The birthrate will decrease further. When medical technology allows for people to be physiologically 25 years old indifinitely, they will make the kind of life-style choices that 25 year olds make. Most of the people I know who are under 30 are either a) career-oriented professionals or b) laid-back, lonely-planet-style backpackers. Since a) and b) represent the most appealing life-style choices that I can think of, I think that most people will fall into one of these two categories in an ageless society.
People will have kids after they become independently wealthy. Since you will never age, even if it takes you a hundred years to become independently wealthy, you can still do so and still have the youthfullness to enjoy the wealth, have kids, or do whatever. Once a couple is independently wealthy, they can buy a "gentleman's" farm in Drain, Oregon; and have a family without the hassle of having to go to work every weekday morning. The point of agelessness is that it elliminates the factor of time in any of your life decisions.
Since you can still die from accidients, I prefer to use the term agelessness rather than immortality. Agelessness is really about freedom. Freedom to have dozens of careers, to do the "lonely-planet" backpack thing, or to do a combination of both (like I try to do). You can even colonize space (Oniell habitats in our solar system and others) since you'll have the time for it.
Slashdot Mirror
Are you for real?
The birthrate will decrease further. When medical technology allows for people to be physiologically 25 years old indifinitely, they will make the kind of life-style choices that 25 year olds make. Most of the people I know who are under 30 are either a) career-oriented professionals or b) laid-back, lonely-planet-style backpackers. Since a) and b) represent the most appealing life-style choices that I can think of, I think that most people will fall into one of these two categories in an ageless society.
People will have kids after they become independently wealthy. Since you will never age, even if it takes you a hundred years to become independently wealthy, you can still do so and still have the youthfullness to enjoy the wealth, have kids, or do whatever. Once a couple is independently wealthy, they can buy a "gentleman's" farm in Drain, Oregon; and have a family without the hassle of having to go to work every weekday morning. The point of agelessness is that it elliminates the factor of time in any of your life decisions.
Since you can still die from accidients, I prefer to use the term agelessness rather than immortality. Agelessness is really about freedom. Freedom to have dozens of careers, to do the "lonely-planet" backpack thing, or to do a combination of both (like I try to do). You can even colonize space (Oniell habitats in our solar system and others) since you'll have the time for it.