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The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever. What If They Could?

nytimes.com

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Re: The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever. What If They Could?

#101

Post by steve1977 »

9rx wrote: post #33
kpmcc wrote: post #4

Gonna 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.

> holding onto power longer than they should The Western world lives under democracy. Power is held by the population at large. If it appears that the older population is holding more power, that is simply because they have more time, being retired, to exert their democratic duty.

At least where I live, the older are also substantially higher in number.

Re: The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever. What If They Could?

#104

Post by bloppe »

otikik wrote: post #75
goolz wrote: post #47

Living forever sounds awful. For one, I am extremely curious what happens when I die. Without death, life becomes a hollow shell, or at least I imagine it would, as you would lack urgency.

You have already been dead. It feels exactly like it felt before you were born.

It is funny how concerned and uncomfortable people are with death, but how little they think about pre-life, if at all

Re: The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever. What If They Could?

#105

Post by mainecoder »

boelboel wrote: post #23
kpmcc wrote: post #4

Gonna 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.

Looking at heads of states in non-western countries I'm not sure why you think it's a western thing. African countries got multiple 90+ year olds as head of state for example.

name 3?

Re: The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever. What If They Could?

#106

Post by goolz »

lostmsu wrote: post #78
goolz wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is a clinical term, you are arguing over semantics. Cardiopulmonary death to be specific. My point is: no one knows, not you, not me, and not my dog.

I don't know what's behind a wall I'm sitting next to right now, but I'm reasonably sure there's a street. I'm also reasonably sure the comment about "you've been dead" is also a very accurate prediction.

That wall is concrete and material. Death is not so much. I am reasonably sure you can do that with great accuracy while still having zero idea what lies in wait for us after we die. A false equivalence.

Re: The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever. What If They Could?

#107

Post by goolz »

MattPalmer1086 wrote: post #99
goolz wrote: post #47

Living forever sounds awful. For one, I am extremely curious what happens when I die. Without death, life becomes a hollow shell, or at least I imagine it would, as you would lack urgency.

I don't quite get your position. On the one hand you say without death life would lack urgency, yet you seem to be open to life after death. If there was life after death... wouldn't it lack urgency? If there isn't life after death, you simply don't exist anymore and there are no more possibilities open to you. So I'd be more than happy to postpone finding about out for as long as possible.

Life without death would lack urgency. I do not know what happens when I die, ergo I am curious. Not mutually exclusive.

Re: The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever. What If They Could?

#108

Post by Henchman21 »

amazingamazing wrote: post #83
otikik wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have already been dead. It feels exactly like it felt before you were born.

This is conjecture. No one knows.

Just like "life after death" but entire religions have sprung up around knowing this unknowable thing.

Re: The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever. What If They Could?

#109

Post by tim333 »

therobots927 wrote: post #41
amazingamazing wrote: post #26

Why rich and powerful? Everyone, no?

They’re the only ones who would be able to afford it.

At the moment it's not possible for anyone. If tech cracks it it would likely become affordable like most technology.

Re: The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever. What If They Could?

#110

Post by therobots927 »

tim333 wrote: post #109
therobots927 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They’re the only ones who would be able to afford it.

At the moment it's not possible for anyone. If tech cracks it it would likely become affordable like most technology.

If we’re talking healthcare no, it doesn’t become affordable. None of the advanced medical tech is affordable.
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