The choice of a lifetime.....

stuman

stuman

stuman

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27 Aug 2003
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So, just watching Panorama on Iplayer. It seems as tho there is a direction for curing ageing.

So, if they did find a cure to ageing obviously there would be social implications. I guess the decision would be.....

sterilisation and no ageing or kids and age like normal humans.

(mods. Poll?)
 
It's a difficult question to answer due to the fact that the situation isn't one anyone is likely to be faced with, but given the choice you lay out, absolutely sterilisation and no aging. To be honest, aside from the joys that come from parenthood, the main point of having children is to continue one's legacy after death. Never dying would make children redundant for that purpose at least.
 
Zefan said:
It's a difficult question to answer due to the fact that the situation isn't one anyone is likely to be faced with, but given the choice you lay out, absolutely sterilisation and no aging. To be honest, aside from the joys that come from parenthood, the main point of having children is to continue one's legacy after death. Never dying would make children redundant for that purpose at least.
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Problem is it doesn't cure accidental death, so at least some procreation would be needed, which we could imagine would fall to the rich and privileged, and drastically reduce the gene pool.

Then there's social mobility, would you be born into your class for ever, do the same job for ever? There would be so many existential issues...

As much as dying is a scary thought, immortality is scarier
 
I've not seen the show but I'd have thought it would be impossible to stop aging. We're not 'designed' to live - we're designed to pass on our genes. Doesn't matter if we all keel over and die when we're 30 if our genes are passed on (some subtle 'mateiaxg' effects aside). Interested to see what could reverse the effects of millions of years of genetic drift. Probably 5 twix fingers a day. Who knew?!
 
Problem is it doesn't cure accidental death, so at least some procreation would be needed, which we could imagine would fall to the rich and privileged, and drastically reduce the gene pool.
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Privileged yes, rich probably, but it also leaves scope for the "best people" but all of that is redundant, if we can chop any genes we want.


tom_e said:
Aging. Living forever may sound great in theory but I'd rather not.
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why not? and if not, why don't you kill yourself now?

you could also be given a choice to surrender you immortality and have a child with frozen sperm etc.
 
To be honest I wouldn't want to live for ever. Quite happy to accept my mortality, it's actually not something that scares me, my soul is prepared and I'm comfortable with the fact that my life in this guise is temporary.
 
stuman said:
why not? and if not, why don't you kill yourself now?
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I just feel that in the end it would just be like being stuck in some sort of recurring dream, growing up/older isn't all bad and I wouldn't want to end up alone if those I loved and cared about decided to pick the other option.

I don't want to die but I know I will and it doesn't bother me.
 
I think Steve Jobs had it absolutely right...

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
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Nitefly said:
I've not seen the show but I'd have thought it would be impossible to stop aging.
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While preventing senescence by telomere elongation is possible it doesn't change the fact we get constantly irradiated everyday. This causes mutations to build up so even if in theory you could completely stop ageing, which is doubtful, we'd still all die of genetic diseases.
 
stuman said:
Privileged yes, rich probably, but it also leaves scope for the "best people" but all of that is redundant, if we can chop any genes we want.




.
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Just to point out the high turnover death rates would mostly be the lower classes construction workers etc.


And i doubt many of the rich and privileged would want thier kids doing those jobs.


So that would mean most breeding 2ould be done by the lower classes.

Just like mow
 
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