[crusso]

If we were immortal, the birth rate would decline as people worried less about continuing through progeny and more about continuing through their own lives.

How many wars do you think anyone would want to fight if we didn't have an endless streams of the young who are willing to die on the battlefield?

How many murders are committed by people over 30 vs under? How many people die in car accidents after 30?

There's something to be said for having a world dominated by people who are mature and understand the value of their own lives.

[wu-ikkyu]

>How many wars do you think anyone would want to fight if we didn't have an endless streams of the young who are willing to die on the battlefield?

We've got killer robots for that now.

>How many murders are committed by people over 30 vs under?

I'd guess the majority of murders have been caused by people over 30 declaring war.

>How many people die in car accidents after 30?

Self-driving cars sounds like a good solution

>There's something to be said for having a world dominated by people who are mature and understand the value of their own lives.

Yes, of course the elderly possess great wisdom, but they are also highly inflexible when it comes to thinking of new solutions to new problems. The imaginative power of the child is something highly undervalued and suppressed in our society.

[crusso]

I'd guess the majority of murders have been caused by people over 30 declaring war.

Well, since US elected national office is pretty much 30 and over, that's the only way wars can be declared.

But there's a reason why there's the movie cliche of the old cautious king being toppled by the young warmonger. On average, young people are a lot more prone to violence. Put them in charge of a nation, and I have no doubt that wars would increase rather than decrease.

Yes, of course the elderly possess great wisdom, but they are also highly inflexible when it comes to thinking of new solutions to new problems.

But a lot of that is because your gray matter doesn't work as well as you become elderly. If that weren't the case, we could have young energetic minds that also are wise dominate in society.

[wu-ikkyu]

What about the habitual thought patterns and prejudices that have been "hard wired" from the life experiences of the elderly, which make it so difficult to think outside the box?

[crusso]

If rejuvenation techniques keep the brain's neuroplasticity youthful, then those hard-wired experiences should be no worse than those of younger people.

Would a hard wired prejudice include being fundamentally biased against old people?

[wu-ikkyu]

Is there any evidence that stem cell therapy can eliminate old prejudices?

[crusso]

I think that this topic went from next year's stem cell therapy to "What if you could live forever" territory from the top comment way up there.

Within the context of the pie-in-the-sky subject we're discussing, calling for citations seems kind of pointless. We're all just speculating and talking about what-ifs.

[usrusr]

> If we were immortal, the birth rate would decline

Would it? In modern, low reproduction societies the dominant interpretation of the universal "honour thy father and thy mother" focuses on care. Even the slightest resemblance to a chain of command that might be present earlier stops at adulthood. But with people forever overshadowed by their undying ancestors, we might see a massive resurgence of the competing interpretation which sees it as a natural power structure. If that happens, well, welcome to pyramid scheme hell.

[speedplane]

If you were immortal, it's not entirely clear you would be sane and reasonable after living for 200 years.