Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

With greater longevity, the quest to avoid infirmities of aging is more urgent

newyorker.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

181–190 of 245 posts

Re: With greater longevity, the quest to avoid infirmities of aging is more urgent

#181

Post by infinite_luck »

malvosenior wrote: post #41
bad_user wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don’t need a gym membership. For cardio you can go to any park for running or biking. It’s way more fun. For strength training you can do bodyweight strength training at home with no equipment required (calisthenics). Most people fall into the trap of paying for a gym membership, but then they never use it, because let’s face it, going to the gym wastes time and is uncomfortable. If you train at home by using the…

Can you suggest some good pointers on how to get started with that type of routine? Edit: thanks for the responses, awesome.

Like the others have said, the bodyweightfitness subreddit is a great resource. I just want to stress if/when you get to using gymnastics rings, don't just jump right into them, be very careful with your form. Also be sure to that you have not progressed too quickly and are actually doing the exercises you should be doing for your strength level. I've injured myself on them multiple times (the first time I was just doing something dumb) and I'm currently on the tail end of the recovery of another injury. I would imagine this just has to do with the fact that each ring is independent of the other, with many free degrees of movement, which makes it easier to slip into form that is bad on your body. That being said, I love body weight training and starting it was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

Re: With greater longevity, the quest to avoid infirmities of aging is more urgent

#182

Post by MadWombat »

bad_user wrote: post #23
hannob wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or get a gym membership, actually use it and eat less crap. This may only give you a few years, but chances that it'll actually work are much higher.

You don’t need a gym membership. For cardio you can go to any park for running or biking. It’s way more fun. For strength training you can do bodyweight strength training at home with no equipment required (calisthenics). Most people fall into the trap of paying for a gym membership, but then they never use it, because let’s face it, going to the gym wastes time and is uncomfortable. If you train at home by using the…

"For cardio you can go to any park for running or biking"

Running in a public park is a beautiful combination of boring, painful and embarrassing. Gym provides a structure. It is a place I go to exercise and everyone is there for the same reason. I hate it with a fiery passion, but so do many other people. It is just like going to physical therapy after a trauma, it hurts like hell, but if you don't do it you will be worse off in the long run.

Re: With greater longevity, the quest to avoid infirmities of aging is more urgent

#183

Post by odessacubbage »

malvosenior wrote: post #41
bad_user wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don’t need a gym membership. For cardio you can go to any park for running or biking. It’s way more fun. For strength training you can do bodyweight strength training at home with no equipment required (calisthenics). Most people fall into the trap of paying for a gym membership, but then they never use it, because let’s face it, going to the gym wastes time and is uncomfortable. If you train at home by using the…

Can you suggest some good pointers on how to get started with that type of routine? Edit: thanks for the responses, awesome.

>http://stevenlow.org/the-fundamentals-of-bodyweight-strength...

Re: With greater longevity, the quest to avoid infirmities of aging is more urgent

#184

Post by SlipperySlope »

goatlover wrote: post #22
novaRom wrote: post #7

Yes we can. Calorie restriction is well known slowing biological aging process. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calorie_restriction

But is it worth it to spend your youth restricting your calories enough to slow your aging a little bit?

Yes it is.

Been doing it for decades and the difference between me and 4 brothers is obvious.

Re: With greater longevity, the quest to avoid infirmities of aging is more urgent

#185

Post by stcredzero »

raxxorrax wrote: post #136
dkersten wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These are the same people who complain that they would be bored if out of work for too long. I personally have so many personal or passion projects that I would like to undertake, but don’t have the time for, that I’d happily fill a few lifetimes with interesting things to do. Of course, there’s a difference between a few lifetimes and thousands of years or immortality.

Seriously, I think this is actually a severe case of self-deception to cope with the realities of having to work in a modern environment. Or, for the other example, dying. That said, people who get bored are difficult to be with in my opinion. Cannot remember that last time being bored. You always have the option to spam your unqualified opinion on HN or something, there is so much potential stuff to do that a lifeti…

That said, people who get bored are difficult to be with in my opinion.

Suburban kids in the 70's. Checks out!

Re: With greater longevity, the quest to avoid infirmities of aging is more urgent

#186

Post by agumonkey »

Youcandothis wrote: post #145
agumonkey wrote: post #118

I don't see discussion about the natural emotional maturation process. Even with a much better body, I don't feel about life and things the same way. We might as well take care about not misaligning somatic health with mental health too much. It would be fruitless.

Maturation means improvement. If something is getting worse, then it's not maturation.

... your evolution towards life is neither better or worse.

Re: With greater longevity, the quest to avoid infirmities of aging is more urgent

#187

Post by stcredzero »

rsync wrote: post #148
paideic wrote: post #106

Somewhat off-topic, but I always thought the most prominent real-life reenactment of The Fox and the Grapes was all of the media and thinkpieces that people have written about how living for an extended period of time would be just _awful_. You wouldn't find many people who think that 40 years would be an acceptable lifespan, and most people would probably like to live to 100 if they got there in good health, but as…

"I could understand the impulse people would have to not extend their lives if that's truly what they wanted, but the almost _cultural_ belief that seeking immortality is Bad and Wrong, something only pursued by cartoon villains and insane emperors ..." I've spent some time thinking about this. Bear with me ... First, let me agree with you that I am flabbergasted by the notion that one would have nothing but ill-use…

That's us 200 years from now. No matter how "woke" you are or how liberal or progressive you believe your attitudes to be: either civilization collapses, or you're hopelessly - even dangerously - conservative and reactionary 200 years from now.

I knew a young woman in college who was extremely homophobic. I witnessed her bonding with a gay activist over soap operas and changing her mind. People change and adapt. Also, if you look back at history, you'll find people more "woke" than you.

if you can extrapolate political mores forward 50-100-150-200 years

Human history doesn't really work like that. We may be going beyond human history with AI, and it would work quite like that either.

Remember: we have a word for what happens when a single cell reserves resources and prolongs its own life at the expense of the larger organism: cancer.

A single alien AI that controls the resources of an entire solar system would likely see our civilization in these terms.

Re: With greater longevity, the quest to avoid infirmities of aging is more urgent

#188

Post by cr0sh »

johnydepp wrote: post #67

The most intriguing thing I found in the article, is that, If you design & sell items specifically to elderly, they wont buy it. Because they don't want the product to remind that they are old. So the solution is to design a product which suits to the elderly but seems like its designed for young generation.

> So the solution is to design a product which suits to the elderly but seems like its designed for young generation.

And thus, "Where did the soda go?"...

Re: With greater longevity, the quest to avoid infirmities of aging is more urgent

#189

Post by D-Coder »

melling wrote: post #133
paideic wrote: post #106

Somewhat off-topic, but I always thought the most prominent real-life reenactment of The Fox and the Grapes was all of the media and thinkpieces that people have written about how living for an extended period of time would be just _awful_. You wouldn't find many people who think that 40 years would be an acceptable lifespan, and most people would probably like to live to 100 if they got there in good health, but as…

You are actually on topic! Well, the bikeshedding part of the topic. For some reason, any time we discuss extending human life, it quickly degenerates into an ethical question. First, I wouldn’t worry about it because we spend more effort discussing ethics than actually trying to solve the problem. Basically, because the problem is so hard we bikeshed on ethics. Second, it’s a very hard problem. It’s unlikely with th…

Most of these are mostly age-related. Reducing your body's age may reduce these problems a lot. So a completely different issue than you are addressing.

Re: With greater longevity, the quest to avoid infirmities of aging is more urgent

#190

Post by rsync »

MadWombat wrote: post #180
rsync wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I could understand the impulse people would have to not extend their lives if that's truly what they wanted, but the almost _cultural_ belief that seeking immortality is Bad and Wrong, something only pursued by cartoon villains and insane emperors ..." I've spent some time thinking about this. Bear with me ... First, let me agree with you that I am flabbergasted by the notion that one would have nothing but ill-use…

So essentially, you are suggesting that people should die earlier, because you don't like old people :)

"So essentially, you are suggesting that people should die earlier, because you don't like old people :)"

No, not at all.

I am saying that one should be wary of living much longer than a typical lifespan because when people see vampires, they hunt them down and kill them.

Post reply on HN