Here are some of the most common sentiments that you will run into when talking to people about rejuvenation biotechnology. Some are valid points so it is important to know your facts.
Never forget to keep a sense of proportion at all times. With every issue raised one has to decide which weighs heavier: 100.000 people dying EVERY single day, likely suffering for years in the process... -VS- Possibly having to deal with solving an issue that MIGHT arise if we all stayed young and healthy?
The Earth Can't Handle It! We Would Run Out Of Resources! |
Perhaps not... there is actually an abundance of resources here on our little planet. It's rather a question of making them accessible, tapping into renewable energy and developing more efficient technologies. LINK
Being around long enough to see and experience the consequences of ones actions may well inspire less selfish and more long term/sustainable thinking in many that currently abuse resources for the fulfillment of their own "short life" dreams.
Further down the road it is a question of tapping into the virtually endless supply of resources from space and later still becoming a multi-planetary species. We can see the beginnings of this happening with the work that NASA and SpaceX are currently putting into manned missions to Mars. LINK
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But Overpopulation! |
Most people have a somewhat pessimistic view point and are ill informed about facts on things like carrying capacity of the planet, birth rates, and the overall state of education and how they are all interlinked. LINK
If we found a cure for aging it would be a gradual transition and we would not have any 200 year old people for another 100 years at least. That is a long time to adjust to new circumstances. For example: Implementing a one child policy would mean that the worlds population could at most double even if no-one died from diseases, accidents or disasters. China has shown us that such a measure is indeed possible if overpopulation becomes an issue.
The question also arises how far the birth rate would drop if the biological clock wasn't ticking in the backs of our heads, putting pressure on us... following that train of thought along a little further it comes to mind that we need to reproduce to survive as a species because we age and die but what would happen if we took away aging as that driving force?
Will humanity forever be bound to this planet? How far away do you think our space fairing days are?
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Aging is natural and should not be meddled with. |
Define aging. Define natural. It used to be natural to die from an infected splinter or from a common flu. We now have a life expectancy that is double that of what it was 150 years ago simply because we have better hygiene.
The whole reason the medical field exists is to keep us healthy and stop us from getting sick. We are doing well with infectious diseases but not so well with things like Alzheimer's, heart disease or cancer to name a few.
Everyone agrees that these diseases are bad and that we want to fix them. It would be unnatural for us to not want to do anything about them. Yet they are all part of aging and are caused by the underlying damage types and degenerative processes of aging. They are part of aging. They can not be eliminated without fixing aging in the process.
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Imagine having to work for eternity! |
Well... there are so many exciting jobs out there... so if you are currently stuck in a dead end job that you don't enjoy, it's probably because going back to university and learning something completely different and switching fields is not an option because you have to work towards your retirement... (that short period of life before you die of aging).
There may be other reasons. But usually they are linked to us being aware that we have limited time in our careers and it's too late to start over so we must stick it out till the bitter end.
Apart from that recent progress in the field of AI suggests that robotics and autonomous systems will soon make human workers redundant in many fields. LINK
OH NO! Then we won't be able to work! ... if we do this right, we could work on what ever we want because the basic needs for life like food, shelter and even administrative and comfort tasks and health are taken care of by AIs and autonomous systems that are powered by renewable energy such as solar power.
People are trapped in this mind set that life as it is right now will never change! That we will need to work to earn money to pay for the things we need the way we do now hence forth and for all eternity, until the end of time ... We can't eat money however, we can't wear money and we can't live in money. So When those things are taken care of why would you want to waste your time to work for money? You would work on things that could improve your life further. Things that interest you, things for your enjoyment or things that improve comfort. Or you would simply spend your time exploring and living life.
No, people are lazy! If they don't need to work anymore they will just stay on the sofa, watch TV and take drugs!... Is what many people would say to this... of course they mean other people, not themselves... Anyhow the evidence suggests otherwise. Take away the fear of loosing ones existence when loosing ones job and you suddenly find people becoming creative, industrious and willing to experiment and take risks. This is the best thing that can happen to progress. LINK
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But I would get bored! |
This is one of those examples where it is important to keep a sense of proportion. Let's not defeat aging because some people might get bored? Besides you could always opt out.
It may indeed be more boring to spend a few years waiting for your time to die in a retirement home, bound to a bed, with no future perspectives, probably in pain, perhaps not even able to remember the things you did in life.
The whole of eternity is not lived all at once but day by day, just like we live our lives now and just like now, it is a good idea to live in the present and enjoy life day by day. If you are feeling healthy and vital and don't want to die today or tomorrow and if you are enjoying life what makes you think that this will change tomorrow?
Humanity is at the brink of a great age of exploration. It would be a shame to miss it.
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Tyrants and evil dictators would live forever! |
Tyrannic dictator is quite high up on the risky job list.
Let's see... when was the last time an evil, tyrannic dictator died of old age rather then be dislodged from power by an uprising or war or assassination... seems like it's generally people unhappy with a situation that do something about oppressive power structures. Oh wait, no, it's true! The north Korean Dictator Kim Jong-il died of aging, that got rid of the problem! ... Wait... he was replaced by his son who's is continuing his fathers reign ... hmmm.
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The old need to make room for the young or progress will come to a halt. |
What evidence is there to suggest this is true? What if the old would not actually be physically and mentally old and rigid but rather had an enormous wealth of experience and wisdom to contribute to society?
It is likely that people who have been to war would not want to do it again. The way we live now, each generation has to re-learn the same things and repeat the same mistakes as the generation before it. Imagine how much better we might understand the universe today if great minds like Albert Einstein were still around. LINK
Humans will still be able to evolve and likely much more efficiently so. We are in the beginning stages of being able to write our own evolution by understanding how to code with DNA. AI will help with progress in this field too. This technology together with CRISPR will eventually be able to cure disabilities and other defects in living humans and make slow, random, generation based evolution through aging and dying redundant. LINK
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What about the poor? |
Taking care of the elderly is incredibly expensive. Imagine we had a cure for aging and one country provided it's citizens with it freely so that the entire population was able to contribute to the economy while at the same time eliminating the health care costs for the elderly. How would other countries with an aging population be able to compete with that on a global market?
Even if this was not the case, how would not developing a cure for aging benefit the poor?
It's like saying we should continue to condemn 100,000 people to die every day even though there actually is something we could do about it because there "might" be an increase in inequality between rich and poor.
To be honest I would expect there to be a time of turmoil following the discovery of a cure for aging. A time where we need to readjust to a new way of living. But I can't imagine those problems to be too big to overcome and they pale in comparison to the problem we have with aging today.
All technological and medical progress that we make will eventually benefit everyone. Just compare people living below the poverty line today (in the more developed countries most have running, warm water, TV, fridge, shelter with heating, electricity food, health care etc ...) with people living below the poverty line 100 years ago.
Where would we be today if we stopped making progress because we had been afraid that some people might take advantage of new discoveries? Inequality must be tackled by other means, not by holding back innovation and progress that benefits humanity.
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