Should old age be eliminated?

Author: Alec

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#1
Alec
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1/3 of people want to become immortal.  I am one of them.  I never want to die.  I think Singularity agrees with me on this.

There is the fear of aging, but with technology, aging can be reversed.

Any other cons to getting consenting humans to be immortal?

#2
Discipulus_Didicit
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1/3 seems a bit low. I understand it not being 100% but I am surprised to see it be under 50%. May be that I am biased since I am one who would certainly prefer to life longer, entropy probably makes infinite life implausible but a few trillion years would be nice ;-).

Might I ask where you heard this 1/3 figure?
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#3
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@Discipulus_Didicit
Something I read somewhere.  https://today.yougov.com/topics/lifestyle/articles-reports/2019/01/22/americans-funerals-death-burial-cremation-finance is a link that breaks it down.  It's close to 1/3.
#4
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According to that around 19% are like you and I and would like infinite life, around 42% just want life extension for a little bit.

So yeah you are right it is around a third. Wow. That is a lot lower than I would have expected.

I suspect that there is probably a correlation between religiousness and likihood of desiring longer lives, with more religious people being more likely to want life to be shorter.
#5
zedvictor4
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@Alec
Wishful thinking.

And unsustainable on so many levels.

#6
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@Alec

Should old age be eliminated?.......I never want to die.

We would have had a very large human crisis on our hands thousands of years ago if we "eliminated old age". You would then be asking,  'should euthanasia be compulsory at 20 years of age ? It has been estimated that there are 15 dead people for every 1 that is alive.




7.7 Billion (2019) X 15 = one hundred fifteen billion five hundred million.

Good luck with that.
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#7
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@Discipulus_Didicit
I see.  I guess I read the chart wrong.
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#8
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@Stephen
We would have had a very large human crisis on our hands thousands of years ago if we "eliminated old age".
No.  The people back then wouldn't have sex once they realized they were immortal and the human's population would be close to the carrying capacity because of less sex with this alternative species.

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@Alec
We would have had a very large human crisis on our hands thousands of years ago if we "eliminated old age".
No.  The people back then wouldn't have sex once they realized they were immortal and the human's population would be close to the carrying capacity because of less sex with this alternative species.




And you believe that threat of over population, food and shelter  shortage would stop the force of nature do you? In China they preferred to killed babies (girls) because of the threat of over population and food shortage, rather than deny and go against  what nature dictates.

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@Alec
I see.  I guess I read the chart wrong.

No you were pretty spot-on as a general approximation
#11
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@zedvictor4
Wishful thinking.

Yeah that's the point. Sure it isn't realistic, what OP is asking though is whether people would go for it if it was.
#12
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what in the hell is this? I honestly thought this was a post advocating for genocide of seniors
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#13
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@Dr.Franklin
 I honestly thought this was a post advocating for genocide of seniors
It's not.

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#14
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@Stephen
In China they preferred to killed babies (girls) because of the threat of over population and food shortage, rather than deny and go against  what nature dictates.
The Chinese do not have the contraception technology that we have today.  If I need a vasectomy so I don't reproduce, I'm on board with that.  Being immortal would be optional if they get a vasectomy or tubes tied.  It's better than banning immortality altogether.

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In China they preferred to killed babies (girls) because of the threat of over population and food shortage, rather than deny and go against  what nature dictates.
The Chinese do not have the contraception technology that we have today. 

IUDs, OCs, sterilization, and condoms account for most of the contraceptive practice in China. ... The IUD is the most widely used method in China and is the method most often recommended for women living in rural areas. The IUD may account for as much as 50% of national contraceptive practice.

30 million vasectomies

According to Chinese officials, 30 million vasectomies have been performed nationwide in the last 2 decades. In some areas, the vasectomy prevalence equals 31%, and the ratio of vasectomy to female sterilization is 5 to 1. In the rest of China, the ratio is 1 to 3.


PIP: In China, an estimated 30 million men have undergone vasal voluntary sterilization, and about 11.97% of Chinese couples rely on vasectomy, according to a 1990 survey. ... Since 1971, over 10 million Chinese men have undergone NSV. Vas ligation is the most popularly used method in China.





If I need a vasectomy so I don't reproduce, I'm on board with that.  Being immortal would be optional if they get a vasectomy or tubes tied.  It's better than banning immortality altogether.


Seriously Alec, how old are you?

#16
zedvictor4
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@Alec
Humans are pre-programmed for sex. 

Sex isn't something that you can easily decide not to bother with.

Just look at the problems Roman Catholic Priests have

And what is the alternative species?

Sheep perhaps!
#17
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@zedvictor4
Just look at the problems Roman Catholic Priests have

And what is the alternative species?

Sheep perhaps!

There seems to have  been some-kind of  'special relationship' between sheep and their 'shepherds' for millennia. I have to wonder were they actually "watching" their flocks that night when they were so rudely interrupted by an angle shining his light on them or was the word "watching" yet another a biblical "mistranslation" ? 

#18
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@Stephen
LOL!