passing on power and resources to younger generations.
YES!!! Old age and dying are actually good for inherited wealth.
Re: The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever. What If They Could?
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am sure people said the same 100 years back when they probably thought living beyond say 60 was too much. I know that in poorer countries due to high infant mortality rate and other issues just reaching 60 was a big milestone for the average person. The bigger question is how will the existing financial system adapt for such a scenario if even 10% of the population manages to extend from 82 to 100+
AFAIK most societies historically respected the wisdom attributed to old age, and many cultures still do.
So you end up with octogenarians in power? No thanks.
I am glad that in my country people retire and fuck off to spend their last days on holiday. Spending their accumulated wealth has become a major engine of the national economy.
Re: The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever. What If They Could?
#64Gonna go out on a limb here and say that old age and dying are actually good, and that many of the problems in Western society are due to people living too long and holding onto power longer than they should / not passing on power and resources to younger generations.
I think blaming America's problems on gerontocracy is correlation-causation confusion. The reason we have a gerontocracy is that ordinary rank-and-file voters are too cynical and individualistic to participate in politics.
In many wealthy countries the old are literally outnumbering the young so it wouldn't matter if everyone under the age of 40 turned up to vote.
Nations haven't tried to implement mass immigration because they are woke- it's a last desperate gamble.
Re: The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever. What If They Could?
#65Wealth and power accumulate. They’d end up owning everything.
Re: The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever. What If They Could?
#66An interesting fictional book that has this idea as part of the story is Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan. Imagine if Elon musk and the other ultra-wealthy could live forever and they become even more out-of-touch with reality as the centuries roll on... In the book almost anyone that has lived could live forever but that could never happen with limited resources/space so only the ultra-wealthy are able to. I'd sk…
The tv show is actually really good from someone who did not read the books. It is well done.
I saw the show first. I like them both. They’re wildly different.
Re: The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever. What If They Could?
#67> What If They Could? Then they'll be the first against the wall when the revolution comes.
I was just reading about the French revolution. Not sure we should be hoping for anything like that.
Re: The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever. What If They Could?
#68I would have expected better of HN. I agree that wealth and power accumulation are a problem. But the conclusion obviously isn't to have everyone forcibly DIE. If anything, this is an argument to make longevity more accessible.
The article is heavily biased against the evil tech billionaires. So much so, that it has to outright lie about Bryan Johnson? His "proprietary longevity routine" is actually fully public. The most important parts aren't some expensive surgeries but 1) regular sleep 2) healthy food 3) exercise.
Either you want everyone to live as long as possible, or you want people to die. And if the tech elites scare you that much, remember that longevity protocols protect against death by aging, _not_ assassinations.
Re: The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever. What If They Could?
#69Gonna go out on a limb here and say that old age and dying are actually good, and that many of the problems in Western society are due to people living too long and holding onto power longer than they should / not passing on power and resources to younger generations.
As disturbing as the film "Midsommar" was, I found the concept of a human life being divided into 4 seasons of 18 years each pretty compelling. Not necessarily that life should end after Winter, but a person's contributions to society probably should. Having politicians in office pushing 80 is a disgrace.
Re: The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever. What If They Could?
#70[flagged]
Very few wouldn't, unless very much driven by their religion to fetish death. Who wouldn't select a part of the population they find unsaveable, say evil genocidal billionaires, and sacrifice them for extending their own lifespan + improving how they believe the world should be? Win-win.
Friend, I would shorten my life by a day to moderately improve the convenience of someone I barely know. I've spent enough time in this meat grinder.