An infinite number of fascinating worlds to explore. Infinite delights, infinite interest, infinite cosy corners.

Yet here we are, crude humanity, with barely a blink of an eye per soul before we vanish.

People of the future will look back on these days and find it hard to credit that we accepted death as “inevitable”.

“They died in those days and they didn’t seem to care much about it. It was really weird.”

So how is the immortality project unfolding? Shouldn’t we be funding this stuff as a matter of urgency?

https://youtu.be/_Jtpf8N5IDE

im/mortality really includes not-yet-conceived, or yet-to-emerge (before-living), you could argue every individual, every replicator is dead before born, dead twice, before and then again after life. Dead twice, dies once.

there’s maybe consolation in how long you were not here before you were born, turns out it’s a long time, right back to the big bang, God sired the universe, and you became a possibility

i’m sort of thinking immortality requires living forever into the past (not just the obvious future), and you can see there are technical issues with the proposition

it’s an infinity anomaly, it just takes one infinity to displace everything else in the universe and the entire thing vanishes, to have never existed, with the exception of the expansion of the universe, the infinite universe, it’s the singular possible infinity that makes any other infinity impossible

I don’t think that immortality is realistic, but the human entity could survive for a good few million cards yet, if it plays its cards right.

The Rev Dodgson said:

I don’t think that immortality is realistic, but the human entity could survive for a good few million cards yet, if it plays its cards right.

Ah, cryonics.

mollwollfumble said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

I don’t think that immortality is realistic, but the human entity could survive for a good few million cards yet, if it plays its cards right.

Ah, cryonics.

No, cryonics was not what I had in mind.

When I speak of the human entity I am referring to what is sometimes called a species. I don’t think cryonics will be particularly helpful for the surviva lof the species.

I don’t understand wanting to live forever. I’m quite comfortable with my ephemeral condition.

Bubblecar said:

An infinite number of fascinating worlds to explore. Infinite delights, infinite interest, infinite cosy corners.

Yet here we are, crude humanity, with barely a blink of an eye per soul before we vanish.

People of the future will look back on these days and find it hard to credit that we accepted death as “inevitable”.

“They died in those days and they didn’t seem to care much about it. It was really weird.”

So how is the immortality project unfolding? Shouldn’t we be funding this stuff as a matter of urgency?

Humans have built in planned obsolescence.

I need to show you my chart of age at death for zoo animals some time. Despite excellent veterinary care, animals die young. Humans don’t, which is something of a mystery to me. Only humans run up against the preprogrammed genetic limit, other zoo animals usually perish long before they reach that. Why?

Why don’t cats and dogs all live the same length of time, give or take 20%, like humans. They clearly don’t.

It doesn’t make sense.

mollwollfumble said:

Bubblecar said:

An infinite number of fascinating worlds to explore. Infinite delights, infinite interest, infinite cosy corners.

Yet here we are, crude humanity, with barely a blink of an eye per soul before we vanish.

People of the future will look back on these days and find it hard to credit that we accepted death as “inevitable”.

“They died in those days and they didn’t seem to care much about it. It was really weird.”

So how is the immortality project unfolding? Shouldn’t we be funding this stuff as a matter of urgency?

Humans have built in planned obsolescence.

I need to show you my chart of age at death for zoo animals some time. Despite excellent veterinary care, animals die young. Humans don’t, which is something of a mystery to me. Only humans run up against the preprogrammed genetic limit, other zoo animals usually perish long before they reach that. Why?

Why don’t cats and dogs all live the same length of time, give or take 20%, like humans. They clearly don’t.

It doesn’t make sense.

It makes perfect sense to me.

Evolution works better with a regular change in the breeding population.

Not all animals die young. Tortoises can live for 200 years. Parrots can live 100 years.

Wish dogs lived longer.

animals in zoos these days live considerably longer than their wild counterparts..

the oldest Galapagos tortoise something in the realm of 187 years
the oldest captive Orang-utan – 62 while the wild life span is about 45 years..

etc

Arts said:

animals in zoos these days live considerably longer than their wild counterparts..

the oldest Galapagos tortoise something in the realm of 187 years
the oldest captive Orang-utan – 62 while the wild life span is about 45 years..

etc

Friends had a Little Red flying fox which lived well into its 20s. Would have starved in the wild as its teeth wore out. In captivity it was fed soft food.

animals in zoo of old, where display was the intention certainly lived far shorter and less fulfilled lives than their wild counterparts. But those animals did not receive any sort of enrichment nor any vet care.

Zoos are not areas of display anymore, that is secondary, or even tertiary, to conservation of a species and breeding programs to boost declining numbers. Animals in these zoos live much longer than their wild counterparts because of the care, the enrichment and the safety from wild stresses… which provides an interesting insight into ageing.

Also, because of our increase in care (medicines, vaccinations, healing aids) enrichment (education opportunities) and relative safety from predators, human also live much longer Than they did back in the day…

The Rev Dodgson said:

mollwollfumble said:

Bubblecar said:

An infinite number of fascinating worlds to explore. Infinite delights, infinite interest, infinite cosy corners.

Yet here we are, crude humanity, with barely a blink of an eye per soul before we vanish.

People of the future will look back on these days and find it hard to credit that we accepted death as “inevitable”.

“They died in those days and they didn’t seem to care much about it. It was really weird.”

So how is the immortality project unfolding? Shouldn’t we be funding this stuff as a matter of urgency?

Humans have built in planned obsolescence.

I need to show you my chart of age at death for zoo animals some time. Despite excellent veterinary care, animals die young. Humans don’t, which is something of a mystery to me. Only humans run up against the preprogrammed genetic limit, other zoo animals usually perish long before they reach that. Why?

Why don’t cats and dogs all live the same length of time, give or take 20%, like humans. They clearly don’t.

It doesn’t make sense.

It makes perfect sense to me.

Evolution works better with a regular change in the breeding population.

Certainly true of viruses, if they lived longer they wouldn’t have time to adapt and fight against anti viral drugs.

>Why don’t cats and dogs all live the same length of time, give or take 20%, like humans. They clearly don’t.

you mean the broad examples subject to human interference to breeding? Like pets etc?

Arts said:

animals in zoos these days live considerably longer than their wild counterparts..

the oldest Galapagos tortoise something in the realm of 187 years
the oldest captive Orang-utan – 62 while the wild life span is about 45 years..

etc

The point is, for almost all animals other than humans, even though they get the best possible veterinary care, the death rate is almost independent of age.

For humans, that’s very much not the case.

There’s something really weird about humans.

Just imagine the cosequences if hamsters were immortal and humans weren’t.

mollwollfumble said:

Arts said:

animals in zoos these days live considerably longer than their wild counterparts..

the oldest Galapagos tortoise something in the realm of 187 years
the oldest captive Orang-utan – 62 while the wild life span is about 45 years..

etc

The point is, for almost all animals other than humans, even though they get the best possible veterinary care, the death rate is almost independent of age.

For humans, that’s very much not the case.

There’s something really weird about humans.

Just imagine the cosequences if hamsters were immortal and humans weren’t.

We’d be overrun by hamsters?

buffy said:

I don’t understand wanting to live forever. I’m quite comfortable with my ephemeral condition.

Well you’re definitely an outlier in this situation. I suppose no one ever wanted to see the progeny of their pets grow up.

>I’m quite comfortable with my ephemeral condition.

Me too but it’s not as if we have any choice.

Witty Rejoinder said:

buffy said:

I don’t understand wanting to live forever. I’m quite comfortable with my ephemeral condition.

Well you’re definitely an outlier in this situation. I suppose no one ever wanted to see the progeny of their pets grow up.

Wouldn’t mind coming back for a week every 20 years or so.

Tamb said:

Witty Rejoinder said:

buffy said:

I don’t understand wanting to live forever. I’m quite comfortable with my ephemeral condition.

Well you’re definitely an outlier in this situation. I suppose no one ever wanted to see the progeny of their pets grow up.

Wouldn’t mind coming back for a week every 20 years or so.

If you do, please leave the body behind.

PermeateFree said:

Tamb said:

Witty Rejoinder said:

Well you’re definitely an outlier in this situation. I suppose no one ever wanted to see the progeny of their pets grow up.

Wouldn’t mind coming back for a week every 20 years or so.

If you do, please leave the body behind.

I never leave bodies behind.

Tamb said:

PermeateFree said:

Tamb said:

Wouldn’t mind coming back for a week every 20 years or so.

If you do, please leave the body behind.

I never leave bodies behind.

Think it might get a bit tatty.

Tamb said:

PermeateFree said:

Tamb said:

Wouldn’t mind coming back for a week every 20 years or so.

If you do, please leave the body behind.

I never leave bodies behind.

LOL

Witty Rejoinder said:

buffy said:

I don’t understand wanting to live forever. I’m quite comfortable with my ephemeral condition.

Well you’re definitely an outlier in this situation. I suppose no one ever wanted to see the progeny of their pets grow up.

Far from it. I’m sure that buffy’s is the majority view. I hope so, because it’s certainly the sensible view.

Haven’t you heard the phrase “better a horrible ending than horrors without end”.

Fairly obviously, this is a common topic in SciFi.

From “The 5 doctors” where Borusa, Lord President of Gallifrey, desires and is granted eternal life in the tomb of Rassilon. To “Wowbagger the infinitely prolonged”.

mollwollfumble said:

Witty Rejoinder said:

buffy said:

I don’t understand wanting to live forever. I’m quite comfortable with my ephemeral condition.

Well you’re definitely an outlier in this situation. I suppose no one ever wanted to see the progeny of their pets grow up.

Far from it. I’m sure that buffy’s is the majority view. I hope so, because it’s certainly the sensible view.

Haven’t you heard the phrase “better a horrible ending than horrors without end”.

Fairly obviously, this is a common topic in SciFi.

From “The 5 doctors” where Borusa, Lord President of Gallifrey, desires and is granted eternal life in the tomb of Rassilon. To “Wowbagger the infinitely prolonged”.

So Moll’s with Buffy. I feel somewhat vindicated.

Who can afford to live forever anyway? It seems a bleak future, what with climate change etc anyway. Better to die and not worry about those things.

Divine Angel said:

Who can afford to live forever anyway? It seems a bleak future, what with climate change etc anyway. Better to die and not worry about those things.

I think 90 is a good age with 85 of those years fit and healthy. It’s certainly nice to see your grand-kids grow up. If we can’t cheat death hopefully at least gene technology makes our retirement years drama free.