Will some of us live forever?

by **Aaron** » Thu 03 Jul 2008, 18:40:57

Is modern technology capable of keeping some of us alive long enough for further advances to extend life indefinitely?

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')n an interview with InformationWeek, Kurzweil said people and computers will intermix with nanobots, blood cell-sized robots, that will be integrated into everything from our clothing to our bodies and brains. People simply need to live long enough—another 15 to 30 years—to live forever. Think of it as replacing everyone's "human body version 1.0" with nanotechnology that will repair or replace ailing or aging tissue, he says. Parts will become easily replaceable.

by **Pops** » Thu 03 Jul 2008, 19:08:28

I will live for a while in the hearts of those who know me today and perhaps in some storied tale about the Oracle of the Ozarks.

:lol:

<<spit beer>>

Man, you are turning into a Daddy!

Good for you.

by **Zeeea** » Thu 03 Jul 2008, 19:54:12

I just want to live long enough to see how all this pans out ...it an exciting time to be alive thats for sure ...

by **killJOY** » Thu 03 Jul 2008, 19:59:37

I'm not dying, dammit.

by **PenultimateManStanding** » Thu 03 Jul 2008, 20:16:15

It may be possible, but it will require laying in a crypt all day and shape-shifting at night. Even then it will be iffy. Some schmuck with a sharp wood stick could wreck it.

by **Moped** » Thu 03 Jul 2008, 20:23:00

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Zeeea', 'I') just want to live long enough to see how all this pans out ...it an exciting time to be alive thats for sure ...

by **socrates1fan** » Thu 03 Jul 2008, 20:25:28

No.
That defeats the whole purpose of being human. Humans were meant to die at one point or another, its how the natural process works. If you were immortal it defeats the whole purpose of being human does it not? What importance would it be to have a family if you are going to be stuck with them for eternity? We need people to die so socially we may progress, so that world populations remain the same, and the list goes on.
Do they seriously think they can stop death? No offense but death is gonna get you whether or not you are full of little robots.
No one gets out of life alive.
Personally, I want to die a little after my 100th birthday like many of my relatives before me. I wouldn't want to live forever because then I'm not living.

by **Zeeea** » Thu 03 Jul 2008, 20:31:23

imagine if noone ended up dying though ...I dont think id want to be here ...we are already overpopulated now ...its because of vaccines that we have grown to this extent compared to history ...medicine has rewritten nature ...they may very well do it again ...?

by **socrates1fan** » Thu 03 Jul 2008, 20:36:12

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Zeeea', 'i')magine if noone ended up dying though ...I dont think id want to be here ...we are already overpopulated now ...its because of vaccines that we have grown to this extent compared to history ...medicine has rewritten nature ...they may very well do it again ...?

by **Zeeea** » Thu 03 Jul 2008, 20:37:59

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('socrates1fan', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Zeeea', 'i')magine if noone ended up dying though ...I dont think id want to be here ...we are already overpopulated now ...its because of vaccines that we have grown to this extent compared to history ...medicine has rewritten nature ...they may very well do it again ...?

by **mmasters** » Thu 03 Jul 2008, 20:59:48

I think we all basically live forever. Once we leave this world we go to the next. The process continues ad infinitum.

by **dissimulo** » Thu 03 Jul 2008, 21:39:58

I'd better live forever or all this dry grain, bottled water, plastic sheeting, duct tape, and ammo I've stockpiled is going to go to waste.

by **buzzard** » Thu 03 Jul 2008, 21:53:18

I answered, yes. But, of course I have several qualifiers. I think that it is all or nothing. Either we all die or we all live. I allow the possibility. However, technology will have nothing to do with it. Space and energy are eternal. How are we plugged into it is the question.

by **seldom_seen** » Thu 03 Jul 2008, 22:36:06

Kurzweil has spent way too much time indoors staring at a computer screen. He needs to turn off the computer, put down the comic books and get a girlfriend or go for a walk outside. Something.

Look at this guy:

*** N E R D A L E R T ***

The reason this guy wants to live forever is that it greatly increases the odds that he might have sex with a women.

by **Aaron** » Thu 03 Jul 2008, 23:03:46

Great thread... thnx

by **bodigami** » Fri 04 Jul 2008, 14:11:27

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Aaron', '(')...)
So... do you want to live forever?

by **manu** » Sat 05 Jul 2008, 11:14:59

Everyone already lives forever. Your soul is eternal. It's just some may be in a better place than others. Only the material body dies.

by **lys3rg0** » Sat 05 Jul 2008, 16:20:05

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('manu', 'E')veryone already lives forever. Your soul is eternal. It's just some may be in a better place than others. Only the material body dies.

by **Kingcoal** » Sat 05 Jul 2008, 21:47:25

There are trees that live for thousands of years, called bristle pine. Some trees are older than 5000 years. Nature made us to only live long enough to produce offspring and get them on their way. Our cells have a mechanism to limit their reproductive life. Some cells in our intestines can divide forever, probably because they are under high stress from all the bugs that we carry around in our gut. Anyway, for some reason, nature made the rest of our cells stop after a certain number of divisions. Why is that? Without that mechanism, we wouldn't grow old and develop health problems. We would still have health problems, but death from old age wouldn't be one of them. Cancer would probably become a problem, however because more cell division means a greater likelihood of mutation, but that's an acceptable trade off.

I think that us mammals evolved a limited lifespan because from our genes standpoint, once we reproduce and care for our offspring until they can go on their own, we are of little further use. Our genes are passed on to the next generation, so we become just one more useless mouth to feed. In other words, a limited lifespan is a species survival mechanism. Oldsters, being smart, devious and self serving, if allowed to live long lifespans, would dominate the younger generations to the point of hampering their ability to care for their children. Actually, in a way, that is the situation now. Seniors are rich compared to the younger generations and those seniors can think of nothing but demanding their social security from the younger, working population.

If people start living forever, then it will become necessary for the younger generations to kill old people to ensure the survival of the species. After all, the environment can only support so many people and those people need to be reproducing, allowing mutations to happen so that evolution can take place. In other words, our genes seem to prefer a new generation every 50 years or so and if people live a lot longer, that process would probably slow down to maybe every 100 years. Knowing that they are going to live a long time, people might start waiting too long to have kids while they "do" themselves. That's another thing that is happening now; some career women are finding that they put off a family too long.

With a short lifespan, you have to "get busy." If you snooze, you lose. Nature seems to like that arrangement. It allows necessary evolutionary changes to take effect through natural selection, improving the breed.

Website · by **roccman** » Sat 05 Jul 2008, 21:54:11

If humans took on a hive mentality - we would not ask this question.

But we think we are unique...special.

We are not.