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02-28-2016, 11:16 PM
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#41
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Southern Cal
Posts: 4,032
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The earth would be too crowded if we have immortality. We have enough problem competing for resources as it is. So thanks but no thanks.
Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum
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02-29-2016, 03:51 AM
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#42
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 2,232
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Music Lover
Why wouldn't an extended life span have the same quality as it does now?
All things being equal, one could assume that someone who today lives to 90 that started to go downhill at 85, that with an extended life to age 130 they would start to go downhill at 120 - 125 rather than at 85.
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That's not what I've seen so far. My line of work put me in contact with people of all ages. I occasionally saw 90 year olds who could still walk, but that was the extent of their mobility, and they were rare. Of those rare birds who make it to their 90s and beyond, nearly all of them are barely mobile AT BEST. The essentials are still working to the extent that they can breathe, the heart is ticking, brain function may or may not be full, but the muscles, the sinew, the joints...all break down after a 7 or 8 or 9 decades.
Now if we are talking "eternal youth" vs. "eternal life", maybe that comes with another set of challenges (I'm still not sure I'd want), but if we are talking "eternal aging"....nah...not for me, thanks.
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02-29-2016, 04:04 AM
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#43
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 12,597
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Any theories as to why they capped us at 100, but then punished us with being demented during the last 2 decades?
Quote:
Originally Posted by cyber888
I believe we were created by the original humans (aliens who came here), we were cloned in their image. They lived thousands of years, while our DNAs are capped around 100 years old. We were created in their image so they have slaves to do their bidding on this planet (mine gold), but they genetically engineered us to have a shorter life span. .
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__________________
If you understood everything I say, you'd be me ~ Miles Davis
'There is only one success – to be able to spend your life in your own way.’ Christopher Morley.
Even a blind clock finds an acorn twice a day.
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02-29-2016, 04:28 AM
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#44
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 8,368
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This all sounds a tad von Däniken-ish.
__________________
"Exit, pursued by a bear."
The Winter's Tale, William Shakespeare
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02-29-2016, 06:25 AM
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#45
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Williston, FL
Posts: 3,925
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There have already been talks about brain transplants. Imagine if a human brain could be transplanted in a 20-year-old body? It may live forever.
Soon, if not already, human organs will able to be grown in a lab. It is already possible to grow them in a human body. The next transition will be to grow organs in a human body that can be harvested.
Growing embryos invitro, then implanting them in a surrogate for the specific purpose of organ harvesting, will be next. The surrogate might be a human, or a lab.
The embryo that is implanted will be modified and be clinically brain-dead. That is, it will need food and nutrients, but will not be technically ‘alive’ from our current medical standards. It can be allowed to ‘grow’ for several years until the parts are of sufficient size.
Organs can be harvested as they are needed. One kidney or lung, a piece of skin, or even part of a liver will be no problem to harvest. If you need a heart, simply unplug the machine, let the organism go dormant, and take the part. Wealthier people may want several clones to enable retrieval of these spare parts.
Once this becomes common place, entire rooms can be filled with these clones, waiting for their parts to be needed. All the DNA will be known. They can be slowly automatically rotated as to avoid bed sores, similar to a roasted chicken on a spit. All they would need is a source of nutrition while they wait for their ultimate purpose. They could be used for blood plasma and bone marrow donations while they wait.
It may not be immortality, but I think you could get quite a few more years out of a body by changing parts.
__________________
FIRE no later than 7/5/2016 at 56 (done), securing '16 401K match (done), getting '15 401K match (done), LTI Bonus (done), Perf bonus (done), maxing out 401K (done), picking up 1,000 hours to get another year of pension (done), July 1st benefits (vacation day, healthcare) (done), July 4th holiday. 0 days left. (done) OFFICIALLY RETIRED 7/5/2016!!
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02-29-2016, 07:06 AM
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#46
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 5,381
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ejman
Wait till Robby gets pissed at your poking him around and moving his cheese...
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That's what I though. That and "we're building freaking Skynet."
__________________
Retired early, traveling perpetually.
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02-29-2016, 07:11 AM
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#47
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 5,381
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fedup
The earth would be too crowded if we have immortality. We have enough problem competing for resources as it is. So thanks but no thanks.
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The earth is a big, big place. As it is, the entire world's 7 B people could fit in a city the size of Texas if it had the population density of NYC. So there's plenty of room.
Of course we already have the technology to limit population size - it's called birth control.
__________________
Retired early, traveling perpetually.
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02-29-2016, 07:14 AM
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#48
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 5,381
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Senator
There have already been talks about brain transplants. Imagine if a human brain could be transplanted in a 20-year-old body? It may live forever.
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That's the best reason why we may never "cure" cancer . . . we probably won't need to.
__________________
Retired early, traveling perpetually.
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02-29-2016, 07:14 AM
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#49
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Williston, FL
Posts: 3,925
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gone4Good
The earth is a big, big place. As it is, the entire world's 7 B people could fit in a city the size of Texas if it had the population density of NYC. So there's plenty of room.
Of course we already have the technology to limit population size - it's called birth control.
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Of course, there is the problem, of where too grow food for all those people. Much of the ground in the world is unusable due to mountains, etc.
__________________
FIRE no later than 7/5/2016 at 56 (done), securing '16 401K match (done), getting '15 401K match (done), LTI Bonus (done), Perf bonus (done), maxing out 401K (done), picking up 1,000 hours to get another year of pension (done), July 1st benefits (vacation day, healthcare) (done), July 4th holiday. 0 days left. (done) OFFICIALLY RETIRED 7/5/2016!!
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02-29-2016, 08:00 AM
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#50
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Lawn chair in Texas
Posts: 14,183
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I've met quite a few humans who could use a brain transplant. Or, more accurately, a brain implant...
Speaking of The Matrix...
https://www.sciencedaily.com/release...0427101633.htm
__________________
Have Funds, Will Retire
...not doing anything of true substance...
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02-29-2016, 08:11 AM
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#51
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 5,381
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Senator
Of course, there is the problem, of where too grow food for all those people. Much of the ground in the world is unusable due to mountains, etc.
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Soylen Green.
What do you think they're going to do with all those "spare" body parts?
More seriously, I'm not terribly concerned about resources. Malthus penned his thoughts about how population growth would outstrip the planet's resources more than 200 years ago. He wasn't even close.
I also think population overcrowding is already basically taking care of itself with birthrates declining as wealth increases.
You also have to assume that immortality tech isn't something that's going to be freely available to everyone. The people who can pay to live forever are the very people who tend not to have many children.
__________________
Retired early, traveling perpetually.
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02-29-2016, 08:16 AM
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#52
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 5,381
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HFWR
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It increasingly seems that way.
The recent discovery of gravitational waves means that everything we think of as solid is actually wobbling around like jello as the fabric of space time gets stretched and compressed by gravity. Once you imagine that, nothing seems real any more.
Scientists even set up a clever little experiment using lasers to show that it was true.
__________________
Retired early, traveling perpetually.
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02-29-2016, 08:31 AM
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#53
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 8,368
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Senator
Of course, there is the problem, of where too grow food for all those people. Much of the ground in the world is unusable due to mountains, etc.
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I've seen where irrigation can have amazing plant growth results in the desert.......massive desalination could (possibly) transform many areas.
__________________
"Exit, pursued by a bear."
The Winter's Tale, William Shakespeare
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02-29-2016, 08:42 AM
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#54
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Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Flyover country
Posts: 25,198
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gone4Good
the entire world's 7 B people could fit in a city the size of Texas
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Not if REWahoo has anything to say about it.
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02-29-2016, 09:16 AM
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#55
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 3,594
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I pride myself in keeping older cars and appliances "going and going" by understanding, often up front, how I will be able to access spare parts.
3D printing age may make this even easier going forward.
I have had similar thoughts about human beings, myself in particular. Would still have to avoid something like invasive cancer however...
We are already going down this road with routine replacement of deteriorated joints (ie hips/knees/shoulders etc.) with artificial "spares".
I often wonder how much of death is the person eventually giving up.
-gauss
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02-29-2016, 09:18 AM
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#56
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 3,594
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fedup
The earth would be too crowded if we have immortality. We have enough problem competing for resources as it is. So thanks but no thanks.
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Sounds like a good business case to me for space colonization.
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02-29-2016, 09:27 AM
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#57
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Seattle
Posts: 6,006
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It requires no faith or even significant stretch of the imagination to envision technology advancing to the point that the entire electro-chemical pattern in your brain is mapped and stored in order to be reloaded into a lab grown host of such age you choose. Alternatively you may choose to remain inside a quantum processor with augmented sensory input.
50 years to 100 years out maybe? I may not make it, but some of your children may live in this time.
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02-29-2016, 09:28 AM
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#58
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Senator
... Growing embryos invitro, then implanting them in a surrogate for the specific purpose of organ harvesting, will be next. The surrogate might be a human, or a lab.
The embryo that is implanted will be modified and be clinically brain-dead. That is, it will need food and nutrients, but will not be technically ‘alive’ from our current medical standards. It can be allowed to ‘grow’ for several years until the parts are of sufficient size.
Organs can be harvested as they are needed. One kidney or lung, a piece of skin, or even part of a liver will be no problem to harvest. If you need a heart, simply unplug the machine, let the organism go dormant, and take the part. Wealthier people may want several clones to enable retrieval of these spare parts...
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I happened to watch Never Let Me Go, a 2010 British movie with this theme based on a dystopian novel of the same name by Kazuo Ishiguro. The novel was fairly acclaimed, as well as the movie. It's a drama, so science fiction fans looking for an action movie should not bother.
By the way, I also discovered that this author's novel The Remains of the Day was the source for a movie of the same title. He's a British author living in England, and this explains the background of his novels.
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)
"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
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02-29-2016, 09:36 AM
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#59
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ejman
Yes, extending life @ la Tithonus doesn't sound appealing at all.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HadEnuff
That's not what I've seen so far. My line of work put me in contact with people of all ages. I occasionally saw 90 year olds who could still walk, but that was the extent of their mobility, and they were rare. Of those rare birds who make it to their 90s and beyond, nearly all of them are barely mobile AT BEST. The essentials are still working to the extent that they can breathe, the heart is ticking, brain function may or may not be full, but the muscles, the sinew, the joints...all break down after a 7 or 8 or 9 decades.
Now if we are talking "eternal youth" vs. "eternal life", maybe that comes with another set of challenges (I'm still not sure I'd want), but if we are talking "eternal aging"....nah...not for me, thanks.
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Eternal aging? Please spare me.
You describe my father-in-law in his last few years. At the end, he once told my wife "I do not want to live so long". When you lose the mobility of the arms to the point you cannot scratch your nose, it's tough.
The reason that life expectancy has been improving was due to several factors, and modern medicine played a big role but it may not be as many expect.
Infant mortality is reduced. Infectious diseases are also no longer a major cause of death. When people get older, drugs help prevent strokes, and there are better treatments for acute symptoms. Many cancer patients get a few more years of life as a return for surgeries and miserable chemotherapy.
But other than the above, they cannot help much with the natural aging. When you can no longer swallow, they will insert tubes to keep you alive. Weak lung capacity? Put them on oxygen. That gets them a few more years.
I suspect not too many people hang around older people, particularly those in hospitals, recovery centers, or nursing homes to see for themselves. And some don't even want to go visit their parents or relatives. So, they stay in denial mode.
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)
"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
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02-29-2016, 09:46 AM
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#60
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Everett
Posts: 1,592
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No birth and no death here!!!
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