Living till you're 1000?

Techno_Union · Post by **Techno_Union** » 2004-12-04 09:58pm

It might be possible according to this BBC news article.

-Go here-

BTW, I looked and didn't see this anywhere. If it is somewhere, sorry.

Enforcer Talen · Post by **Enforcer Talen** » 2004-12-04 10:11pm

betterhumans.com quoted it, and has interviews with the same guy.

I have high hopes (see slam references by me)

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-12-04 10:33pm

Eh, smacks of wishful thinking to me right now. We've made advances, to be sure, but we're not going to be making 1,000 year lasting humans in a decade or so, not without some major advances I've yet to see.

Robert Walper · Post by **Robert Walper** » 2004-12-04 10:43pm

Would be nice, but I'm pretty skeptical.

But, assuming this were actually feasible, the potential problems for over population is scary. There would have to be immediate and strict population control measures implemented. Having kids could very well mean you have to be willing to sacrifice your virtual immortaility. Some probably will be willing to do that, alot probably not.

The humor strikes me though when you watch Highlander:

TV: "I'm Duncan Macleod of the Clan Macleod. Born in the highlands of Scotland 400 years ago..."

Me: "Oh great, a kiddie show..."

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2004-12-04 10:54pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote:Eh, smacks of wishful thinking to me right now. We've made advances, to be sure, but we're not going to be making 1,000 year lasting humans in a decade or so, not without some major advances I've yet to see.

What about a child born today, however? What would you expect their chances being of reaching an age comparable to that?

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2004-12-04 10:55pm

Robert Walper wrote:Would be nice, but I'm pretty skeptical.

But, assuming this were actually feasible, the potential problems for over population is scary. There would have to be immediate and strict population control measures implemented. Having kids could very well mean you have to be willing to sacrifice your virtual immortaility. Some probably will be willing to do that, alot probably not.

The humor strikes me though when you watch Highlander:

TV: "I'm Duncan Macleod of the Clan Macleod. Born in the highlands of Scotland 400 years ago..."

Me: "Oh great, a kiddie show..."

On the plus side we realy could do as they do in Futurama and restrict the Ultraporn to age eighty and up

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2004-12-04 11:26pm

Even if we can keep our bodies from ageing for that long, I really doubt we can keep our brains working at any useful level. A world of 900-year-old Alzheimer's patients would not be pretty. Just the odds of going that long without some horrible injury occurring at some point to some part of your body have got to be pretty poor.

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2004-12-04 11:44pm

Sea Skimmer wrote:Even if we can keep our bodies from ageing for that long, I really doubt we can keep our brains working at any useful level. A world of 900-year-old Alzheimer's patients would not be pretty. Just the odds of going that long without some horrible injury occurring at some point to some part of your body have got to be pretty poor.

Obviously cybernetic implants providing brain enhancement are a vital part of this process.

UCBooties · Post by **UCBooties** » 2004-12-04 11:57pm

Well, cool. But ultimately, probably going to cause all sorts of hairy mess, population problems coming immidiately to mind. Also major class issues since such treatments will probably be nastily expensive, what will happen if only the rich and connected get to live for centuries? Uuuuugly. While it lends itself nicely to my own particular plan to become Emperor and rule for 700 years, it's probably a bad idea.

Gil Hamilton · Post by **Gil Hamilton** » 2004-12-04 11:58pm

I think at a certain point it would be better to figure out how to do away with the biological body all together when you start to get old. Be twenty one as long as you can pay for maintainance and if something happens to you, have a second robot body ready to be loaded with a backup copy of your brain. You'll have some missing time depending on how long it has been since your last backup, but that's a small price to pay for effective immortality.

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2004-12-05 12:03am

Who cares if it's expensive? You can simply take out massive loans and then spend the next 200 years paying them off, and still have 500 or 600 years to go.

frigidmagi · Post by **frigidmagi** » 2004-12-05 01:06am

That could become the basis of whole politic and econemic systems if you think about it.

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2004-12-05 02:01am

I believe someone calculated even if people were immortal with respect to physical ailments that sooner or later you'd get hit by a bus or be trapped in a burning building and almost everyone would be dead by 600 regardless.

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2004-12-05 02:48am

Illuminatus Primus wrote:I believe someone calculated even if people were immortal with respect to physical ailments that sooner or later you'd get hit by a bus or be trapped in a burning building and almost everyone would be dead by 600 regardless.

Which is, of course, still a vast improvement and one worthy of trying to reach.

Post by **Vympel** » 2004-12-05 03:08am

Illuminatus Primus wrote:I believe someone calculated even if people were immortal with respect to physical ailments that sooner or later you'd get hit by a bus or be trapped in a burning building and almost everyone would be dead by 600 regardless.

Not if we develop particle shields!

Oh wait ... cursed momentum.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2004-12-05 03:33am

Is this really such a good idea? To play devil's advocate here, the only reason society progresses is because the people with the old, outdated ideas die. I mean, look at race relations in America; let's not kid ourselves into believing civil rights legislation came along and suddenly things started getting better. The real reason is because the dinosaurs with the outdated ideas who wanted to maintain the status quo started dying. And I don't think this rule applies to social progress exclusively, either; I imagine it would apply to the sciences and governance as well; Einstein was younger than 40 when he developed the theory of general relativity, and Jefferson and Madison also were both younger than 40 when they wrote the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, respectively. I'm not saying old people are completely worthless, or that scientists somehow lose their competency once they reach a certain age, I'm saying that you need younger generations to be born and older generations to die to maintain human progress. The older generation tends to try and defend the status quo, the younger generation challenges it.

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2004-12-05 03:35am

My biggest concern with that article, actually, is the fact that I am not inclined to trust futurist predictions that are made by Rasputin.

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2004-12-05 03:44am

My biggest concern with that article, actually, is the fact that I am not inclined to trust futurist predictions that are made by Rasputin.

But who better to pioneer research into immortality?

Enforcer Talen · Post by **Enforcer Talen** » 2004-12-05 08:40pm

my hope would be that with such a massive, massive potential for overpopulation, we'd spread into space, full speed ahead.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-12-05 08:49pm

The Duchess of Zeon wrote:
What about a child born today, however? What would you expect their chances being of reaching an age comparable to that?

Smaller than Gene Simmons and Paris Hilton making a sex video together. Married.

Enforcer Talen · Post by **Enforcer Talen** » 2004-12-05 09:28pm

I think his project is not so much, here is a pill that makes you live 1000!!111

he thinks that anti aging science will go faster then your aging itself, allowing 1000 to be reached one century ata time.

Post by **Gandalf** » 2004-12-05 10:50pm

What could one do if they lived to 1000? I imagine you'd be pretty bored by the time you passed 200. And imagine people's careers, working for the same company for centuries. Could be good for some in that way though.

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2004-12-05 11:00pm

Gandalf wrote:What could one do if they lived to 1000? I imagine you'd be pretty bored by the time you passed 200.

Someone always says that they will be bored by the time they reach 200 or something.

Uh, I hate to point this out, but when you cark it you're gonna be even more bored. Well... no, you won't be bored, you'd be dead. As long as you're alive you can do shit. Any shit. Whatever you want. If this is practical then presumably you can live that long without the mental deficiencies, so you won't have to worry about being 'alive' as opposed to alive.

And imagine people's careers, working for the same company for centuries. Could be good for some in that way though.

Most people change their work and their careers over years. My mum went from being an ANZ computer operator working in data entry to a a gardener and landscape planner, which included a bridge IIRC and she also did the gardens for a school, she went from here to having her own business and shops, to working as an employer in a factory, to working in a BETTER factory which has an office, to now getting involved on eBay and making a couple hundred on the side.

People don't start working for MacDonalds and stick with it, or if they did, who gives a fuck? In today's society if there is something you want to do, you can do it. Forget that Pink Floyd "You're just another brick in the wall" bullshit. You can join the military and become a pilot, do your term, then get out and work for Qantas. Make money, then make your own small private piloting business. You can learn medicine and become a doctor. Then set up a country practice. After so long you can come back to the city and lecture future doctors. Christ, the people who join the Big Bad Corporations either like it, or hate it, but nothing's really stopping them from finding another job. That is, assuming the economy is good.

If you lived for a 1000 years I guarantee you will be working in so many different fields it just wouldn't be funny. At any rate it would be a waste of time to spend all those years alive and still work for K-mart.

Enforcer Talen · Post by **Enforcer Talen** » 2004-12-06 01:48pm

and those who become lifers in their field will prolly be mindbogglingly good.

my sergeant major has 25 in. one can only imagine if he had 50 or 100 years of exp.

thats ww1, ww2, korea, vietnam, and both gulf wars

Ryoga · Post by **Ryoga** » 2004-12-06 01:53pm

And the general of that army would be like Robert E. Lee.

"Bah, **** your World War I. Back when I was at war we wished we had trenches. We dug little holes and stuck our feet in 'em, and...." "Sir, you're rambling again." "Oh, sorry."