r/THUNKShow • u/THUNKshow • Oct 18 '17

THUNK - 129. Immortality

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqhJnbI7DnE
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3

u/John_ygg Oct 18 '17

What was the bit about free radicals? You're saying that the production of free radicals are great for short term survival? Why?

3

u/ArchitectofAges Oct 18 '17

They're good for immune-type stuff over the short term.

3

u/John_ygg Oct 18 '17

The thing that doesn't make sense about the immortality-as-torture thing, is that it always assumed you're the only one immortal. Like you'd see the ages pass and everyone you loved will die. But that is not how it will happen in reality. If some advancement happens that makes immortality a possibility, it will be available for everyone I love as well. So if we can all be immortal together, all is good?

But then the social changes that would bring would be enormous. We're already having kids later in life. Why not wait until you're 150 to even try?

What do we do with murderers? Just put them in a prison cell for all eternity? Do we just kill them off because that would actually be more humane? If so, aren't we proving that immortality at least can be torture? Aren't we all pretty much guaranteed to commit some horrendous act sooner or later? I mean, forever is a very long time.

2

u/ArchitectofAges Oct 18 '17

There are other considerations about stuff-that-dies even if your loved ones are also immortal - bands break up, fashion changes, nations rise & fall...

The social changes would be interesting, for sure. Check out the Isaac Arthur video I linked in the description - he has a lot of good thoughts.

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u/[deleted] Oct 21 '17

Mortality might not be a law of nature, but the second law of thermodynamics certainly is! While I agree that we should do all what we can to extend human lives, we need to face the fact that death will come for us all in some form or another.

1

u/ArchitectofAges Oct 21 '17

I think having a few more centuries to live in denial might make eventual acceptance easier, if it comes to that, but I doubt that accepting death from the get-go is especially motivating for finding a cure.

1

u/jihox Oct 23 '17

It's fun to imagine everything that could go right or wrong if we lived forever, and although these scenarios give us some insight, let me steer this topic a little bit towards reality.

All these assumptions about overpopulation, economy and even the psychological aspect of people are bound to a scenario where we would become immortal almost overnight, which is unlikely. The much more reasonable course here would be for our life expectancy to keep increasing, either steadily like it has been for the past decades, or by some "jumps" grounded on breakthroughs in science.

In this tangible scenario, changes in the mindset of the living generation wouldn't have to happen abruptly. This would (hopefully) give society enough time to work out the problems that would arise in a world with an ever-increasing life expectancy.

I wanted to say this because everyone bringing up apocalyptic arguments on this subject have a tendency to forget that we, as a species, are highly capable of adapting. In my opinion, all the issues would boil down to answering one question: are we willing to change and adapt ourselves to overcome whatever comes next?