Interesting, I admit the point article sounds a bit far fetched, but the counter-point doesn't do a great job of explaining why these opinions shouldn't be trusted. Yes, everyone who's proclaimed long lasting life is possible has died, but we're also living longer today than we did in the 1500's etc. I do believe its possible that we could find ways to slow down the degredation of the human body, though I'm not so sure that preventing it completely is possible. Raises an interesting effect though, if we all start living to 1000, where are we going to put all these people? We're going to run out of space. Space exploration would have to be the outcome.
Yeah, we would either have to go up into the sky with our buildings or go into space, like Shade said. In the end though, I think that expanding would cost more than extending our life.
Read the articles carefully. They look to me like they might be fakes. Note that "aging" is routinely spelled "ageing". No professional journal/newspaper would let a mistake like that slide.
They're straight from the BBC site. :wth: Plus, they were written by the people themselves, not actual journalists. Also, I think it's common in British English to leave the E in.
They're straight from the BBC site. :wth: Plus, they were written by the people themselves, not actual journalists. Also, I think it's common in British English to leave the E in. [/b][/quote] "Ageing" and "aging" are both acceptable forms.
It's interesting. On one hand, the first article makes a good point that we already extend people's lives with antibiotics and such, but practically speaking, where are we going to put these people? In space? Where in space?
I'm sorry, but I'm feeling a little bit of OVERPOPULATION here. If your going to extend the life of human beings, you need to extend the life of cattle, pigs, deer, plants, tree's and everything else.
Teraforming Mars is a possibility, if far fetched. [/b][/quote] I agree. Keep in mind that something like this won't start taking a significant effect on population for at least another fifty to one hundred years. By then, who knows what kind of technology we'll have?
I don't think we should come up with technology that can make people live forever. I think we should spend time finding cures for diseases, etc. rather than this.
Genetics such as this is morally wrong to me...Who knows what will happen when we start manipulating our genes like this? What else will this technology produce...new organisms that could wreck havok on our environment? And the notion of a "perfect" human being.....it could be perfect genetically, but what about the soul? We could be physically perfect, live to a 1000 years, but are bereft of the key ingredient that drives all human beings, lack of time. What else will motivate us...material wealth? Because everyone will die, people will want to make a difference in this world, but when you become nearly immortal, that motivation is lost, and you become increasingly self-centred, I really think this is the wrong path for us to take. To live at one with the Earth and explore our spiritual, intellectual, and emotional selves should be a priority of humanity. I haven't researched or read up too much on it, but to me being immortal is just a primal human instinct to get rid of our natural fears and provide ourselves with an artificial utopia. But is perfection what we really be looking for? Life is full of dangers, life is to get through all the challenges you face and grow with new experiences. No experiences or challenge makes you weak in spirit, something that has driven humanity to do good in this world. And to get rid of all our fears will in essence put ourselves in a cold, artificial environment, with no beauty or charm, not a world that I would want to live in. Applying engineering concepts to living things to me is utterly wrong. I'm not great at communicating my inner thoughts but I hope you get my point
There's a plausible counterpoint to overpopulation theories... In a recent seminar in Sociology, Life Extension and the Affects of Aging made it's cue. According to a reading (supplied by Jesse, a friend of mine) with the empowerment of women and effective birth control methods there should be no real reason for overpopulation (its your AIDS fiasco, dealt and done)... if life extension is an accessible option in our near future.
Why in the name of Buddha would you extend the life of a fucking COW or tree?! Huh? All we do for everything you just mentioned it use it/kill it. Cattle, Pigs, Deer and (some) Plants, we eat them, so extending their life would be pointless. And even cats, since some cultures eat them. And that brings me to something else. I wonder what cat tastes like. Do you think it tastes like Chicken? Or maybe Roast Beef? Anyways. As for Trees, that's stupid. They already survive well past human life, and all we do is chop them down and make paper anyways.
Why in the name of Buddha would you extend the life of a fucking COW or tree?! Huh? All we do for everything you just mentioned it use it/kill it. Cattle, Pigs, Deer and (some) Plants, we eat them, so extending their life would be pointless. And even cats, since some cultures eat them. And that brings me to something else. I wonder what cat tastes like. Do you think it tastes like Chicken? Or maybe Roast Beef? Anyways. As for Trees, that's stupid. They already survive well past human life, and all we do is chop them down and make paper anyways. [/b][/quote] Exactly.
@ Overpopulation: If the current demographic trends continue, our population will keep growing for a while yet, but very soon as death rates become higher than birth rates, the population will start to decline...and it HAS too, because we cannot sustain this assault on nature for much longer....I am disturbed that people solely regard nature as a resource, not as a living, breathing thing that is as alive than you are. As for the whole extending life, I really think its a low priority at this point since MILLIONS people can't live past their life expectancy anyways, just don't think about us rich people. By the way, who do you think this technology will go to? It will go to the elite of our society, for the chosen few in the world, as all these technologies will go to. Because since it will be on sale for a profit most people will never be able to use of this technology.
I had read a similar article in MIT Tech. While it would be nice to live a little longer and have more potential to grow internally, I just don't think it would be a good idea. We would be extremely overcrowded and no matter how long you sustain life everyone must die. It's completly natural and those who try too hard to stop it just don't have enough faith in what comes next.