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The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever. What If They Could?
31–40 of 139 posts
Re: The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever. What If They Could?
#32[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.
Standard fare to excuse powerful people who do actual harm with something about human nature.
So who am I to judge? I have impurities in my heart because I dislike people who cause harm. Best wait for the saints to weigh in.
Re: The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever. What If They Could?
#33Gonna 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.
Re: The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever. What If They Could?
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
> longer than they should Just great. And who is to decide how long is "too long"? You?
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+
> I am sure people said the same 100 years back when they probably thought living beyond say 60 was too much.
At least in Western cultures, 70 was long considered the "natural" lifespan for humans. E.g., Dante's Divine Comedy takes place when the main character is at the literal midpoint of his life, 35.
Re: The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever. What If They Could?
#35[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.
> Very few wouldn't, unless very much driven by their religion to fetish death.
I feel sad that you seemingly have met more people who lack compassion and empathy than ones who have it. Personally, I don't know (or "hang out" rather maybe) many people who'd sacrifice anyone's life just to live a day longer, and I don't think that's a useful default view to have of people, most people I've met don't want to hurt others. Most people will hurt others if they can avoid getting hurt themselves by doing so, but that doesn't mean those same people would sacrifice someone's life to get another day.
Re: The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever. What If They Could?
#36Earlier 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.
If anything, we’ve seen that older generations of leadership can’t keep up with changing technology and fail to adapt to massive upheavals.
In times of rapid technological development, the old are not wise. They are reactionary and cannot adapt. Their brain stopped developing before the internet. To expect them to make adequate decisions for the current landscape is to expect them to understand a world they simply weren’t built for.
Re: The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever. What If They Could?
#37Hah, so many science fiction books with this premise. Another one: "Drunkards walk" by Frederick Pohl, 1961.
Re: The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever. What If They Could?
#38Gonna 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.
The finite lifespan is an integral part of the earth's ecosystem for the reasons you specify. The planet only has so many resources and life has only so many experiences. As I get older, my perspective changes on what is important. If I was stuck perpetually in my prime, I would think I would get bored. If you're dating someone much younger than you, what do you have in common? I'm glad we're only here for a little while. Change is good.
This hardfought wisdom has served the planet well for a couple billion years. What are the odds the Silicon Valley tech-bros have thought this through?
Re: The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever. What If They Could?
#39[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.
The evil genocidal billionaires will be the ones killing to extend their lifespan. Not the other way around.
Re: The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever. What If They Could?
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
> longer than they should Just great. And who is to decide how long is "too long"? You?
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+
50% of highly educated women in certain countries are expected to live to 100+ years old according to some demographers, although others believe there's genuine biological limits making this unlikely (they still believe a substantial amount will reach it).
People have been reaching the age of 100 since antiquity, reaching 110 probably happened hundreds of years ago as well. Which just shows the biological limit hasn't been extended just that there's more people reaching it.