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Live to be 1000 Years Old?

Posted by michael on from the better-start-saving-for-retirement dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The BBC has a long article by wonderfully be-whiskered Aubrey de Grey of SENS (Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence) on how we may all live to be 1,000 years old... as this is the balanced BBC they are also running the opposing view."

12 of 1,120 comments (clear)

  1. Looks like thats two times.... by Aceto3for5 · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... in my lifetime that I can see the Red Sox win the world series!

  2. There goes my retirement! by Duncan3 · · Score: 5, Funny

    How long until they raise the retirement age to 980?

    --
    - Adam L. Beberg - The Cosm Project - http://www.mithral.com/
  3. What would the Beatles think of this? by gatekeep · · Score: 5, Funny

    Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm 6-0-4?

  4. Future lamers by JohnGrahamCumming · · Score: 5, Funny

    I surely hope so... then my 6 digit /. ID will look so cool to all those 48 digit l4mers who just signed up.

    That's right script kiddie: I'm a top 1,000,000 /. member so bite me.

    John.

  5. Re:I hope the life is good... by Swamii · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I personally would rather live 50 good, full years, and die gracefully, than live 1000 years dependent on all sorts of pills and not really living life.

    $20 says Dr. Reducto will change his mind at 49. Any takers?

    --
    Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit
  6. Re:Not a good idea by Saige · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There is a reason for people not flying.

    There is a reason for people not being able to see well.

    There is a reason people can't communicate with each other over long distances.

    Just because something has been a certain way, doesn't mean it's SUPPOSED to be that way. Sometimes, things just are the way they are. That is, until they change.

    Should the technology become available, you don't have to extend your life. You can live without all this fancy technology. BTW - you don't go to the hospital and stuff, do you? There is a reason for people dying from diseases, after all, and curing them would be unnatural and wrong.

    --
    "You know your god is man-made when he hates all the same people you do."
  7. A population that old? by Washizu · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Think of the Matlock ratings!

    --
    OddManIn: A Game of guns and game theory.
  8. Re:There are some things worse than death by 0123456 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Fortunately all the losers who think that living to 1000 would be worse than death will quickly die out, and the people who think it's fun will be the only ones left.

  9. Re:Yeah, because the old way just wasn't effective by Sparr0 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Aside from that, try to imagine the social, scientific and political stagnation that would occur from having old people not dying. Try to picture the economic devestation among young people (you think following the boomers sucks...), the lock-in of power among a few Very Oldsters... If people do start living to 1000, I think our real duty would be to start hunting them.


    I think the long term result would be the exact opposite. On the surface yes, what you suggest would happen, but consider the OTHER implications of 1000 year old politicians... No longer would pollution, poor city planning, etc be a problem for their grandchildren/successors. Each and every person would have to spend at least 900 years living with the consequences of their decisions. Also, consider how boring it would be to be a senator for a thousand years. I would wager that most "career" politicans would retire after about as long as they do now, simply out of boredom. 60 or 70 years of income gives a pretty sound basis for a 900 year retirement just as much so as for a 20 year retirement.
  10. Re:Yeah, because the old way just wasn't effective by Daniel+Dvorkin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You know, I really suspect that when Og the caveman first figured out how to light a fire, his buddy Thag bitched about this dangerous new technology because he was afraid Og's fire would burn up his prized collection of mammoth hides. Meanwhile, the rest of the tribe said, "Hey, now we can keep our caves warm!"

    Every technological advance brings with it the potential for danger and social change. There are real, hard questions which must be answered. But for myself, I'd rather have the opportunity to answer those questions with some real-world experience ...

    --
    The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
  11. Obligatory by TheKubrix · · Score: 5, Funny

    So you mean I'll REALLY be around when they release Duke Nukem Forever?! sweet.

  12. Scariest of ALL (shudder) by Esion+Modnar · · Score: 5, Funny
    You go to a nightclub, you hit it off with this witty sexy girl. You get her home.

    Things are moving along nicely, talking about things. The chemistry is *incredible*.

    Then you find out (I don't know, maybe the convo made a strange turn to genealogy) she's your great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother.

    I mean, how many of us would recognize our great*n grandparents if we met them on the street?

    --

    They say the first thing to go is your penis. Well, it's either that or your brain. I forget which...