Stem cells

[Broken_Erika]

A lot of people would probably kill themselves out of boredom after a few centuries...

 

[TheMeInTeam]

A lot of people would probably kill themselves out of boredom after a few centuries...

We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, assuming that ever actually happens. If death can be prevented without crippling costs to achieve there's not much valid reasoning to allowing it to continue. We'd have to deal with population control in a hurry though.

 

[Thorgalaeg]

That could be solved easily giving people a choice: you can live forever or you can reproduce. Never both. At least till we start populating other planets, which would happen sooner than later if immortality was available. Imagine an Albert Einstein in top form forever.

 

[Kyriakos]

I am not seeing that happen. Much easier and characteristic of humanity to have this lead to endless revolts of non-immortals against immortals.

 

[Thorgalaeg]

We will have to make a choice then. I have read too much Arthur C. Clarke or you have read too much George Orwell.

 

[inthesomeday]

Easy fix here, may seem a lil crazy to you lot: let everyone have the medicine for free

 

[Lexicus]

Easy fix here, may seem a lil crazy to you lot: let everyone have the medicine for free

Not a fix for the population control problem though.

 

[Samez]

Fun fact: they had a report in the radio today that there seem to be additional limits to human longevity. They claimed that within the last century the average age was increasing but the maximum human age remained the same (about 115 years). As it was only a statistical analysis and there are very few analysis with participants over 100 years old they were unable to explain the reasons for this observation.
I don't want to get that old right now, as it is quite probable at 110 years that most people you were befriended with are dead for about 40 years and you will most certainly have survived your kids and perhaps even your grandchildren.
I definitly would prefere to stay healthy and fit to living even longer but being sick the last decades.

An interesting point for all future medical methods will also be the affordability. If new medicin is only available to the highest income classes the social equity will suffer even more.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

Not a fix for the population control problem though.

China China China

 

[TheMeInTeam]

China China China

Their policies wouldn't do, since they depend on deaths and rely on wealth/fines to sort out the specifics.

I suppose if we're granting immortality we could at least in principle completely remove the desire to reproduce or make the notion repulsive instead of attractive at a biological level.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

They depend on deaths?
And seems to me many nations like to rely on wealth/fines to sort out specifics.

 

[timtofly]

That could be solved easily giving people a choice: you can live forever or you can reproduce. Never both. At least till we start populating other planets, which would happen sooner than later if immortality was available. Imagine an Albert Einstein in top form forever.

Would you want a population of people who do not want to live forever? Or would you want a population of only people who live forever and no one reproduces?

It would seem to me that eventually either side would resent the other side, or the decision they made.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

Statistically everyone dies eventually. There are still accidents. I believe to have heard that if you eliminate disease / aging, the average lifespan today would be 10000 years. The point is, if everyone dies, eventually, everyone has a decent chance to have a kid without increasing world population, eventually.
We could have a lottery everyone wishing to have a child enters and 1 in 10000 wins every year (or whatever the death rate is). And additionally we could make it so that the longer you play, the better your odds.
Though that would have the weird effect that may wish for many other people to die.(Darling, great news! There has been a devastating tsunami!)

Birth control could be established my mandatory sterilization of men - however their sperm would be extracted beforehand and stored for potential future kids - if the guy had won the lottery, or a woman who wants him as the father. did.
The tech isn't quite there yet. maybe it never will be. But that is one possible solution to the whole mess.

The most horrendous prospects about the whole affair has IMO not been mentioned yet.
Imagine being in a hip bar for young people, hitting on girls. And then your biological young father / mother enters the bar, also looking for a nice evening. Playing drinking games with your friends. Competing with you over that cute girl over there. Telling baby stories. Uhrg...

 

[Thorgalaeg]

That problem can be reduced with age specific bar. 25-10,000 years old; 10,001-20,000; 20,001-30,000... and so on.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

I only date in the three digits

 

[Arent11]

We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, assuming that ever actually happens. If death can be prevented without crippling costs to achieve there's not much valid reasoning to allowing it to continue. We'd have to deal with population control in a hurry though.

That could be solved easily giving people a choice: you can live forever or you can reproduce. Never both. At least till we start populating other planets, which would happen sooner than later if immortality was available. Imagine an Albert Einstein in top form forever.

There are some nice papers by Gavrilov that show that if you let everyone have 1 child you approach a limit. So, you don't need to strictly forbid people to have children, however you do need more effective governments that can install such laws.

Easy fix here, may seem a lil crazy to you lot: let everyone have the medicine for free

This is a question of exploitation of work, which we have already now. Creating working states is work. Creating food and medicine is work. If you take the extreme view that everything should be shared, you are, in fact, advocating a form of slavery.
So, yes, medicine should be shared to a certain extent but if it goes towards exploiting people who are willing or able to do such complex work, then I'm of course opposing it.

 

[inthesomeday]

the extreme view that everything should be shared

This hurts my heart

 

[El_Machinae]

We're using stem cells to reduce pain and debilitation. The 'worst' thing this does is delay someone's death and buy more healthy years.

Sure, there are societal consequences, but we need help on all of them already. If someone isn't spending some of their money on the future, by helping this research or by researching solutions to other longterm issues, then they're making an error in math.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

So, yes, medicine should be shared to a certain extent but if it goes towards exploiting people who are willing or able to do such complex work, then I'm of course opposing it.

Where, exactly, is this line? Not sure what your idea of exploitation constitutes. Or your idea of slavery, or a form thereof.

 

[Arent11]

This hurts my heart

Where, exactly, is this line? Not sure what your idea of exploitation constitutes. Or your idea of slavery, or a form thereof.

You obviously need to strike a balance between the interests of the "poor" and the "working class". If you don't do that, your "ideal state" won't work.