If human life span could be extended to 200 years, would that still be too short?

[publiusr]

Anyway, it seems strange that people interested in space and such should be skeptical to life extension and immortality research, after all, advance along these lines might be quite useful for manned space research, exploration and utilization.

Right--I want to live long enough so that every 50 or so years humanity builds an HLLV bigger than the last, so you can all read posts like:

"Only 50 meters in diameter?--you can do bigger than that!"

[starcanuck64]

Would 200 years still not be long enough? 1000 years, or longer? Could the human mind withstand such a lengthy period of conciousness without going totally, irrevocably, completely insane?
In the end, people would still have to face death.

I'm guessing we'd start running into totally new issues that would make quality of life questionable with the elderly approaching 200 as it is now with many reaching 100.

People are living much longer now than they use to, but many of them are barely aware of their surroundings, at age 85 1/2 of the population is in some stage of Alzheimer's.

[Noclevername]

I'm guessing we'd start running into totally new issues that would make quality of life questionable with the elderly approaching 200 as it is now with many reaching 100.

People are living much longer now than they use to, but many of them are barely aware of their surroundings, at age 85 1/2 of the population is in some stage of Alzheimer's.

But with 200 year lifespans, you might live long enough to see a cure for Alzheimer's discovered.

[potoole]

That view seems to me to be an outgrowth of the current life cycle of people. It is a common problem when discussing the subject of life extension and immortality that people view the issues and results based on the current state of things. It seems likely to me that if aging could be retarded or stopped, the factors would be very different, and really, any issues would depend on the way the artificial life extension was implemented...

For example, people say immortality would be bad since there already is limited resources like food and water, but this is based on the assumption that people would still have to eat and drink the same amount and be limited to the current sources of such things, an immortal may very well be able to sustain existence on things normal people couldn't. An extreme example of this would be if your body is teeming with tiny little machines that can repair and maintain it, you may find that you need much less normal food or drink, but rather have some way to provide energy to the machines(so that they could recover, rebuild or retain nutrients instead of you having to eat more), of course, such devices would probably be made so that they could use energy in the form of sugars and other compounds like that(so you might have to eat more of those), but perhaps they might also allow inductively coupled energy from external power sources, so that as long as you were in a suitable field you might have to eat only very small amounts of food and drink of any sort.

The mental effects of continued life might seem very different to someone maintained at a young age than someone who is aging, after all, it seems that at least some of the mental effects are inherent to the aging process.

Anyway, it seems strange that people interested in space and such should be skeptical to life extension and immortality research, after all, advance along these lines might be quite useful for manned space research, exploration and utilization.

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Very Interesting

P'ot (op)

[Noclevername]

Maybe longevity would finally teach us to set and accomplish some truly long-term goals.

[Ara Pacis]

Maybe longevity would finally teach us to set and accomplish some truly long-term goals.

Masterplans always sound like a good idea to the masters.

[Noclevername]

Masterplans always sound like a good idea to the masters.

That's the exact opposite of what I was implying. I'm saying if we become long-lived, it may teach us patience as a society and as individuals.

[Ara Pacis]

That's the exact opposite of what I was implying. I'm saying if we become long-lived, it may teach us patience as a society and as individuals.

I know... And there's something you should know about patience... there's an old saying, The man who has his revenge at 39 years has acted too quickly.

[Noclevername]

I know... And there's something you should know about patience... there's an old saying, The man who has his revenge at 39 years has acted too quickly.

There will always be some who misuse any gift, even more life. Unless you can change human nature, there's no way to totally prevent it.

[Noclevername]

Right--I want to live long enough so that every 50 or so years humanity builds an HLLV bigger than the last, so you can all read posts like:

"Only 50 meters in diameter?--you can do bigger than that!"

And then they'd replace rockets with Lofstrom loops or laser launchers and you'd be heartbroken.

[wd40]

We assume that average lifespans are going to inexorably rise.

But what if the actuaries notice that it is gradually starting to fall? (eg due to pollution, obesity, new degenerative diseases, dysgenics, cosmic radiation, declining quality of medical care etc)

The current average lifespan in the US is 76. If ten years from now (barring a war or cataclysm) it was 72, what would you say?

[Noclevername]

We assume that average lifespans are going to inexorably rise.

But what if the actuaries notice that it is gradually starting to fall? (eg due to pollution, obesity, new degenerative diseases, dysgenics, cosmic radiation, declining quality of medical care etc)

The current average lifespan in the US is 76. If ten years from now (barring a war or cataclysm) it was 72, what would you say?

I'd say it's a temporary setback.

[starcanuck64]

But with 200 year lifespans, you might live long enough to see a cure for Alzheimer's discovered.

Getting to a 200 year lifespan would probably involve augmented immune systems, so maybe issues like degenerative diseases like Alzheimers would be a thing of the past.

Maybe the big hazard in that case would be rogue nanobots malfunctioning and doing physical damage.

[DoggerDan]

I'm over 50, and although I'm in very good shape, I wouldn't want live another 200 years. Not unless they figure out how to give me an 18-year-old mind and body, that is.

[HenrikOlsen]

Getting to a 200 year lifespan would probably involve augmented immune systems, so maybe issues like degenerative diseases like Alzheimers would be a thing of the past.

There's no known link between Alzheimer's and the immune system.

[Noclevername]

I'm over 50, and although I'm in very good shape, I wouldn't want live another 200 years. Not unless they figure out how to give me an 18-year-old mind and body, that is.

With my luck, they'll probably do that in 201 years.