chronicle.com— The 42-year-old English biogerontologist has made his name by claiming that some people alive right now could live for 1,000 years or longer. Maybe much longer.
Oct 24, 2005View in Crawl 4
I have to laugh at the "Christians" here claiming that this is "old news". Well done. What are you trying to prove? You read a book of stories hashed together by people you didn't know who lived thousands of years ago. Now step away from the computer. It was created through something called the scientific process, something you obviously have a great disdain for. Your claims are arrogant, proof of nothing and contribute nothing to the REAL SCIENCE that is going into this type of research. The longer we live and the more we know, the less plausible fairy tales become. There is enough wonder and magic in things that are real to last until the end of time. Please stop contributing to ignorance and fear of knowledge.And to anyone who lacks the imagination to understand why one would want to live to 1000 or more, I only ask that you crack open a good book, look up to the stars or gaze at a loved one.
I think most of you are forgetting that technology is continuing to advance. You think we'll still be 'reading' books hundreds of years from now? Or will we simply download the information? Wirelessly connect our brain to the galactic Internet?If we have the technology to make ourselves youthful and healthy for centuries, then we will have the technology to make ourselves enjoy it as well.Virtual reality will be a reality, I'm sure, and the realness of it will rival normal reality. If you wanted to experience life as a 25 year old lesbian, or be Chinese, or be Superman, why wouldn't you? And would that honestly bore you so much that you want to stop living?What if the year after you die, we make first contact with the Arilou, or some other alien race. You would have missed out on some great things, and a greater understanding of the universe.Personally, I think technology and science ARENT MOVING FAST ENOUGH!Garf13ld, imagine the uncertainty NOW. As it is, none of use know when or how we will die. I simply ask for the right to extend my life as much as I can, or indefinitely if possible.
While a hard pill to swallow, or a hard concept to accept; something like this very well may end up the truth. However, I do not believe something like this will be a reality for hundreds, if not thousands of years.Not sure why everyone worries about population though. The longer one lives, with a healthy brain, one would assume the smarter and wiser you would become. That being the case, only a matter of time before we begin populating moons and planets.Sigh, I need a beer.
"While a hard pill to swallow, or a hard concept to accept"Why?"However, I do not believe something like this will be a reality for hundreds, if not thousands of years."If your life can be extended by, let's say, 10 years, and within 10 years of when you would have died (i.e., while you're still alive), advances make it possible to extend your life by another 50 years, and so on, you can live to be 1000; it isn't necessary to solve all the problems at once. Average life span today is already much longer than it was just a century ago; and you can bet that when the technology begins to take off, it will take off fast. I fully expect that there are people alive today who will never die."Not sure why everyone worries about population though. The longer one lives, with a healthy brain, one would assume the smarter and wiser you would become."History fails to bear that out. (Most people get less smart as they age) But how does that relate to population? (Anyway, population is simply not a problem. Malthus was wrong, and so are all the modern neo-Malthusians/environ-mental-ists/etc.)"That being the case, only a matter of time before we begin populating moons and planets."As a friend of mine likes to say: NASA delenda est
I think civilization would advance a lot faster, as we would have centuries worth of knowledge and experience. The 20% of our lives we spend in schools, learning the tip of the iceberg of what's already been discovered, would now only take up 2% of our lives with the same amount of education. Would we forget it, despite our young minds?Concerning overpopulation, we could always sterilize those who choose to be treated. It wouldn't be taking away people's rights, as they would have the choice of getting treated or not. But, if we did this, we would have few new perspectives in the world of technology, and our advancements might even slow. I'm guessing the population of those choosing not to be immortal would eventually dwindle down to a few religious groups, the children of whom would be cast away from science, anyway. (I realize the possibility of space colonization, also, totally dismissing the need for sterilization, depending upon the amount of planets colonized.)I think something really needs to be acknowledged here: Its not like we're just allowing people to keep aging for 1000 plus years. The aging process would completely stop. Death would be caused by car (or hover craft) accidents, gun shots, and so on. Few diseases would thrive without the old.Some more random thoughts in no particular order:Would we also do this with our pets, or other animals of use? I'm sick of people saying this is unethical, immoral, simply because it's not natural. Well, guess what? Curing the common cold isn't, either- does that make it evil?How would relationships last? I wonder how this would effect depression and so on, as our emotions are kind of designed for a certain lifespan. But I doubt it would change much- were we so different thousands of years ago, when our lifespan was around 25 years?My prediction is that though the technology will be available, it won't be legal, as people will mark it unethical etc for reasons mentioned above.But what the hell do I know? He could totally be doing this for publicity (though I doubt it. Or hope not, anyway).It's really depressing to think that, after barely 15 years of life, it could be 1/6 over. I hope that'll turn to 1/60.
batonaOct 24, 2005
This is the result of liberal education running amok . . .
spadeOct 25, 2005
teh_toaster wrote: "Imagine the drive to work!Brake, brake, gas. Gas, brake, honk..."Dude chilax, it's not like you don't have the time. :)
nickfuryOct 25, 2005
I have to laugh at the "Christians" here claiming that this is "old news". Well done. What are you trying to prove? You read a book of stories hashed together by people you didn't know who lived thousands of years ago. Now step away from the computer. It was created through something called the scientific process, something you obviously have a great disdain for. Your claims are arrogant, proof of nothing and contribute nothing to the REAL SCIENCE that is going into this type of research. The longer we live and the more we know, the less plausible fairy tales become. There is enough wonder and magic in things that are real to last until the end of time. Please stop contributing to ignorance and fear of knowledge.And to anyone who lacks the imagination to understand why one would want to live to 1000 or more, I only ask that you crack open a good book, look up to the stars or gaze at a loved one.
sixcolorsOct 25, 2005
Ah, the smell of fear. The fear of death.
Closed AccountOct 25, 2005
"I'll pass. I don't really want to be around for WWIII and IV."you wont need to live 1000+ years to see both.
tordenfleskOct 25, 2005
I can't wait to be 666 years old.
matthew182Oct 25, 2005
If some here have problems reading... I suggest that you check out some of the media available on the mprize.org website. Aubrey makes many presentations at different conferences around the world every year. Check out the videos here : <a class="user" href="http://www.mprize.org/index.php?pagename=multimedia">http://www.mprize.org/index.php?pagename=multimedia</a>I recommend watching the "Biomedex 2005" videoEnjoy!
malchiahOct 25, 2005
I think most of you are forgetting that technology is continuing to advance. You think we'll still be 'reading' books hundreds of years from now? Or will we simply download the information? Wirelessly connect our brain to the galactic Internet?If we have the technology to make ourselves youthful and healthy for centuries, then we will have the technology to make ourselves enjoy it as well.Virtual reality will be a reality, I'm sure, and the realness of it will rival normal reality. If you wanted to experience life as a 25 year old lesbian, or be Chinese, or be Superman, why wouldn't you? And would that honestly bore you so much that you want to stop living?What if the year after you die, we make first contact with the Arilou, or some other alien race. You would have missed out on some great things, and a greater understanding of the universe.Personally, I think technology and science ARENT MOVING FAST ENOUGH!Garf13ld, imagine the uncertainty NOW. As it is, none of use know when or how we will die. I simply ask for the right to extend my life as much as I can, or indefinitely if possible.
malchiahOct 25, 2005
Related Digg:<a class="user" href="http://digg.com/technology/Human_2.0_2">http://digg.com/technology/Human_2.0_2</a>Ray Kurzweil's predictions of the advancement of technology.
alabareOct 25, 2005
While a hard pill to swallow, or a hard concept to accept; something like this very well may end up the truth. However, I do not believe something like this will be a reality for hundreds, if not thousands of years.Not sure why everyone worries about population though. The longer one lives, with a healthy brain, one would assume the smarter and wiser you would become. That being the case, only a matter of time before we begin populating moons and planets.Sigh, I need a beer.
malchiahDec 30, 2005
Aubrey de Grey will be on 60 Minutes Jan. 1, 2006<a class="user" href="http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/60minutes/main3415.shtml">http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/60minutes/main3415.shtml</a>
miseseanSep 3, 2006
"The Bible is a literal book."The bible is literally a book. So is Alice in Wonderland. They're about equally related to reality.
miseseanSep 3, 2006
"While a hard pill to swallow, or a hard concept to accept"Why?"However, I do not believe something like this will be a reality for hundreds, if not thousands of years."If your life can be extended by, let's say, 10 years, and within 10 years of when you would have died (i.e., while you're still alive), advances make it possible to extend your life by another 50 years, and so on, you can live to be 1000; it isn't necessary to solve all the problems at once. Average life span today is already much longer than it was just a century ago; and you can bet that when the technology begins to take off, it will take off fast. I fully expect that there are people alive today who will never die."Not sure why everyone worries about population though. The longer one lives, with a healthy brain, one would assume the smarter and wiser you would become."History fails to bear that out. (Most people get less smart as they age) But how does that relate to population? (Anyway, population is simply not a problem. Malthus was wrong, and so are all the modern neo-Malthusians/environ-mental-ists/etc.)"That being the case, only a matter of time before we begin populating moons and planets."As a friend of mine likes to say: NASA delenda est
lilmunch64Mar 27, 2009
I think civilization would advance a lot faster, as we would have centuries worth of knowledge and experience. The 20% of our lives we spend in schools, learning the tip of the iceberg of what's already been discovered, would now only take up 2% of our lives with the same amount of education. Would we forget it, despite our young minds?Concerning overpopulation, we could always sterilize those who choose to be treated. It wouldn't be taking away people's rights, as they would have the choice of getting treated or not. But, if we did this, we would have few new perspectives in the world of technology, and our advancements might even slow. I'm guessing the population of those choosing not to be immortal would eventually dwindle down to a few religious groups, the children of whom would be cast away from science, anyway. (I realize the possibility of space colonization, also, totally dismissing the need for sterilization, depending upon the amount of planets colonized.)I think something really needs to be acknowledged here: Its not like we're just allowing people to keep aging for 1000 plus years. The aging process would completely stop. Death would be caused by car (or hover craft) accidents, gun shots, and so on. Few diseases would thrive without the old.Some more random thoughts in no particular order:Would we also do this with our pets, or other animals of use? I'm sick of people saying this is unethical, immoral, simply because it's not natural. Well, guess what? Curing the common cold isn't, either- does that make it evil?How would relationships last? I wonder how this would effect depression and so on, as our emotions are kind of designed for a certain lifespan. But I doubt it would change much- were we so different thousands of years ago, when our lifespan was around 25 years?My prediction is that though the technology will be available, it won't be legal, as people will mark it unethical etc for reasons mentioned above.But what the hell do I know? He could totally be doing this for publicity (though I doubt it. Or hope not, anyway).It's really depressing to think that, after barely 15 years of life, it could be 1/6 over. I hope that'll turn to 1/60.