We still don’t know the limit. As I often say, there is no law of physics that requires either senescence or mortality. Indefinite health and life is, in theory, a solvable problem.
[Afternoon update]
A commenter points out this recent article. Yes, I’ve discussed this with Gary, and it’s currently his focus, not space. Because none of us are getting any younger. BTW, the company name is pronounced “ocean,” I think. And yes, we should be trying to get Congress to tell the FDA to recognize aging as a disease to be treated, and not simply inevitable.
Dr. John G. Cramer
https://www.npl.washington.edu/AV/altvw194.html
Thank you for using indefinite as opposed to the often (mis)used live forever or immortality.
Likewise. I grit my teeth every time the word decimate gets (mis-)used in the new, popular fashion. Impacted gets a smaller flinch…
Still, back on subject, with “what we are” presumably being the configuration of the neuron nets in our noggins how many can die and be replaced by new ones and we still remain “us”? We will find out when they get the new procedures developed…
To Life Immortal!!
Oh. Wait.
“Who wants to live indefinitely?” isn’t much of a lyric, though.
Good luck getting the Malthusian elites, whom make up much of the establishment, to support your ideas regarding Congress telling the FDA anything about saving lives and making them healthier. It seems the FDA is more like a fraud, similar to MiniPlenty. Now go eat your 4 helpings of carbs for your pyramid.
Like Dr. Cramer says “Engineer fix”, not a Dr. waving his hands over ya then saying take these pills 3 times daily and pray to the handwavium gods….
Engineer this…..
Yes, I’m really looking forward to the day when engineers take over medicine from the quacks. Innovation will take days, rather than decades… so long as we can keep the government out of the way.
Yes, the name is pronounced “ocean”.
“Indefinite health and life is, in theory, a solvable problem.”
Which will bring with it, inevitably, other problems. I remember reading a science fiction story once, in which the lifespan had been extended with no apparent end. This brought with it the social problem of boredom. Once you have lived tens of thousands of years, and have done absolutely everything there conceivably is to do, and hove nothing before you but the prospect of hundreds of thousands of more years, perhaps vastly longer, with nothing new to do, life becomes fantastically tedious.
Once you have lived tens of thousands of years, and have done absolutely everything there conceivably is to do, and hove nothing before you but the prospect of hundreds of thousands of more years, perhaps vastly longer, with nothing new to do, life becomes fantastically tedious.
Sounds like it would be time to do something different, something that you didn’t conceive of doing. Difficult, yes, but you have a bit of time to figure it out.
When you have an indefinite future to look forward to, how is anything ever going to get done in a reasonable time and with acceptance of some risk? It is bad enough now.
Someone wrote a book called “Safe is not an option” I believe.
That will be a function of personalities. Procrastinators will procrastinate longer. People who want to make things happen will do so.
People might become so frightened of risk that they stay in small enclosures and interact with the world only through electronic machines.
On a personal level you are right but on a societal level we will see more and more regulation, barriers and nanny statism. The go getters will give up eventually and go to the beach or the pub and we will, as a society, suffer from “bad luck”. It has already happened in Australia but there has been the United States to flee to for those who really want to get something done.
Nah. Immortals will keep their real body somewhere safe, and rent drone bodies when they need to go somewhere else.
Though that will only work on Earth: the speed of light limitations will mean you’ll have to move your body if you want to go elsewhere in the universe.