Poll: Would You Choose to Live Forever?
February 26 2008 / by memebox
Category: Health & Medicine Year: General Rating: 5
Scientists like Aubrey de Grey offer convincing arguments that advances in medical technologies will one day bring us to the point where we can effectively solve death. But will we and should we choose to do so? You make the call. :)
Comment Thread (3 Responses)
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I do not know of anyone who wants to live forever. Science cannot even tell us how long forever is.
However, most people, including yours truly, do not want to suffer an unwanted death. Is it wrong to intervene in our human reality of frailty, suffering, and death; and try to end it? I think it is not!
Biotech breakthroughs expected in the 2010s and nanotech miracles predicted for the 2020s hold the promise of eliminating all deaths from sickness, disease, and aging. And even wilder technologies in the 2030s and 2040s could eliminate all deaths. By mid-century or sooner, all unwanted deaths may be preventable.
Comments welcome.
Posted by: futuretalk February 26, 2008
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Maybe it’s because I’m a millennial, but I know several people who want to live forever. Some are perhaps too young to have foresight, some are uber-optimistic futurists, some just have huge egos…
But I totally agree with futuretalk that the evolution toward a society/system that allows intervention and the choice of death is favorable and most likely inevitable. Personally I think it’d be a drag to live forever and will find it funny if the technologies that serve to lengthen our lives consequently increase the appeal of death. Which raises the question: is never-ending life attractive only because it is currently out of our reach and realm of comprehension?
Posted by: Mar February 26, 2008
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Right now I think an indefinite lifespan defines how long I prefer to live. I simply do not wish to suffer an unwanted death.
However, as the future unfolds, I may see things differently. Bloggers at a millennium site recently suggested that in the 22nd century or so, it may be possible to opt for death and be reincarnated into an artificial life form to spend a few centuries or so; then hop back into a human life and enjoy the grind again. Who knows?
Posted by: futuretalk February 27, 2008
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