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by bobcostas55 1652 days ago
This is just deathist brainrot. If we lived for 10k years "naturally", would you support killing people off after 70-80 years? Of course living longer would make things better.
3 comments

What are you even talking about? Of course I wouldn't. I also didn't say that I'm against researching ways to live longer, actually I said the opposite.
Living that much longer through disease and natural degeneration elimination with the possibility of still dying from trauma might be quite horrible. Aversion to risk would logically skyrocket. Would skiing or even driving make sense?
You'd make the same argument if your life expectancy was 40 years and people proposed medicine could let you live to 80.

You'd also make the same argument if your life expectancy was 200 years and medicine advancements could let you live to 300.

I suspect almost no human beings actually carry out such a rational calculation of risk.
Better?
Arguably worse since old people have stubborn thought processes, especially politically. Usually the only way societies get change is once all the "boomers" die off.

I think it sad but death is evolved for a real reason and we should not forget Chesterton's fence, even if it was not designed but rather converged on by almost all species except for trees.

Youthful longevity would obviously be a focus of any longevity initiative. Far future, we are unlikely to remain on any fragile biological substrate. Not sure why people keep on bringing up the idea of 90-year-olds living forever.

> death is evolved for a real reason

Not necessarily true. Evolution only cares that we fuck and pop out kids and they grow up and do the same. Once we've accomplished that goal, we are irrelevant from an evolutionary perspective.

The psychological rot is what I'm talking about - not anything physical. Perhaps it has to do with aging brain anatomy but we don't know that it isn't due to the arduous nature of life itself. Life has a way of beating people down and making them bitter, far too often. Hell, you could be right and perhaps seeing everyone they know and love, sans their children, get sick and die, perhaps that is traumatizing though we have normalized it.

P.S. Don't know why you are being downvoted. Some people find fault in healthy discussion :-/

In any longevity scenario we will necessarily have the time to iron these problems out :) No technology, no matter how good, has been perfect from the beginning.
I suppose, we just have to be real careful that we aren't preserving Emperor Palpatine.
You have to remember that society changing over 200-300 years is an anomaly in the history of humanity.

Also, I am pretty sure that old people were involved in historical changes themselves, or will be forced to confront historical changes anyway.

Change isn’t always a good thing. Having your elders all die before they can pass on their knowledge, culture, and values isn’t the panacea you’re describing.
I agree. I was just providing some contrast. I am not pro-death.