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Poll: Do you really want to live forever ?
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Do you really want to live forever ?

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Old 09 Jan 2013, 19:08   #41
Kaz
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If we left for another planet, the chances are we would pollute it with the bacteria and crap from Earth anyway. According to the Stargazing programme I watched last night.


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Old 09 Jan 2013, 19:13   #42
Mumu
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There's another possibility : that we get contaminated by bacteria and virus of the new planet. Or killed by aliens (if they are looking to what we do on our planet, it could be a very wise reaction).


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Old 09 Jan 2013, 21:15   #43
Vovix
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Dear Avalon, sophienoelle, Mumu and all who think in Malthusian way!

Your argument is actually the most common myth about life extension and the human civilization in general.

This myth is based on two equally false assumptions:

1. That human life extension causes population growth.
2. That population growth per se is harmful for the environment of humanity.

Let's deal with the first now.

Population growth by definition is not created by any human staying alive: one person is always one person. The growth begins when more children are born than people who died. And if we look at the stats, for example, at www.gapminder.org/world, we'll see population growth falling everywhere, and in the developing world even faster. The total Earth population growth rate peaked more than 40 years ago and keeps going down. You can google Hans Rosling videos for explanation why it is so.

And what numbers can we expect when we add radical life extension?

Radical life extension means people do not only live longer, but also stay younger for longer. For example, when 60 is the new 30 and 80 is the new 40, this means people will be able to postpone having children for later — thus further slowing down population growth rate by increasing its denominator (time). People are not stupid and when they see they can successfully live for decades without children, they won't sacrifice their lives for them, and what is important too, the value of anyone's life on this planet will increase in the eyes of each other. There will be less and less motivation for wars and other anti-social actions once people get a choice about their own long-term future.

And this takes us to the myth #2.

The second false assumption is suggesting people do matter for the planet (and for the humanity as a whole) only by their numbers. As if everyone made equal harm by eating equal food, behaving an equal way and taking equally responsible or irresponsible actions, and could not even in theory make more use than harm by behaving appropriately instead of dying. As we see, this is a very primitive and dubm assumption.

What Malthusians don't want to see, people are not only a "problem", but a solution in the first place. And moreover, their abilities to solve global problems depend on their motivation, intelligence, wisdom, and science and technology available.

This is exactly where radically extended life makes positive difference. Once people realize they personally, not only some imaginary "future generations", can face social and environmental consequences of their action, they'll be more motivated to modify their behavior in a more responsbile way, helping the planet more as if they just died and buried all their knowledge, wisdom and experience (and their ability to motivate other people by just being alive). If a Malthusian tells you you must die for the sake of the planet, ask it why it hasn't done that itself. Any Malthusian answers would be hypocrisy.

Besides, it is about values. The most important value for us is and should be human life. The Earth matters only because in a foreseeable future it is required for us to stay alive and develop. Any other way of thought is not far away from beliefs of ancient Mayaz or Aztecs who made routine human sacrifices, as they thought, for the same reason. They were "required" by imaginary gods, some today's environmentalists think we are required to die by "science", but no science can tell anyone to die; moreover, science can only be made by living people, and the longer people live, the exponentially more scientific, technological and humanitarian solution they can produce. Justification of death is intolerable, it is barbarism.

The roots of the overpopulation myth go to the so called resource myth, which says, we have only so much of resources here on Earth, so one day they will be depleted, and the more people we have, the sooner that doomsdat will come.

Why is this a lie?

Doomsters actually confuse resources with physical raw materials, and ignore the factors of science, technology and human motivation. To become a useful resource, any material needs to be discovered and explored by some people using science and technology, and in the appropriate social environment. For thousands of years people made no use of oil beside some medicines, they were unable to extract it. Today we have abundant solar energy and learning to make more use of it at the exponential rate; in a few decades we won't need to increase oil extraction because all our extra energy needs will be satisfied by solar power in various forms.

Also doomsters tend to ignore that our planet is not isolated in space, sooner or later we'll begin to explore outer space resources at industrial scale, the Planetary Resources company is just a first swallow in this new vast frontier. Space also offers the answer for those who want to ensure capability to make new children and to expand into the Universe and probably into its Multiversal sisters.

So to conclude, as we live longer and longer, we learn to develop our abilities to solve global problems faster and smarter, and radical life extension (with further eradication of all death, even accidental) will be a huge leap ahead in this progress. Humanity is not a heap of stupid meat; it is, with its desires to live, explore and improve, the ultimate most precious resource for itself. Life is good, and death is bad in absolute sense. There could be no imaginary balance with nature except on our own terms: moving beyond the Earth's biosphere as a cosmic force.

More thought on this and other common myths about life extension and human progress could be found at:

http://www.fightaging.org (longevity science news and answers to commons objections)
http://www.abundancethebook.com/ (a must-read book for overcoming Malthusian mindsets)

Thank everyone for reading, and live long, young and prosper!
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Old 18 Feb 2015, 02:50   #44
Elinjea
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I voted no, because i would see every one i love growing old. And people leaving all the beloved people. But i want to stay young till i leave this world


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Old 26 Jul 2015, 19:25   #45
karla
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I always wanted to go to the other side, but have always had a reason to stay and no courage to do so, then again there are moments I wish I could stretch forever. So, no, I don't want to live forever, but with nuances.


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Old 28 Jul 2015, 10:50   #46
karla
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I think i would love to live a bit longer
Just to meet all the beautiful people and be able to smile.
Like to stay young and live forever maybe


"Octopus, oh Octopus, if Iwere thou, I would call me us."
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